Maserati - Maserati Merak
Introduced in 1972 the Maserati Merak had as its basis the Bora, using much of the Bora bodyshell but with the shorter 3 litre Maserati V6 engine the Merak could be a 2+2. This was the 3 litre version of what was in the 2.7 litre Citroen SM. There was much Citroen technology in these cars, apart from the dashboard being the same as the SM. While the Merak was mid engined, as were other competitors, what stood out was the shorter engine allowed it to be mounted transversely.
A considerably lighter and more powerful version of the Merak was called the Maserati Merak SS which became available from 1976. The extra 30hp came from higher compression and larger carburettors. De Tomaso, after taking over Maserati, introduced a 2 litre Merak 2000GT for Italian consumption which with 170bhp was still useful enough, the idea being to save the 20% afforded by the reduction in car tax for under 2 litre cars. The Maserati Merak continued in production until 1983.
Maserati Merak original tyre fitment :
- for the Maserati Merak the front tyre was 185/70VR15 and rear tyre 205/70VR15. The Merak SS was listed with 195/70VR15 at the front and larger 215/70VR15 at the rear. Today the fitment for the later Merak SS would be 205/70VR15 on the front replacing no longer available 195/70VR15, with the same factory size 215/70VR15 at the rear. Blockley produce all these tyre sizes suitable for the Merak with superb high speed rated tyres, all with the same matching tread pattern.
- Note that the Maserati Merak 2000 had a different set up, which had front tyre size 185/70VR15 and rear tyre 205/70VR15, just as the earlier Merak had up to 1976.
See full details of all three of these exceptional high speed rated, period correct Blockley tyres at the links below:
