Last week I wrote a thoroughly uplifting article about how we’re all doomed and the end is nigh. I was pleased to see my thoughts caused some debate as it dealt with a hard truth that we all need to get used to. I won’t go into the details again, you’ll have to click here if you didn’t read it first time around, but if time is limited we need instant gratification. Now is all that matters. Tomorrow is too late. In fact, time may be so precious you probably shouldn’t even waste your time reading this. But since I penned my advice to enjoy it while you can, the Coronavirus outbreak has put a further spanner in the works. You don’t want to catch that or tomorrow really might not come, so it’s probably safest to stay here and self-isolate with us. At least we can browse some classifieds to choose our last purchase for the forthcoming end of days.
The good thing about the imminent demise of absolutely everything (because electric cars clearly don’t count) is that you can afford to take some really bold decisions on the basis that you really can’t afford not to. If you ever fancied something really exotic, now’s the time to jump in with both feet. However, perhaps you’re held back by limited funding and need to rummage around in the bargain bin. We like to look for relative bargains for our Prime Find feature where we try to keep to a sensible budget and highlight a car that might be realistically attainable to our readers. Sometimes we’ll take a virtual splurge on a piece of outlandishly expensive motoring art, but that’s a rare event. In fact, we remain conscious of keeping our selections broadly real world, even if in reality the lavish benefits of writing for this esteemed website mean it’s very easy to become detached from the world of the common man. Somewhere in between the separate worlds of motoring writers and ordinary people lies the Goldilocks Zone, a place where cars are just fancy enough to impress, but affordable enough to possess. This week we have almost such a car, if you use a bit of imagination.
Until a little while ago, if you couldn’t afford a Lamborghini or any of the decent Ferraris you could always settle for one of the cheaper Italian sporting brands. Top of the list was Maserati, who spent much of the 1970s embroiled in various degrees of crisis and marked the 1980s by whipping the sheets of the Biturbo to the enthusiastic appreciation of virtually nobody. Maserati are now back on top producing such gems as the Levante Diesel SUV, a vehicle of such grace and distinction that it makes you wonder why the founding fathers of the company wasted their time crafting Grand Prix cars instead. Hindsight is 20/20. But if you just can’t wait for the arrival of the electrified Ghibli or don’t feel fully satisfied by the current Quattroporte’s lack of any identifiable styling cues, you’ll need to look at Maserati’s back catalogue instead.
There was a time when the Maserati Merak was a bit of a bargain, but that time has gone and you won’t get as much for your money these days. Indeed, a good one will set you back at least £60,000. However, there are ways to acquire one for less, at least if we only consider the initial outlay and think a bit laterally. Restoration projects are rarely financially viable even for those talented enough to do all of the work themselves, and there’s a reason many project cars kick around for years before being broken for parts or sold on in various states of incompletion. If I’m right about time being limited, who wants to spend years skimming their knuckles in a cold shed when they could be out enjoying themselves? If the only way to access something really exotic is to buy one that’s not very good, perhaps the best approach is to take the plunge but not dwell on making it perfect. Perhaps, settling for good enough will do.
In that spirit, I present this week’s Prime Find, an example of the Maserati Merak ripe for cobbling back together and generally bezzing around in. The Merak made its debut in 1972 and borrowed heavily from the more expensive and larger-engined Bora. The two cars share a common front end structure but Giorgetto Giugiaro changed the shape from the B-pillar rearwards and differentiated the new car by adding flying buttresses rather than the Bora’s glassed tail. The body was constructed of a traditional steel monocoque with a tubular subframe at the rear to support the engine and suspension. As the car was developed whilst Maserati was under Citroen’s ownership, the longitudinally mounted 3.0 V6 was of a type originally developed for the Citroen SM, a DOHC 12 valve with triple twin-choke Webers which developed 187bhp at 6,000 rpm. The Merak also featured a 5 speed gearbox, hydraulic clutch and a transaxle of Citroen origin, and the French influence extended to Citroen derived hydraulic brakes and pop-up headlamps. The adoption of Citroen’s powered hydraulic systems delivered overly sharp brakes and a level of complication that added weight, two factors that are generally considered to be undesirable in a sports car. Needless to say, after the company was rescued from liquidation in 1975 and revived with Alejandro de Tomaso at the helm, the French systems were gradually engineered out.
By the time de Tomaso had taken control the Merak had missed any hope of becoming a volume seller, compounded by the launch of the Dino 308 GT4 in 1973 (a model not badged as a Ferrari until 1976). The arrival of the V8 Dino forced Maserati to upgrade the Merak to SS specification, reducing weight and adding 30bhp, whilst simultaneously developing a two litre tax break model for the home market. Whilst the SS didn’t see the showrooms until 1976, the extra power derived from using a different head with larger valves and ports, larger carburettors and a higher compression ratio made enough of a difference for the car to continue in that form until 1983 when it was finally discontinued. As a bit of an also-ran, the Merak was left to sink into relative obscurity on the used market, only recognised by those in the know and quietly forgotten by everyone else.
Such a fall from grace explains the project car we’ve found for this week’s Prime Find, offered for sale at the Practical Classics Classic Car and Restoration Show Sale on 28th-29th March at the Birmingham NEC. Described optimistically as a “fabulous opportunity to finish the restoration of a rare SS”, it’s going to need more than a weekend’s work to put right, but on paper it sounds good. It’s a right hand drive example dating from 1979, originally finished in Rosso Maserati over Nero but now finished in rust over bare metal. The shell looks pretty well used but at least inspection is made easier by being totally stripped down. We’re assured all the trim components are present and the black leather interior is apparently in good order, but of course there will be a multitude of clips and fixings that will need to be sourced, which can cause a challenge if strict adherence to originality is a prime concern. The engine is also present and correct, being the 220bhp variant with triple Weber 44DCNF carbs and 9:1 compression, and the car can boast matching numbers, but it’s 20 years since it last ran so it’s going to need a squirt of WD-40 at the very least.
So how bad could it be? Well, Merak bodies corrode enthusiastically from the inside out so even a stripped shell could still be hiding horrors. Assuming the shell can be salvaged, any potential purchaser would need to ensure all the trim pieces really are accounted for as replacements are unobtainable new and secondhand parts are consequently in high demand. We’d be wary of that engine too, as it’s been two decades since it was in the car and a full rebuild can cost northwards of £20,000. There’s slightly happier news on the gearbox front as they were also used in Lotus Esprits, and general suspension components are readily available, through a rebuild is the only option for a worn steering rack. Basically, you could get lucky or you could be in for a load of expensive Italian trouble, which brings us to the price. The auction estimate is £14,000 – £20,000 plus fees. Let’s say it cost £20,000 and the value after a competent but not concours home restoration would be £60,000, there’s not a huge amount of margin left. Certainly, if you needed to call upon the experts to perform much work, there’s an extremely large negative margin. But there could be another way.
It would be a financially punishing labour of love to bring this back from the brink, but if time is limited and we need to maximise every day we have left, how about making it just good enough? I often wonder with cars like this whether the biggest crime would be to just get it roadworthy or let it sit for another 20 years. Would it be so bad to patch so it’s roadworthy but no more, and give the body a quick blow over in the shade of your choice? Would it be unforgivable to leave the original engine on the shelf and stick a known quantity in just to get it going? Space is tight but a leaf through the internet will show at least one Merak has been retrofitted with a small block Chevrolet 350 whilst retaining the transaxle. A living car is always better than a dormant one. I often think the quest for perfection might hold us back and this could be a good example. For sale: one derelict Maserati Merak blank canvas, to be whatever you want it to be.
https://www.classiccarauctions.co.uk/maserati-merak-ss
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us inspire by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro