You Know You Want To: Maserati Merak
70s Italian supercar with temptation written all over it ... bella!
Doesn't this look like a lot more than £25K to you?
I know, I know - it's only got a 220hp V6 and the one on Top Gear was producing about half that, but just look at it. I think it's so pretty.
Black suits it well, as do tan innards. It'll cost a reasonable sum to stop it falling apart and you can pretty much guarantee that on the few sunny UK days you actually want to use the thing it will refuse to start. At which point you will become a proper 70s Italian car fan.
If, like me, you would love to own a Bora but flinch at the prices, the Merak SS must be the next best thing. This or a Focus ST?
Actually, don't answer that.
MASERATI MERAK
Price: £24,995
Why you should: Utterly seductive alternative to a modern hot hatch...
Why you shouldn't: ...the potential for financial and emotional ruin that any 70s Italian sports car threatens
See the original advert here. And while you're at it have a browse of some of the other stuff on the dealer's stocklist!
Before their programme they were (and still are to "our kinds of eyes") fantastically interesting, aloof, and desireable pieces of automotive art.
To the majority of the population they are now those "crappy unreliable slow pieces of crap that break all the time".
Is the truth, with emotion and media influence removed, somewhere between the two? ..... Irrelevent really, as you could never buy such a car without it being an emotional decision.
Love this Maser, but its the Lambo Japla or Siloette that I covet.
Iirc they get most of their stock from classic car auctions so there's a good mark up on the Maser IMHO.
I'd want to see copious bills for regular maintenance and driveline / body overhaul from a specialist before I parted with my savings....
I saw one of these at auction a few years back (it didn't sell) and it seemed to me like a real potential bargain as it looked immaculate. Right up until the moment my friend (classic car restorer) talked me through the problems with it and how much it would cost to fix and thats before getting at the bits he couldn't see. I guess it was nice as a piece of art but nothing more.
Properly 70's exotic!!
These cars get such a bad review because they are not looked after properly and then (surprise surprise) fall into disrepair. A Ferrari of the same vintage would be nothing but trouble if some chancer had tried to run it on peanuts, neglected thes ervicing,etc.
Iirc they get most of their stock from classic car auctions so there's a good mark up on the Maser IMHO.
....
http://www.motorbase.com/auctionlot/by-id/21176828...
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