Jan 10, 2018 • Uncategorized •

Maseratis of the modern day are a great disappointment compared to their elder statesmen. This 1976 Maserati Merak is a stunning alternative to a Ferrari 308 of the same era, but you’ll have to be handy with self-assembly and know a good shipping merchant. The project-grade Merak seen here on eBay is located in the Czech Republic and said to be a stalled project with its major components included. The Buy-It-Now is $27,500.

Without the Merak’s distinctive buttresses along either side of the rear half of the car, this almost looks like a supercar ute from down under. The body shows evidence of prior prep and paintwork, but looks straight; no word if the primered sections reflect rust repair or prior accident damage. The rear bumper is missing along with the front, but it may be included within the multiple piles of spare parts. The good news is, this is a Euro-spec car so it should have the slim chrome bumpers.

Why does that matter? The US cars had ugly rubber overriders stuck to the front and rear. Other clues include the speedometer in KMH. You might assume that given the car’s location, of course it would be Euro-spec – but we’ve seen enough domestic market projects end up overseas that nothing is ever for certain. The interior presents very well for a car that’s been disassembled for restoration, and the uncracked dash is nice to see. Seats appear original and largely undamaged as well, but here’s the big question: what about the motor?

Well, it’s included, just not in the car. The Merak shared its 3.0 V6 with the Citroen SM, effectively turned 180 degrees for installation it the Maserati. While not abundant, there are seemingly more than a few SMs used as parts cars hanging around so replacement components shouldn’t be impossible to find. Still, we’d want to know more about what level of servicing the mid-ship mounted motor had received before bolting it into the Merak seen here. Or, would you swap in a different powerplant altogether?