*One of a mere 213 produced *Same owner for 32 years *New Pirelli tyres *All original books and tools Maserati followed-up its first mid-engined supercar - the Bora - with the similar Merak.

Launched in 1972, the latter was intended as competition for Ferrari's top-selling Dino 246 and used a stretched, 3.0-litre, 190bhp version of the Citroen SM's four-cam V6.

The French firm owned Maserati at the time so the Merak made use of the SM's transmission and power-operated, all-disc braking and - more controversially – Citroen's quirky instrumentation, though this applied to left-hand drive cars only, right-hand drive examples using the Bora's more conventional fascia.

The unitary-construction chassis and all-independent suspension remained basically as the V8-engined Bora's, though the Merak offered the convenience of '+2' seating in the rear and superior all-round vision thanks to its distinctive rear 'flying buttresses'.

Like any true thoroughbred, the Merak possessed handling commen...