Please note that this lot will need to be collected from Karlskron, Germany.

Launched at the Paris Auto Show of 1972, Maserati’s new Merak model drew heavily from its elder sibling the Bora, with much of the latter’s steel monocoque chassis being carried over to the new car.

The use of a suitably adapted version of the Giulio Alfieri-designed 3-litre V-6 - as opposed to the 450S-derived V-8 of the Bora - enabled the fitment of two occasional rear seats, with the design process being sensitively managed by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Italdesign.

In 1976, the higher specification Merak SS entered production, offering a power increase to 220 horsepower and a weight reduction of some 50 kilograms relative to the standard car.

This particular US-supplied Merak SS left the factory in March 1979 finished in Rosso Fuoco, with contrasting black leather interior.

In the early 1990s, it returned to Europe to join a prominent German Maserati collection before being sold to Austrian sometime Interse...