1977 Merak SS at Aston Workshops

allandwf

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10,958
It has been for sale for three years that I can remember. Originally priced very optimistically.
 

conaero

Forum Owner
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34,593
All due respect to Merak owners but I feel these cars are very overpriced for what they are.

I looked at a couple 5 years back and they were all £10-20k depending upon condition.

Somewhere in the middle is a fair value these days I feel...circa £30-40k
 

allandwf

Member
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10,958
Congratulations, a very pretty car. It will certainly be a different drive to your QP. ;)
When I had one I could never come to terms that my wifes Volvo was the quicker car! lol
 
G

Guest 1678

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Good lad -now make sure it gets some mileage under its MXVs.It will appreciate the attention.
 

Merak Memories

New Member
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42
There is no doubt prices are softening now, which seems to be due to a number of factors, including general economic uncertainty and buyers taking stock of cars that are now commanding material asking prices, which until recently had been viewed with indifference. I was considering a Ferrari Mondial a few years ago and viewed a number of cars. I have been amazed to see asking prices double over 3 to 4 years, but now notice prices falling back considerably. It is hard to justify paying such a premium for a car that was criticized so widely. We all remember the Top Gear supercar for 10k episode, the 308gt4, Merak and Lambo and Clarkson telling us to avoid them at all costs, having spent half an hour ripping into the cars. How things change. The key to all this is to buy a car you want and will enjoy owning, then the price and upkeep costs become less relevant.
 

Belfry

Member
Messages
184
Great. Hopefully you'll get some good weather to enjoy it.


Sadly there were some issues that meant that I couldn't bring the car back with me ☹️

There was an ignition issues that needs resolving, but more interestingly there is a gearing problem that I'd love some advice about ...

There appears to be an issue with the gearing (especially first gear).

The owners manual states that in first gear, at 5500 rpm, I should be doing a maximum of 35 mph. In “my†new car I am doing nearer 65 mph in first gear at this RPM! If you red line at 6500 rpm the car it it is possible to do 80 mph in first gear in my vehicle. This very long gearing makes the car quite difficult to pull away without riding the clutch, and hill starts are a total nightmare.

This morning I drove in a friends Marek SS from 1976 and we tried his first gear gearing. At just over 5000 rpm we were hitting somewhere between 30 and 35 mph.

The garage that sold me my car or certain that there is nothing wrong with the gear ratios, and that my car came from the factory like this.

Before I reject the car, does anyone have any thoughts about what might be happening? Could the final drive ratio have been altered at some point?

I would love to be able to keep this car as it is in lovely condition, however, I'm going to need some wisdom from you guys before I decide.

Many thanks.
 

Ewan

Member
Messages
6,757
That's completely crazy. Speak with a proper Classic Maserati specialist such as McGrath - don't trust what the salesman at Aston Works has said. Sounds like the car is in third, not first.
 

marios kriticos

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256
That doesn't sound correct and on the ignition you need to make sure it's ok because only on of the ignition amplifier is repairable , the on that has two coils you can repair the single coil you can't .
You need to get as a second opinion on the car before you collect it again.
Marios
 

allandwf

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10,958
It should not be like that we'll mine wasn't . Are you positive the speedo reads correctly, and it's not an indicated speed problem?
 

allandwf

Member
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10,958
On a plus point, I'm sure it knocked the 0_60 time down, so may be plausible for the last of them.
 

allandwf

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10,958
I would have thought it would be obvious if trying to pull away in 3rd? It's not an overly torquey engine.