We recently named our top 10 grand tourers, with the Ferrari 812 Superfast, Rolls-Royce Wraith and Aston Martin DB11 taking the medals, in that order.
Call me old-fashioned, but while that's a fantastic trio of cruise-missile-speed-capable cruisers, the offerings in the class from 43 years ago appeal to me far more, both in terms of looks and driving experience.
Back then, Europe was blessed with the Lamborghini Urraco S, Ferrari Dino 308 GT4, Porsche 911S, De Tomaso Pantera, BMW 3.0CSi and the car we're viewing in retrospect today, the fantastic Maserati Merak.
This Giugiaro-designed car, which Autocar described on 4 January 1975 as "outstandingly good-looking", was the lesser sibling to the prettier-still Bora supercar.
While the two were both 14ft 2in long and 5ft 10in wide, the Merak had less power and two extra seats.
Like the Bora, the Merak was mid-engined, but with a 3.0-litre V6 rather than that car's 4.7-litre or 4.9-litre V8, with power being sent to the rear wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox. The engine was essentially a bored-out version of the 2.7-litre V6 fitted to the Citroën SM and produced 190bhp and 188lb ft.
This shorter engine allowed for two extra seats in the rear, of which we said: "Considering that the Merak retains an in-line arrangement for the engine, the provision of as much room inside as the Urraco or Dino 308 GT4 is laudable, because both the latter cars use the more compact, but expensive, transverse layout to arrive at adequate space inside."
Other capabilities that the Merak had in common, we said, were "a top speed of more than 130mph, a standing start time to 100mph of close to 20sec and the ability to cruise comfortably at two miles per minute". Although doing the latter would have pushed fuel economy down to around 19mpg, that was no worse than what could be expected of any of the Merak's contemporaries, save for the fuel-injected 911S.
The Merak was priced at £7821, placing it above the 3.0CSi (£7657) and 911S (£7497), while the Dino 308 GT4 and Urraco S demanded £8340 and £9368 respectively.
Upon hopping into the Merak, we found that "although the rear tyres are of generous width, the powerful clutch, suitable gearing and adequate power enables the rear wheels to be spun easily from a standing start".
We continued: "The car sprints to 30mph in 2.7sec before second gear is taken on 6600rpm on the big, easily read rev counter. To 40mph takes 4.2sec and 50mph comes up in 6.0sec before the change up to third gear at 53mph. It takes 27.7sec to reach 110mph and 38.0sec to get to 120mph, all well within a mile."
As a grand tourer, road noise on the move was an important factor, and we found it to be "perfectly acceptable and, indeed, the exhaust note of the four-cam V6 at high revs will gladden the heart of any enthusiast". In addition, suppression of wind noise was "particularly good".
"There is a lack of castor return action around the straight-ahead position that makes the car 'nervous' if there is appreciable camber change in the road. The lack of castor assistance means that a fairly firm grip needs to be kept on the wheel; if 'hands off' is tried, the car darts around."
"The seats provide good lumbar and knee support and the pronounced side rolls at the edges of the seat backs ensure good lateral support.
