Merak Registry
FAQ
The Merak models

There are three basic models:

Production Description
Merak 1972-1975 The "early" Merak cars with Citroen dashboard, Citroen hydraulics, Citroen brakes, Citroen gearbox and other minor items.
Merak 2000GT 1977-1982 Special version of the Merak with a 2000cc engine for the Italian market only.
Merak SS 1976-1982 The "SS" is the upgraded Merak, with more powerful engine, larger carburettors, higher compression ratio and weight reduction. Early models came with the Square dashboard and later models came with the Bora dashboard.

The "Merak" and the "Merak SS" where never produced at the same time, the "SS" is the evolution that came after 1975. The "Merak 2000GT" was sold in parallel with the "Merak SS" for the Italian market, due to strict taxation on engine capacity. The "Merak 2000GT" was restricted to three colours only: Argento (silver), Celeste Chiaro (light blue) and Oro Longchamps (gold).

Officially the production of the Merak ended in December of 1982, but 1983 models exist due to the fact that production of the last cars started in late 1982 but ended in early 1983, those cars are registered as 1983 cars in this Registry, but their official production year is 1982.

The Citroen influence from the "early" Merak remained until the late 70's due to stocked parts. Eventually everything was replaced by more common or contemporary parts, for example the LHM hydraulic system for the brakes was replaced with the common Girling brakes.

Merak "80" or "tipo 80"

The Merak model "80" or "tipo 80" is an official designation, of a variant of the Merak SS, produced during the early 80's (1980-1982), close to the end of the production, for the European market only. Those special Merak SS cars have no Citroen parts and no Citroen hydraulics, while the brakes are regular brakes made by Girling and the headlights are raised via electric motors.

Only 66 "tipo 80" cars have been produced.

Be aware that there are many fake cars claiming to be "tipo 80" but they are not.

The engine - codename AM114

The Merak engine differs based on the model and the market the car was sold to as new.

Market Engine Notes
Merak EU AM 114.50.30
Merak US AM 114.51.30
Merak SS EU AM 114.53.30
Merak SS US AM 114.55.30 From 1975 till 1977
Merak SS US AM 114.63.30 From 1977 till 1983
Merak SS JP AM 114.63.30/G
Merak SS AU AM 114.63.30
Merak 2000 IT AM 114.62.20
The three different dashboards

There are three types of dashboards.

- The Citroen dashboard, which was fitted in the Merak during the production years of 1972-1975 when Maserati was under the control of Citroen.

- The Square dashboard, came with the Merak SS for the European markets, after Maserati was under the control of De Tomaso in late 1975 and was fitted with round Veglia dials. This dashboard was also used in the Merak 2000 but fitted with the oval Jaeger dials.

- The Bora dashboard, was fitted in all Right-Hand drive Meraks. It was fitted in the Merak SS for the USA markets in 1976 and later years. It was also fitted in the Merak SS for the European markets in 1980 and later years.

Please note that the years mentioned above are not absolute, some early/late year models may vary slightly from the "official" production year.

VIN (Vehicle Identification Number or chassis code)

The Vehicle Identification Number or VIN for sort, is the unique serial number used by the automotive industry to identify cars and other vehicles. Before the 1980's each manufacturer used his own VIN format. Thus, the Merak uses the following format:

Company ID The letters "AM", which are said to mean Alfieri Maserati.
Model code The Merak code number is 122.
Special code There are three special codes: "A" which identifies a Merak SS, "D" which identifies a Merak 2000, and "US" which identifies a USA export car.
Serial number Also known as chassis code. The serial is a 4 digit number, even numbers identify left hand drive cars and odd numbers identify right hand drive cars.

We use dots to separate the fields, so for example the VIN: AM.122.A.565 would identify this car as right hand drive Merak SS for the EU market. There is no way to identify a right hand drive car going to England or to Australia.

In the early 80's, the VIN numbers of all manufacturers started to adhere to a set of standards (ISO 3779, SAE J853, FMVSS 115 and ADR 61/2). Thus, later production Meraks exported to the US market, have a different VIN format due to those standards which became mandatory in the USA at that time.

For example, the Merak with VIN AM122.A.US.2742 became: ZAMCA2102AA222742. Which uses the following format:

Z The assigned letter for Italian manufacturers
A Identifies the brand as a Maserati
M Type (vehicle)
C Body type (C stands for Coupe)
A Type of engine (A stands for 3000cc with carbs)
2 Sports car
1 Active safety
0 Fixed character value
2 Check digit based on the above
A Model year (1980)
A Built in Modena
22 Type of vehicle (22 stands for Merak)
2742 Serial number, also known as chassis code

The new format is easy to convert to the old format because you only need the last four digits.

Production numbers

Official production number of all Maserati Merak models: 1817

The following table illustrates production numbers per model:

Production
Merak 647
Merak 2000 200
Merak SS 970

The Merak SS model is also split into three different types, each type has its own number of cars produced. The following table illustrates the different types:

Production
Merak SS - Tipo "80" 66
Merak SS - Oval instruments, including square dashboard 592
Merak SS - Bora dashboard and USA conversions 312