REASONS FOR THE CENTRAL ENGINE design and engineering are the same as those which led to the creation of the Mexico, Ghibli, and lndy. RMaserati did not make extraordinary cars, states Giulio Alfieri,%ut built good cars that made the customers happy. They had large-displacement, low-stressed en- gines, that were highly reliable. They were safe at high speeds, not easily veering 0 任 course under pressure 仕 om sidewinds. and offered remarkable road-holding for vehicles still using rigid rear axles. They were extremely emcient touring cars, produced at manageable expense, and selling at tolerable prices. fThe GhibIi was a great car,' says Alfieri. elt was a simple concept, produced with simple means, g1V1ng great results. ' The Bora was not quite SO simple, but it excelled in Other ways. Cavara S C レ ta 0 dra え〃 g reveals 0 〃 the ma えれ elements えれ the Bora CO れ Str リ C 0 〃 . 召 c ん solid indicates chassis number あ ca 0 ル Ta ん e 〃 from the parts list 27

CHAPTER EIGHT roén for the SM in 1973 , but 0 Ⅱ ly 300 in 1974. SaIes of Maserati cars did not feel the first petroleum shock in the same way, to some extent due to a healthy trade with Arab sheiks. Maserati sold 601 cars in 1971 , 649 in 1972 , and 661 in 1973. The downtrend was not violent when it began in 1974 , sales declining to 531 cars. As Maserati went into the 1975 calendar year, it had a pay roll of 795 workers. There was not enough work t0 keep them occupied, and the factory capacity was sadly under-utilised. The financial losses were rising so fast that Citroén s top management began t0 baulk at the subsidies Guy MaIIeret was asking for. Maserati had lost five million dollars in tWO years. The cr1SIS soon TroIIeys 0 rails carry the built up to disaster level, and on the 22 May, 1975 , ん from 0 れ e end 可 the ん 0 〃 the other as な Citroén placed the Maserati company in liquid- completed. Engines ん 0 怩 ation and transferred all its personnel back tO been ル I tested before France. The SM was taken out of production. 〃 0 〃 at あれ 114

Chapter 8 Out of the French ashes and intO the Argentinian fire lt is diffcult to pinpoint any one single factor as bearing the full guilt for bringing Maserati to its corporate knees. The fact is that the company was losing money t00 fast, and finally Citroén decided to throw in the towel. A few facts on the Maserati operation during Citroén's ownership Of the Modenese car company sheds some light on the matter. Maserati sales had been 643 cars in 1967 , climbing t0 698 ⅲ 1968. Due to cutbacks ⅲ production While the resources were con- centrated on new-model preparations, sales slip- ped to 560 cars in 1969 , but made a good recovery to 648 in 1970. During 1970 , the average number of workers at ノつ Maserati was 520. The hiring continued in 1971 , as the model range expanded and the order flow was speeding up, t0 786. The payroll grew t0 836 people in 1973 and peaked at 920 in 1974. Orsi influence on company policy was severely diminished ⅲ the autumn of 1972 , when Adolfo Orsi died at the age of 74. ln the period that followed, engine production for Citroén occupied far more personnel than the building Of Maserati A あ 0 んえル the engine cars. That period was brought to a halt by OPEC's compartment om わ e んえ〃 d the car ん ard な reveals ん e engine action 0 Ⅱ 0 ⅱ prices and deliverles in Oct0ber 1973. 観 all—submerged under lots Demand for the SM dwindled, and sales nose- 可 ducting, ん mb g , 0 れ d dived. Maserati delivered 2750 engines to Cit- を、 113

REASONS FOR THE CENTRAL ENGINE Maserati's commercial director, Ald0 TarruS10, The 0 ケ 0 ~ 〃イ combined al ん ors 0 er u,' ん Giulio Alfieri, Guy MaIleret and two other French r レ〃〃 g gear, w 〃ん Citroén representatives. remarkable results AIfieri told me that until that time, he had been a partisan Of the front-mounted engine. He had designed chassis with centrally mounted englnes for racing cars, beginning with Tipo 63 ⅲ 1961 , but felt that for touring cars, the engine belonged in 仕 0 Ⅱ t. He still maintains that for a proper 2 十 2 seating arrangement, the engine must stay up front. Reflecting upon the suggestion for a two-seater with the engine behind the seats, Alfieri took a number Of exterior factors intO account. Maserati needed tO show the world that its engineering was not stagnant. Naturally, a number of different ways Of making such a demonstration could be proposed. The most direct approach, and the one likely to be best understood by the public, went through a new product.

CHAPTER ON 刊 as an underlying influence in the diverslon of the course taken by Maserati. When Maserati withdrew its offcial team from grand prix racing, the marvellous 250F was at the end Of its career, and Maserati had Ⅱ 0 direct replacement for it. A 12-cyIinder project for the l}-litre Formula One coming into effect in 1961 was not developed beyond the prototype testing stage. The lightweight, front-engined ebirdcage' Maseratis Tipo 60 and 61 , were no longer com- petitive 1 Ⅱ endurance raclng, and the success Of subsequent sports/racing prototypes, from Tipo 63 to Tipo 151 , was mediocre. Both Cooper and Maserati realised that the V12 3-litre was t00 bulky and t00 heavy to win grand prix races for very long. Concurrently with the dimming of raclng prospects for Maserati, the production car side was b100m ⅲ g. The 3500GT was rapidly being improved and refined, and the model range underwent what, for a factory producing less than 1000 cars a year, amounted to a veritable pro- liferation. Maserati added the 5000GT in 1959 , the MistraI in 1962 , the Quattroporte in 1963 , the Mexico in 1965 , and the Ghibli in 1966. ln a carefully timed overlap, based on economlc use of tooling and other resources, the 5000GT was phased out in 1964 and the 3500GT in 1966. Because Alfieri had a quick grasp of industrial and marketing considerations, and was able tO apply them in technical terms tO the nature and character Of Maserati touring cars, hiS general feeling about cars matured side by side with the subtle redirection of priorities 1 Ⅱ new-model planning, design, and execution. lnevitably, the Bora bears the mark of this part-mental, part- metal change in emphasis—moving away from raw, noisy horsepower and towards more civilized highway travel. 16

A BELIEF IN A CERTAIN TYPE OF CAR prejudice, call it what you will, it is certain that some 0f the Bora's problems ⅲ establishing itself were due tO people's expectation having basic differences 仕 om what Maserati had intended and striven for. lt is true also, that the Bora failed to make a clear statement as to the kind of car it was. Maserati publicity material had always been notoriously uncommunicative about the philo- sophy behind its products. Ⅵ don't even know if there was a marketing strategy. What we do know is that there were several trends in progress at Maserati during the years preceding the creation of the Bora. These trends co-existed within the framework Of the company's activity, and though they can be described as parallel, they were uncoordinated and neither necessarily CO Ⅱ 1- plementary, nor conflicting. One trend was the continuation Of Maserati racing traditions. . A れ - other was the trend away from the traditional stark sports car towards luxury cars 0f great refinement. Some facts will help illuminate this situation. Maserati withdrew its factory team from grand prix racmg in 1958 , and six years later discon- tinued building sports/racing prototypes for Other entrants. But they continued t0 produce boat-racing engines for particular customers, and Cooper Cars, then Of Byfleet not Surbiton, used the Maserati 3 litre V12 in its Formula One cars up t0 the end 0f the 1967 season. Power unit research and development goals were not chan- ged, but continued along the same line that had helped improve the racing engines—a per- sistent quest for higher effciency. This would pay 0 in more horsepower per litre, which would help keep the engine weight 10W for any targeted output, and thereby contribute tO making the complete car lighter. lt would alSO pay 0ffin terms 11

THE PROOF OF THE BORA PUDDING Above The 0 か〃ん e provided C00 〃れ g 0 か for 0 あ 6 レ t extremely wide radiator Above right The お ora needed big 尾 s Above The お ora な 0 可 those r の℃ cars t ん / 00 ん eq レ 0 〃襯ケ ac 怩 regardless 0 / e 出盟ル t 85

ココわを Left 1 〃 g. Alfieri did most 可 the design or ん 0 ルこん e t ~ ル cam six-cylinder 可 the 250F Below For years, グ asera was reputed build the s. 盟 0 s - 0 〃 d ra 〃 g cars that ん ad the s ん 0 〃盟ⅲ g. 〃 e 尾 , 0 2000CGS the 7954 Tour de France (class 〃 er. ) 第物【物 4

Chapter 6 The proof 0f the BO pudding From the moment When 、 journalists were invited to drive the Bora, the car staked a firm claim for a place ⅲ the élite 0f the highest- performing cars in the world. We had to draw the inevitable comparison with the Ghibli and yet keep the two separate in our minds. The spectre 0f the Miura would haunt the background tO any attempt at evaluating the Bora, as it would with any new car using that chassis configuration and having the same pre- tensions as tO performance. You can have all the facts 0 Ⅱ Maserati right in your head. You can memorize the detail specifi- cations Of the Bora. You can go and see how the cars are made. But you still would not know the real meaning Of the name Maserati or properly understand the Bora until you had driven the car. The driving experlence must not be dismissed as a few quarter-mile acceleration tests, and maybe a crack at pushing the speedometer needle to the top end 0f the scale. NO, the car has tO be driven under all sorts Of conditions, bOth leisurely and hurriedly. You must drive it enough tO obtain an easy familiarity with the car. Then and only then do you get the proper feel 0f it. lt's a feeling that comes when you begin t0 work as an extension Of the machinery and not as an OUtSide agent trying tO badger it around. That won't 82

Top left The odd cams ん 0 ″可 the V6 0 リ あ 0 ん e 怩〃 odder the sprockets were added Top right The cams ん 0 ″ ca な施 r 可 the V6, seen om the 〃 , 尾怩 0 な the cams ん 0 ″ sprockets Centre left Assembly 可 the V6 was 0 meticulous 0 が 0 か , ma ~ 〃 due the three tiers 0 / C ん ai 〃 drives Centre right V6 盟な〃 assemblies e made え〃 sets ん identical e 朝んな SO as ass レ尾 perfect 盟 ma わ 0 厄〃 ce Left A 外 ase craftsman lowers the V6 cra 〃ん s ん 0 ″え厩 0 the ar g shells 105