The classic car dealer I purchased this car from told me that the car was one of many cars that had been seized in an IRS raid for back taxes from someone in Texas. It seemed this car was purchased in 1980, driven for a while and then parked or stored for a number of years. The car had only 8,000 miles on it when I purchased it. The dealer had done some work because of the long time the car had sat around. I test drove it and noticed a couple of things, one of which was the clutch not feeling very well when I shifted the five speed box.
I got a discount and directed to a shop who did a clutch job on the car (at the dealer's price). Over the couple of years I had the car, several other things went wrong with the car. The ignition system went out, and world wide no parts were available. My mechanic left the original parts on the car, but he hid a new MSD ignition in the engine compartment. So the car ran fine, but still looked original. To get a little more power out of the V6, I had the jets on the carbs replaced. Helped a little.
I can't really remember all of the parts I had replaced, but it was a long list. When a car has not been driven for a number of years, certain parts dry out, or freeze in place and have to be replaced. They all did not fail at the same time, so it seemed that every other month I was back in the shop. Some parts were available, but you had to wait a long time (like a month or so).
All in all I liked the design of the car, enjoyed joining the Maserati Owners Club and attending meetings around Southern California, and having one of 652 total SS models produced. On the other hand I was tired of getting towed home (over half a dozen times) and it looked like my AAA card was about to be canceled from excessive use.
After a long talk with my mechanic, who worked only on Maserati, Ferrari and Lamborghini cars, in which he advised me to sell the car and buy something reliable like a Ferrari, I did.
Sorry to see the Merak go on one hand. On the other hand it was like a boat. "A hole in the water, you keep pouring money into."
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