That was my car AM122-2182 Steering Wheel Co on FL did that Targa conversion in the mid 70’s. I purchased it from Joe Alves with my best friend in 2014, and we sold it to Anthony Noble in CA that year. I am not sure if he still owns it. Very dumb of us to sell it ($22K if I remember). Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hello All, I really enjoyed reading all the posts! Nice job everyone !!! John, your post really nailed the finer points of the Merak SS. The USA market Merak SS was greatly hampered performance wise by four areas. If one is looking for better performance as opposed to what came originally from the factory, there are options. I think of it as improving the breed. A. In the case of the USA Merak SS, both intermediate and late models, the bumpers greatly play into degrading the performance of the suspension and steering. The Merak was never designed to accommodate that extra weight on both ends. Once the USA bumpers are removed and replaced with Euro stainless steel bumpers, thank you Walter, the suspension responds properly and the steering response becomes much more precise. Once the Eurofication process is completed, there is a weight reduction of approximately 90 lbs.. B. Apart from the air pump that causes the USA exhaust manifold to glow red and cook the surrounding area into oblivion , it also greatly hampers exhaust velocity especially at higher rpm. The USA muffler assembly weighs in at a heavy 48 lbs., rather heavy. Replacing the USA exhaust system with a Euro exhaust not only gives a weight savings of approximately 23 lbs., but also improves throttle response. C. While I really like the Merak 15x7 Campagnolo wheels, I took one from Walter's playbook and replaced them with 16x8 BBS wheels and high performance tires for greatly improved handling. BTW, The BBS wheels weigh the same as the Campagnolo wheels. D. The rear suspension can be easily replaced with adjustable coil over shocks that can be dialed in for compression and rebound with ten setting per function. There is a weight savings of approximately 26 lbs.. Ciao, George
Hallo Walter, Does your European Merak SS have 16 or 20 fuses? Inquiring minds would like to know! Ciao, George
Beautiful car, but I imagine one reason why it hasn't sold is this line in the listing "the clutch will need to be replaced before it can be roadworthy". Seems very odd to not fix the clutch when everything else (except sunroof) is very nice. Also seems like a lot of money to ask for a car you have to immediately do major work on before you can use it.
yeah very true. Beverly Hills car club does absolutely nothing to the cars they get in inventory anyway. For anyone looking, I have done a clutch on one of these now with the gearbox largely in place. Only one of the half shafts (unbolt right side shaft) needs to be unbolted from the gearbox and pushed aside. The tray holding the alternator, ac compressor, and accompanying driven shaft from the engine does NOT need to be removed. The gearbox mounting bar at the rear is unbolted, removed, then the gearbox can be pulled back and turned just enough on the square chassis members to get to the clutch and flywheel. Took maybe 4-5 hours to remove.
