Italian Giorgetto Giugiaro has designed some memorable cars that have stood the test of time.
One of them, the mid-engined Maserati Bora (named after a wind that blows in the Adriatic Sea off the coast of northern Italy) has just turned 50.
It was the Italian marque’s first mid-engined road car, and was followed by the equally svelte but smaller Merak.
When the Bora burst on to the automotive scene, dropping jaws at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1971, Maserati was a manufacturer of conservatively-engineered front-engined sports and grand touring cars.
There had been a mid-engined Maserati before – the Tipo 63 sports racing car which debuted in 1961 but failed to reach its potential – but a road car with that layout was new territory for the Modena-based brand.
From the late 1960s, other Italian supercar makers had mid-engined cars in their stables – Ferrari had the Dino 246, Lamborghini the Miura, de Tomaso the Mangusta.
Maserati decided it had to follow the trend and commissioned Giugiaro to style its mid-engined contender.
His wedge-shaped design was stunning and, as it has turned out, timeless.
Maserati built the Bora until 1978, turning out 564 cars.
Initially it ran a 4.7-litre V8 producing 231kW (to be joined by the 4.9-litre unit two years later),
The V8 was mounted longitudinally in a subframe in the monocoque chassis.
The Bora was a technological revolution for Maserati in 1971.
It had retractable headlights to prevent aerodynamic drag, projecting differential on the rear axle, independent suspensions on all wheels (for the first time in a Maserati), disc brakes, dry-mounted single disc clutch, five-speed gearbox and telescopic suspension dampers.
The Bora had a top speed of more than 280km/h, a little shy of the 185mph mentioned by guitar hero Joe Walsh in the memorable verse “my Maserati does 185, I lost my licence now I don’t drive” from his 1978 hit, “Life’s been good to me so far.”
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