Maserati Bora

The Maserati Bora (Tipo AM117) is a two-seat, rear mid-engine, rear-wheel drive sports car and grand tourer, manufactured by Maserati from 1971 to 1978. In common with other Maserati cars of the era, it is named after a wind, Bora being the wind of Trieste. The Bora was the company's first mid-engined street car and ended Maserati's reputation for producing fast but technologically out of date cars, also being the first Maserati with four wheel independent suspension. In contrast, competitor Lamborghini had first used full independent suspension in 1964.[1]

History

Shortly after Citroën took a controlling interest in Maserati in 1968, the concept of a mid-engined two-seat sports car was proposed. Lamborghini and De Tomaso already had the Miura and Mangusta, whilst Ferrari

Specifications

The original engine is a high-revving 4719 cc producing 310 PS at 6,000 rpm and 47 kgm of torque at 4,200 rpm. The US-bound Bora had larger 4.9-litre engine from the Ghibli as to compensate for the reduced power due to the exhaust emission regulations. In 1976, Maserati switched to the larger 4.9-litre engine with a 8.75 to 1 compression ratio, rated at 330 PS at 5,500 rpm and 49 kgm at 4,000 rpm for markets outside of the United States. Both engines trace their lineage back to the famous 450S racecar, were made of aluminium alloy and had hemispherical combustion chambers with 16 valves total operated by four cams (chain-driven). Both engines were mounted longitudinally in the middle of the car and were mated to a ZF-1 five-speed transaxle sending power to the rear wheels. They were fed by four 42 DCNF/14 downdraught Weber carburetors with Bosch electronic ignition. The compression ratio is 8.5:1.

The most distinctive details of the Bora were the brushed stainless steel roof and windscreen pillars. Inside, the bucket seats, dash, door trim, centre console and rear bulkhead were trimmed in leather, with electric windows and air conditioning as standard. The steering column was manually adjustable for rake and reach. The auxiliary hydraulic circuit system controls adjusted the driver's seat vertically, the pedal box (consisting of the brake, clutch and throttle pedals) can be set horizontally forwards and backwards by around 76 mm – a first such application in the world for a production car, and also to raise and lower the concealed headlights in the front fenders.

US models

The larger 4.9-litre V8 engine from the US-bound Ghibli produced 280 hp at 6,000 rpm and 339 lbft of torque at 4,200 rpm. From 1973 on, the engine was fitted with air pump as to decrease the exhaust emissions, and its output was increased to 300 hp at 6,000 rpm.

Larger, beefier bumpers were fitted to the US-bound cars as to comply with bumper standards, though many Bora owners in the United States and Canada have subsequently replaced them with the smaller, thinner bumpers for European and international markets.

The colour of turn signal indicators on the taillamps was changed from amber to red for the US and Canadian market.

Chassis

The original estimated weight was 1400 kg, however, noise and safety concerns increased the weight to 1535 kg. It is popularly believed that the Bora is heavier than the Ghibli; however, the Ghibli weighs 1650 kg, some 115 kg more than the Bora. The reason for this misconception probably stems from the state of tune of their respective engines as well as the difference in the gearing of the two cars.

A combined steel monocoque chassis and body featured a tubular steel subframe at the back for the engine and transmission. Bora also featured four-wheel independent suspension (a first for a Maserati passenger car) with coil springs, telescopic suspension dampers, and anti-roll bars.[5] The development prototype and the similar show car first seen at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show featured the front suspension using MacPherson struts, but this was abandoned for the production version due to the severe drivability issue. Using MacPherson struts in combination with very wide front tyres and rack-and-pinion steering system produced stronger and undesirable kickback. For the production cars, Maserati reverted to a conventional wishbone arrangement for the front suspension.

Citroën's advanced high-pressure LHM hydraulic technology was adapted into two circuit systems: main and auxiliary. The main controls the ventilated disc brakes while the auxiliary operates the horizontal and vertical movements of the pedal box (clutch, brake, and throttle), the vertical adjustments of the driver's seat, and the raising and lowering of the retractable headlights.[4]

manufacturer	Maserati
production	1971–1978 (Bora 4.7 L) (289 produced) 1973–1978 (Bora 4.9 L) (275 produced) 564 produced (total)
assembly	Italy: Modena
class	Sports car
body style	2-door coupé
layout	Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel drive
engine	4719 cc Tipo AM 107.07 V8 4930 cc Tipo AM 107.16 V8
transmission	5-speed ZF manual
wheelbase	2600 mm
length	4335 mm
width	1768 mm
height	1134 mm
weight	1,535 kg
related	Maserati Merak
designer	Giorgetto Giugiaro at Italdesign
sp	us

History

Design and innovations

Specifications

US models

Chassis

See also

Further reading

External links

References