The Maserati Indy (''Tipo AM116'') is a four-seater
fastback
A fastback is an automotive styling feature, defined by the rear of the car having a single slope from the roof to the tail.
The kammback is not a fastback design with a roofline that tapers downward toward the car's rear before being cut of ...
grand tourer
A grand tourer (GT) is a type of car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving with performance and luxury. The most common format is a Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, front-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-door coupé with ...
produced by the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
car manufacturer
Maserati
Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914 in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...
from 1969 to 1975. It was the first car produced by Maserati under
Citroën
Citroën ()The double-dot diacritic over the 'e' is a diaeresis () indicating the two vowels are sounded separately, and not as a diphthong. is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded on 4 June 19 ...
ownership.
History
The Indy was conceived as an alternative to the
Ghibli offering a V8 engine and room for four people; it effectively replaced both the ageing six-cylinder
2+2 Two two may refer to:
* Two Two (투투), a Korean pop group
* Jacob Two-Two, a fictional character in several books, films, and a TV series
See also
* 2 (disambiguation)
* 2+2 (disambiguation)
* 2/2 (disambiguation)
* Tootoo
* Tutu (disambig ...
Maserati Sebring
The Maserati Sebring was a two-door 2+2 coupé manufactured by Maserati from 1962 until 1968. Based on the Maserati 3500, the Sebring was aimed at the American Gran Turismo market and named after Maserati's 1957 racing victory at the 12 Hours o ...
—which descended from the 1957
3500 GT— and the
first generation Quattroporte. Two
coachbuilder
A coachbuilder manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles.
The trade of producing coachwork began with bodies for horse-drawn vehicles. Today it includes custom automobiles, buses, Coach (bus), motor coaches, and passenger car (rai ...
s showed their proposals at the November 1968
Salone dell'automobile di Torino, both based on a Maserati 4.2-litre chassis. On
Ghia
Carrozzeria Ghia SpA (established 1916 in Turin) is an Italian automobile design and coachbuilding firm, established by Giacinto Ghia and Gariglio as "Carrozzeria Ghia & Gariglio". The headquarters are located at Corso Guglielmo Marconi, 4, Tu ...
's stand there was the Simùn, a 2+2 berlinetta designed by
Giorgetto Giugiaro
Giorgetto Giugiaro (; born 7 August 1938) is an Italian automotive designer. He has worked on supercars and popular everyday vehicles. He was named Car Designer of the Century in 1999 and inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2002. He w ...
; on
Carrozzeria Vignale's, a sleek 4-seater fastback penned by the internal technical office led by
Virginio Vairo and Elio Mainardi. Both coachbuilders had already an established relationship with Maserati, as Vignale had been responsible for the 3500 GT Spyder,
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
and Sebring, while Giugiaro had recently penned the Ghibli at Ghia.
Vignale's prototype was preferred, and the production model was launched by Maserati at the
Geneva Motor Show
The Geneva International Motor Show was an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva.
The show was hosted at the Palexpo, a convention centre located next to the Geneva Cointrin International Airport. The Salon was organised b ...
the following March. The car was christened Indy in honour of Maserati's two victories at the
Indy 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...
.
At its launch in 1969 the Indy was offered with a 4.2-litre V8 engine. From 1970 a 4.7-litre Indy 4700 was offered alongside the 4200; the same year some interior updates were introduced, including seats with retractable headrests and a new
dashboard
A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel or IP, or fascia) is a control panel (engineering), control panel set within the central console of a vehicle, boat, or cockpit of an aircraft or spacecraft. Usually located directly ahead of the ...
. In 1972, Maserati added the Indy 4900 to the range, equipped with the new 4.9-litre V8.
Production of the Indy ended in 1975. In total 1,104 were produced,
440 of them were Indy 4200s, 364 were Indy 4700s and 300 were Indy 4900s.
Specifications
The Indy used
unibody
A vehicle frame, also historically known as its ''chassis'', is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism.
Until the 1930s, virtually every car had ...
construction. The suspension layout was shared with the Ghibli. At the front there were
double wishbones, with coaxial hydraulic
damper
A damper is a device that deadens, restrains, or depresses. It may refer to:
Music
* Damper pedal, a device that mutes musical tones, particularly in stringed instruments
* A mute for various brass instruments
Structure
* Damper (flow), a mech ...
s and
coil spring
A tension coil spring
A coil spring is a mechanical device that typically is used to store energy and subsequently release it, to absorb shock, or to maintain a force between contacting surfaces. It is made of an elastic material formed into the ...
s, and an
anti-roll bar
An anti-roll bar (roll bar, anti-sway bar, sway bar, stabilizer bar) is an automobile suspension part that helps reduce the body roll of a vehicle during fast cornering or over road irregularities. It links opposite front or rear wheels to a t ...
. At the rear there was a
live axle
A beam axle, rigid axle, or solid axle is a dependent suspension design in which a set of wheels is connected laterally by a single beam or shaft. Beam axles were once commonly used at the rear wheels of a vehicle, but historically, they have a ...
with
semi-elliptic springs, a single longitudinal
torque arm
A radius rod (also called a radius arm, torque arm, torque spring, and torsion bar) is a suspension link intended to control wheel motion in the longitudinal (fore-aft) direction. The link is connected (with a rubber or solid bushing) on one end ...
, hydraulic dampers and an anti-roll bar. Brakes were vented and servo-assisted
discs on all four wheels.
The engines were Maserati's own all-
aluminium
Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...
, four
overhead cam
An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine in which the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combusti ...
''Tipo 107''
V8 family, and were fed by four
Weber
Weber may refer to:
Places United States
* Weber, Missouri, an unincorporated community
* Weber City, Virginia, a town
* Weber City, Fluvanna County, Virginia, an unincorporated community
* Weber County, Utah
* Weber Canyon, Utah
* Weber R ...
42 DCNF twin-choke
carburettor
A carburetor (also spelled carburettor or carburetter)
is a device used by a gasoline internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the Vent ...
s; they had a
wet sump
Within piston engines, a wet sump is part of a lubrication system whereby the crankcase sump is used as an integral oil reservoir. An alternative system is the dry sump, whereby oil is pumped from a shallow sump into an external reservoir.Wet su ...
, and were thus related but different from the higher output,
dry sump
A dry sump system is a method to manage the lubricating motor oil in Four-stroke engine, four-stroke and large Two-stroke engine, two-stroke Reciprocating engine, reciprocating internal combustion engines. The dry sump system uses two or more o ...
''Tipo 115'' units of the flagship Ghibli.
References
The Maserati Indy - Enrico's Maserati Page
External links
Maserati Indy official website
Indy
Indy may refer to:
Computing and technology
*Indy (software), used for Internet access to music
*Internet Direct, or "Indy", a software library
* SGI Indy, a computer workstation
Periodicals
*''The Indy'', shorthand for newspapers that include ...
Grand tourers
Rear-wheel-drive vehicles
1970s cars
Cars introduced in 1968
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