Maserati Kyalami

The Maserati Kyalami (Tipo 129) is a four-seat GT coupé produced by Italian manufacturer Maserati from 1976 to 1983. The car was named after the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in South Africa where a Maserati-powered Cooper T81 had won the 1967 South African Grand Prix.

The Kyalami was the first new model developed under the Alejandro de Tomaso ownership; it was derived from, and mechanically virtually identical (except for some body panels) to the Longchamp, a three-box grand tourer made by De Tomaso Automobili. Pietro Frua was commissioned from De Tomaso the restyling of the Tom Tjaarda-designed Longchamp, to give the new car a distinctive Maserati feel; the interior was also upgraded to incorporate classic Maserati elements such the steering wheel and instrumentation. A Maserati four overhead camshaft 90° V8 was utilized to power the car, as opposed to the American-sourced Ford V8 which was used in the Longchamp.

The Kyalami was launched at the 1976 Geneva Motor Show and was initially powered by a 265 PS (195 kW) 4.2-litre engine. Starting in 1978, an enlarged version of 4.9-litre displacement delivering 290 PS (213 kW) was also available. Both engines were coupled with a ZF five-speed manual transmission or upon request a three-speed Borg Warner automatic. Mechanically the Kyalami was closely related to its contemporary Quattroporte, which was also offered with the same engines and gearboxes.

210 Kyalamiswere built between 1976 and 1983. Due to its rarity very little in the way of performance tests etc. was written in the various international magazines about the Kyalami. The performance offered by the bore 4.9-litre V8 which was added later in the model's lifespan was characterized by increased power as well as torque over the previous 4.2-litre unit.