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Production: 13 cars
The first prototype for Quattroporte II, known as AM 121, was developed from the chassis of the Indy and featured the 4.9 V8 again. It was also styled by Frua, and represented a clear evolution of the first-generation model. However, Citroen insisted that it would be too expensive to put it into full production, and that the all-new model would have to share as many components as possible with Citroen vehicles. The Quattroporte would also have to be more economical, as demand for thirsty high-performance cars had fallen in light of the continuing oil crisis and strife in the Middle East.
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The AM 123-series Quattroporte's Bertone styling was much more angular; it lost the sharp-cut bootline and tapered extremities of the original Frua design, and the expressive headlights disappeared SM-style behind faired-in panels. Maserati had developed a new 2965cc V6 engine, to be used in the mid-engined Bora, the Merak and Citroen's upcoming SM coupe; for the Quattroporte this was fitted into the SM/Merak's front-wheel-drive platform - some departure from the earlier rear-drive V8s. This quad-cam 24-valve engine produced 190bhp and Maserati claimed a reasonably respectable top speed of 125mph, with 0-60mph acceleration in nine seconds. It wasn't super-quick, mainly due to the car's 1600kg weight, but at least the AM 123 was utterly civilized; it could have competed with the Jaguar XJ 6, Mercedes 200 and the Fiat 130, its intended rivals. Refined and well-insulated, it featured a Citroen-designed high-tech digital dashboard and a full specification of electrical gadgets and gizmos; it rode smoothly on Citroen's self-levelling hydropneumatic suspension. The car was finally presented to the public at the Paris Motor Show in October 1974, and a further version, with a 200bhp 3.2 V6, was announced at the Geneva Show the following spring. However, Citroen was rapidly running out of money to invest in Maserati, and was unable to put the car through its full homologation process for European sales. Bertone had been preparing for production, and just six pre-production cars were completed on its lines; a further seven were later assembled from parts. Most of the 13 examples ended up in the Middle East and only five have survived.
Citroen placed Maserati in receivership in May 1975. Enter former Grand Prix driver Alejandro De Tomaso, then owner of his own supercar company. De Tomaso had raced an OSCA in the mid-Fifties, had hired ex-Maserati engineer Alberto Massimino to develop engines and had long wanted to take over the Italian company. Ironically, he had put together a buy-out bid on behalf of Ford back in 1968, which the Orsi family had rejected in favour of the deal with Citroen. Ford had taken a shareholding in De Tomaso instead, as part of a package including coachbuilders/styling houses Ghia and Vignale. However, the Ford-De Tomaso alliance had foundered in '73, and Alejandro was looking for a new challenge. He picked up bankrupt Maserati at a bargain price.
AM 121
AM 123
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