Giugiaro’s Maserati Boomerang was first displayed as a non-functional model at the Turin motor show in 1971. By the Geneva show in March,1972, it had been transformed into a fully operational vehicle. The mechanicals were borrowed from the Maserati Bora.
With its 4.7-liter V8 engine developing 310 horsepower, the Boomerang was good for an indicated top speed of 185 miles per hour. One journalist observed it looked as though it was doing 100 miles per hour standing still. The car was shown at the Paris, London and Barcelona motor shows and was unanimously praised for its audacity.
After the Barcelona show in 1974, the Boomerang remained in Spain and was eventually sold to a cabaret owner in Benidorm. The present owner discovered it there during a holiday trip in 1980 and could not resist buying it. He had seen the car eight years earlier and was only able to purchase a model of it. After a careful restoration, it reappeared for the first time in the 1990 Bagatelle Concours in Paris, where Giorgetto Giugiaro was a judge and proudly hand-signed the rear panel. Since then, the Boomerang has been invited to all major events in the world, including Pebble Beach, and has deservedly won numerous awards.
The Boomerang’s unforgettable wedge-shaped body was the inspiration for some small-series Maseratis, for the Lotus Esprit-which nearly 30 years after its launch is still being produced-and significantly for the hugely popular Golf 1 that was marketed in 1974. It is extremely rare that a one-off masterpiece such as this, a fully engineered work of art with its unique pedigree, reaches the market. Following the Cisitalia in the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Lotus in the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, the Boomerang is worthy of a place in a museum; it would certainly enhance any collection in the world.
The German TÜV legalized the Boomerang (under one condition: that turn indicators had to have yellow bulbs) and the car is duly road-registered. Though road use is not its primary vocation, it is comforting to know that the car drives very well. Its engine, transmission, suspension, brakes and steering all work as they should. It does show some traces of use but presents very well and still is in excellent condition. It comes with the original fitted luggage and also with the collection of models, magazines, books and trophies won at various events.