Abandonnée par Citroën, la prestigieuse officine Maserati tombe dans le giron d'Alessandro De Tomaso en 1975. Le constructeur italo-américain tient alors à marquer le coup en sortant d'emblée un nouveau modèle...
   Pas question de financer l'étude "express" d'une auto inédite! Il faut faire simple et pas cher. La recette la plus fréquemment utilisée dans ce cas est de réchauffer un plat existant: coupé tricorps élégant et performant à défaut de proposer une ligne brillante, la De Tomaso Longchamps légèrement remaniée et équipée d'un V8 Maserati pourrait avantageusement remplacer une Indy vieillissante.
   On n'hésite donc pas:le carrossier Frua est chargé de remodeler la partie avant de la Lonchamps tandis qu'on installe sous le capot le V8 4,2L italien, fort de 270 cv.
   Une désaffection des derniers "Maseratistes" aurait pu être crainte, mais le contraire se produit: la "nouvelle" Kyalami n'est pas plus mal accueillie que les autres modèles de la marque, plus authentiques.
   De bonnes performances et une habitabilité intéressante (4 places) ne sont pas étrangères à la stabilité de la courbe de ses ventes.
   En 1978, un réalésage à 4,9L permet un gain de 50 cv, et la Kyalami frôle alors les 275 km/h! Ces performances éblouissantes la maintiendront en vie jusqu'en 1983, mais sa ligne vieillissante la condamnera sans appel...
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   The Maserati Kyalami (named after South Africa's Formula 1 circuit) was a new model rushed into production after Alessandro de Tomaso took helm of the company.
   De Tomaso, never shy of copying anything good (confer his Deauville, a smoothed-out copy of Jaguar's XJ 6, or his sports car prototype shown at the Turin Salon in 1974, a virtual carbon copy of Fiat's X1/9), took Tom Tjaarda's design of the De Tomaso Longchamp (itself inspired by the Mercedes 450SLC) modified the front and rear end to create a distinctive Maserati feel for the new car. The interior was also upgraded to incorporate classic Maserati elements such the steering wheel and instrumentation.
   The Kyalami, a four-seater notchback coupe, was launched at the 1976 Geneva Motor Show and was initially available with Maserati's 4.2 litre V-8 engine (255 hp) and, starting in 1978, with a 4.9 litre-V8 delivering 290 hp, both engines coupled with a ZF 5-speed manual transmission or on request a 3-speed automatic. Mechanically the Kyalami was closely related to its contemporary Quattroporte, also offered with the same engines and gearboxes.
   All told, 155 Kyalamis were built between 1976 and 1983, although some sources quote 184, 188, and even 210. Due to its rarity very little was written in magazines about the Kyalami. However, direct owner experiences confirmed the fundamental validity of its design, with a well-balanced, stiff chassis offering excellent body control and an agile, very easy to control handling. The performance offered by the big bore 4.9 V8 was also excellent thanks to the abundant power and torque delivered by the engine. Its performance was a notch above all its contemporary competitors; that the Kyalami did not achieve the success it deserved is a sad story of missed opportunities.
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