Maserati Bora, the brand's first mid-engine car, turns 50

As Maserati prepares to launch its mid-engine car, the MC20, one of its ancestors is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The Maserati Bora debuted 50 years ago as the Italian automaker's first mid-engine road car.

Maserati had built racing cars with the engine mounted behind the driver, and the Bora, which debuted at the Geneva Motor Show on March 11, 1971, brought that idea to Maserati's road car line, according to a press release. Maserati was behind the curve, as the mid-engine Lamborghini Miura had debuted six years earlier in the form of a concept car.

Mounted under a carpeted floor to provide luggage space, the engine was a 4.7-liter V-8 producing 310 hp (a 4.9-liter engine was later added). The longitudinally mounted V-8 engine drove the rear wheels through a five-speed manual transmission. The Maserati had a top speed of 174 mph.

Designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, the Bora was also Maserati's first road car with four-wheel independent suspension and disc brakes, which were not yet common at the time.

Maserati produced 564 Borras before production ended in 1978. A year after the Borra's debut, Maserati introduced another mid-engine car, the Merak, with bodywork by Giugiaro. Powered by a V-6 rather than the Borra's V-8, the Merak remained in production until the early 1980s and was more successful. Maserati did not introduce a mid-engine road car until 2005, when it introduced the MC12. [It has butterfly doors, carbon fiber chassis and body panels, and a claimed top speed of 202 mph. The engine is Maserati's new Nezzuno 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6 with Formula One technology, producing 621 hp and 538 hp of torque The MC20 debuted as a coupe, with a spider and all-electric version coming later Maserati said at the time of its launch last year.