Ford Maya by Italdesign
Car of the Day #149: 1984 Ford Maya by Italdesign – Mid-engined magic
Thank the Honda NSX for a number of things, sure, but primarily for its mix of a lightweight all-aluminum monocoque body, mid-mounted V6 engine, and incredible handling that served notice to the world's sports car manufacturers — notably Ferrari, Lotus, and Porsche — that the sports car club was open to any manufacturer who could build an impressive key.
Now, imagine if the NSX was beaten into production by a year or two…by a Ford.
Introduced as an Italdesign concept car at the 1984 Turin Motor Show, the Maya was an evolution of the styling that also produced the mid-engined Lotus Etna, a slightly larger design intended to house a more powerful V8 engine.
Let's recall who was behind Italdesign: Car Designer of the Century (he won the award in 1999), Giorgetto Giugiaro.
After the motor show, Ford was like, "Uh…hey…let's see if we can make this work."
Once the first car was shown, things get more interesting.
Ford commissioned Italdesign to complete a working prototype: the Maya would hit the road with a breathed-on 140 horsepower 6-cylinder engine from the Ford Taurus…because the Yamaha-designed 220-horsepower engine which would appear in the Taurus SHO wasn't ready in time.
As an aside, wouldn't the Maya have been the perfect place for that engine? Engineers thought so, too — read my story on the 1993 Gigliato Aerosa. Luckily for us, before Italdesign shipped that first road-going Maya to Ford for evaluation they allowed CAR Magazine to drive it! (A complete scan of the article is available on Flickr here.)
Thing is…this project didn't begin well…
“We are all set to go, but the Maya is not. It sits in a puddle of fluorescent green fluid, and it desperately needs petrol, lead-free petrol, of course. Enter a friendly mechanic, who examines Maya's innards before he pours more green liquid into a plastic reservoir. 'She loses coolant', he confides, 'but this should do for the morning.” – CAR Magazine (Flickr)
