All In The Family
by Doug Breitaupt
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Three red cars - what do they have in common? Yes, all three are red but what else? All three are sport GT cars. All three were built in the early 1970's. You may recognize two out of three, most collectors or car enthusiasts would. The car top left or in the middle of the profile shots is a bit more difficult. Citroen SM, Ligier JS2, Maserati Merak, what do these three cars share? Two French and one Italian. Two mid-engine, rear-wheel drive cars and one front-engine, front-wheel drive car. All three will do 150 MPH or better.

One toy car was made by Matchbox, one by Tomica and one by Norev. All three are about 1:60 scale. The SM and Ligier have opening doors. The Merak has an opening hood, with engine detail. That's the connection. All three are powered by the same Maserati quad-cam V6, designed for the SM.