An Affordable Mid-Engined Classic: The Maserati Merak SS

The Maserati Merak SS was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in 1975 as the new and upgraded version of the Giorgetto Giugiaro-designed Merak, now weighing 110 lbs less and carrying an additional 30 hp thanks to a series of engine upgrades.

Unlike many of its mid-engined contemporaries, the Maserati Merak SS has seating for four in a classic 2+2 arrangement, making it considerably more practical – particularly for those with children.

Fast Facts

• The Maserati Merak was released at the 1972 Paris Auto Show, it’s closely related to the Maserati Bora however unlike the V8 powered Bora, the Merak uses a V6 engine which made room for an additional set of two seats in the back.
• The car has a steel monocoque chassis with a tubular steel rear subframe to which the powertrain and rear suspension are mounted.
• The Merak is powered by a 3.0 liter 90º V6 with double overhead cams, two valves per cylinder, and the SS variant produced 220 hp at 6,500rpm.

The Maserati Merak SS

The Maserati Merak SS was the higher-performance version of the original Merak that had been released in 1972. It was designed to compete with the likes of the Porsche 911, Ferrari Dino 308 GT4, and the Lamborghini Urraco – all 2+2 sports cars with a rear or rear-mid engine configuration.

The Merak was styled by the great Giorgetto Giugiaro, and it’s powered by a long-lived V6 designed by Giulio Alfieri.

During the time that the Merak was developed Maserati belonged to Citroen, and as a result many Citroen parts were used in the car, things like hydropneumatic systems as well as the engine and transmission.

The Merak has a stamped steel monocoque chassis with a tubular steel rear subframe to which the powertrain and rear suspension are mounted. This was a common arrangement at the time and it gave a good balance between ease of construction, simplicity, and strength.

An Italian-Designed Engine From Citroen

The engine used in the Merak was based on the 2.7 liter V6 originally used in the Citroën SM, it’s important to note that it wasn’t a French engine however. The engine was designed by legendary Italian engineer Giulio Alfieri who had a long track record of designing engines and cars for Maserati, including the Maserati 3500 GT and the Maserati Birdcage.

For use in the Merak the 90º V6 was bored out to 91.6 mm with the stroke remaining at 75 mm, resulting in an engine that now had a displacement of 3.0 liters or 2,965cc. The engine kept the same chain-driven double overhead cams and two valves per cylinder, and its its highest-output specification in the Merak SS it was capable of 220 hp at 6,500rpm.

This same V6 design would remain in production well into the 1990s, a remarkable feat considering the fact that Alfieri had designed it in the late 1960s. Versions of the engine would power the twin-turbocharged Maserati Biturbo as well as the Maserati Ghibli.

The Merak would have the engine mounted longitudinally in a rear-mid position feeding power to a rear-mounted 5-speed transaxle with a limited slip differential also sourced from Citroen. The Merak was fitted with front and rear disc brakes, and independent suspension on all four corners consisting of unequal length double A-arms with coil spring and tubular shock absorbers.

The Maserati Merak is powered by a naturally aspirated 3.0 90º V6 producing 220 hp at 6,500rpm.

Interestingly the Maserati Merak would outlive the larger-engined Bora that it has been based on. The Bora was discontinued in 1978 however the Merak would live well into the 1980s, finally leaving production in 1983 with 1,830 produced.

Today the Merak provides a unique alternative to a Porsche 911 or a Dino 308 GT4 from the same era, the Maserati is far less common and many people can’t identify it on sight – which is not a problem usually encountered with a Porsche or a Ferrari.

The 1978 Maserati Merak SS Shown Here

The car you see here is a 1978 Maserati Merak SS, just 787 examples of the SS variant were made and today they’re highly sought after due to the extra performance they offer. Compared to their mid-engined Italian contemporaries from the era the Merak remains affordable as well, so long as you consider affordable to be anything under $100,000 USD.

This Merak was originally delivered to an owner in the United States however the car has been de-federalised as part of recent British restoration, which will have restored engine power back to the level it would have been at for a European-delivered car.

It’s now due to cross the auction block with H and H Auctioneers on the 8th of September with a price estimate of £60,000 – £70,000, which works out to approximately $83,000 – $96,900 USD. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

Images courtesy of H and H Auctioneers

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Restoration Project: An Original Sinclair C5 Electric Vehicle – $10,000+

When it was released in 1985 the Sinclair C5 was a wildly futuristic electric vehicle that had been conceived by the famous personal computer pioneer Sir Clive Sinclair to much fanfare.

Interestingly the production of the C5 was handled by the Hoover vacuum cleaner company and it has a chassis designed by the sports car and Formula 1 racing boffins over at Lotus.

Fast Facts – The Sinclair C5

• The Sinclair C5 was intended to be the beginning of a personal transportation revolution, able to carry one person and their groceries at a top speed of 15 mph with a range of 20 miles.
• The C5 was the brainchild of Sir Clive Sinclair, a man who helped to revolutionize the British personal computer industry with products like the Sinclair ZX81, the ZX Spectrum, and the Sinclair QL.
• Ultimately the C5 would prove to be a commercial failure, however in more recent years it’s become a cult classic, and there’s now a dedicated global community of collectors.

Sir Clive Sinclair And The Personal Computer Revolution

Sir Clive Sinclair has been described as the British answer to Steve Jobs, largely thanks to the fact that he introduced homegrown personal computers to the British public in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Sinclair had started out designing amateur transistor radios back in the late 1950s and selling the plans. Later (much like Apple over in the USA) Sinclair developed personal computers that were offered in kit form to enthusiasts who would assemble them themselves.

Above Video: This is an original series of 1985 television advertisements for the Sinclair C5.

By the 1980s their computer offerings were polished production units and a large number were sold. It was these computer sales that helped fund a project very close to Sir Clive’s heart – electric vehicles.

Sinclair Vehicles And The Future Of Transportation

Electric vehicles were nothing new in the 1980s of course but they were hampered by their age-old Achilles heel – battery technology.

Sir Clive Sinclair was convinced that electric vehicles were the way of the future and he wanted to lead the way – just as he had with the personal computer revolution in the UK.

Sinclair Vehicles was formed in 1983 and resources were poured into the new company by its well-funded sibling. A number of electric vehicle designs had been completed earlier starting with the C1 (the “C” stands for “Clive”) and the C5 was deemed the perfect design to be the company’s first mass-produced vehicle.

Part of the reason the Sinclair C5 was developed as that in 1980 the British Vehicle Excise Duty for electric vehicles had been abolished. The in 1983 the government introduced new legislation for a new vehicle class, the “electrically assisted pedal cycle.”

There were some notable advantages to this: no insurance or road tax needed to be paid, no driver’s license or helmet was needed, and anyone over the age of 14 could drive one – so the barrier to entry would be purely financial.

The C5 has a semi-recumbent driving position with the handlebars located under the legs of the driver.

One notable caveat was that the electric motor would be limited to a maximum of 250W, approximately 0.33 hp.

Ultimately the C5 would prove to be a famous failure. Despite its early promise the lack of speed, range, and power would hamstring the potential of the vehicle.

Approximately 14,000 C5s were made before production was ceased and surprisingly many of them have survived in the hands of enthusiasts. There is now a global group of collectors who keep C5s on the road, and some have created wildly modified versions with jet engines, others are capable of 150+ mph.

The Sinclair C5 – Specifications

The Sinclair C5 was developed to be a lightweight three-wheeled electric bicycle with pedal assist. It has a futuristic polypropylene body and a simple steel chassis that was developed by Lotus. Interestingly the company had recruited Barrie Wills, a former employee of the ill-fated DeLorean Motor Company, to be the managing director of Sinclair Vehicles.

The C5 has a semi-recumbent seating position with the handlebars positioned below the rider’s legs. Standard bicycle pedals were fitted up front so that the rider could pedal to assist the 250W (0.33 hp) electric motor – this was vital on hills and to extend range.

The futuristic styling of the C5 has been winning it fans for decades.

A moderate 28 liter (1 cubic foot) storage compartment was positioned behind the driver, and a 12 volt lead acid battery was fitted that gave the Sinclair C5 a range of 20 miles or 32 kilometers with a top speed of 15 mph  or 24 km/h.

The lack of weather protection was an issue, particularly for a vehicle designed to be used in Britain, and the low-slung riding position tended to give C5 pilots the feeling of being very vulnerable to other traffic on the roads.

The Sinclair C5 Shown Here

The C5 you see here is an original 1985 model that has spent many years on display at The Cayman Island Motor Museum. It’s now behind offered for sale with a price guide of $10,000 to $15,000 USD.

Details on its operational condition aren’t listed so any buyer would need to assume it will need signifiant work to return to working condition.

If you’d like to see more or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on RM Sotheby’s.

Images: ©2021 Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

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This vs That: A Lamborghini FL3 vs A Porsche A122 Tractor – $8,200+ Each

Both Lamborghini and Porsche worked on tractor designs extensively in the years after WWII, when European farmers needed access to reliable, inexpensive machines to tend their land.

These tractors remain quite affordable today for the most part, and they’re by far the least costly way of getting a vintage Lamborghini or Porsche in your collection – often for well under $15,000 USD.

Lamborghini famously started out making tractors, and only got into the performance car building business after Ferruccio Lamborghini had a verbal altercation with Enzo Ferrari and decided to get back at him in the most Italian way possible – by building a faster V12-powered supercar than him.

Fast Facts – The Tractor Face-Off

• Both of these tractors are coming up for sale with Bonhams on the 5th of September and they both have the same exact price guide – $8,200 to $11,000 USD each.
• Both tractors are in full operational condition, the Lamborghini FL3 is the more powerful model with 39 hp from its three-cylinder diesel, however the Porsche is a little quicker thanks to its use of regular wheels rather than tracks.
• The Porsche A122 tractor was sympathetically restored recently and appears to be in better overall condition than its Italian counterpart. It’s powered by a 22hp two-cylinder diesel engine.

#1 – The Porsche A122 – $8,200+ USD

Ferdinand Porsche was famously the designer of the Volkswagen Beetle, a “folk’s wagon” or “people’s car” that would be affordable to buy and maintain for regular Germans.

What a lot of people don’t know is that he also developed a Volksschlepper, or a “people’s tractor” with much the same reasoning behind it as the Volkswagen – farmers needed a simple, inexpensive tractor that would be the agricultural version of the now legendary Beetle.

Although Porsche tractor designs were completed before WWII and some were built during the war, it wasn’t until the conflict ended that production began in earnest. Initially Porsche tractor designs were built under license by Allgaier GmbH and Hofherr Schrantz, Mannesmann AG would license designs from 1956 onwards and begin large scale production in the old Zeppelin factory just west of Friedrichshafen.

The Porsche A122 is powered by a 22 hp two-cylinder diesel engine with a modular design.

Between 1956 and 1963 over 125,000 Porsche-Diesel tractors were built, they were offered in a number of sizes with different engine options, and interestingly not a single one had a clutch – fluid couplings were used between the engine and transmission to save on wear and tear.

The Porsche A122 tractor you see here is powered by a two-cylinder diesel engine producing 22 hp and it was sympathetically restored recently.

If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here.

 #2 – The Lamborghini FL3 – $8,200+ USD

Ferruccio Lamborghini was born to grape growers in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, he grew up on the farm but was always far more interested in the tractors and farm equipment than the actual practice of farming.

When he left school he studied at the Fratelli Taddia Technical Institute near Bologna and when WWII began he was drafted into the Italian Royal Air Force where he served as a mechanic. After the war he realized he could take military vehicles and create cheap tractors with them – a combination of his two mechanical areas of expertise.

Over the 1950s Lamborghini Trattori became one of the most important tractor manufacturers in Europe, and it’s still possible to buy a brand new Lamborghini tractor to this day.

The Lamborghini FL3 is a tracked tractor with a 39 hp, three-cylinder Diesel engine.

Ferruccio owned a number of Ferraris over the years but he was always frustrated with their lack of reliability and their need for frequent repairs and maintenance. After an argument one day with Enzo Ferrari he decided to build his own V12 GT cars to compete with them.

He unveiled a number if cars beginning in 1963, however in 1966 he would show the world his pièce de résistance: the Lamborghini Miura. It was a mid-engined supercar that changed the world and most upsetting for Enzo Ferrari was the fact that it was faster than his comparable road-going V12.

The Lamborghini FL3 tractor you see here is a tracked example that is reported to have been used for many years on a vineyard in the South of France. 10 years ago it was imported into the United Kingdom and although it has an obvious patina from its years of service, the seller describes it as being “on the button.”

If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

Images courtesy of Bonhams

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The New Tamiya Ford Escort Mk II Rally 1/10 Scale R/C Racer

This is the new Tamiya Ford Escort Mk II Rally, it’s a 1/10th scale remote control car designed to appeal to first time builders and hardcore enthusiasts alike. This is an R/C car that’ll have strong appeal to a broad cross-section of people due to the fact that the Mk II Escort is one of the most beloved rally cars of its time.

The Tamiya version of the Mk II measures in at 414mm long and 163mm wide, which works out to 16.2″ by 6.4,” and it has four-wheel double wishbone suspension. Unlike the original with its rear-wheel drive, this model has four-wheel drive with power sent to both the front and rear axles.

The car comes in kit form with a polycarbonate body pre-painted in white, and separately molded plastic components are included to recreate the bumpers, side mirrors, and fog lamps. Stickers are also included to recreate blue livery sections, sponsor logos, and driver and co-driver labels for Hannu Mikkola and Arnie Hertz respectively.

This model uses the Tamiya MF-01X chassis which was designed for use on both asphalt and dirt surfaces, it’s powered by a Tamiya Torque Tuned Motor, and it includes a Tamiya TBLE-02S ESC (electronic speed control) Capable of running sensor brushless motors and brushed motors alike.

The Mark II Ford Escort was originally released in 1974 and it quickly established itself as a worth successor to the Mk I, becoming a serious competitor with over 20 World Rally Championship round wins.

The Mk II would also win the RAC Rally every year from 1975 to 1979, and it would win the 1979 World Rally Championship title with Björn Waldegård claiming the drivers’ title, Hannu Mikkola coming second, and Ari Vatanen finishing in fifth place, all driving Ford Escort Mk IIs.

As mentioned above this is a brand new model from Tamiya and the company is currently taking pre-orders for it which look to be filling out fast. If you’d like to place a pre-order yourself you can click here to visit the listing, it’ll cost you £179.99 and don’t forget to grab yourself a racing package if you need the charger, battery, and servos.

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The Peerless GT – An Unusual British Le Mans Racer

In 1958 before the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, an unusual new car took its position ready for the race, it was the only one of its kind in the field and it was the only car with four seats that would compete that year.

The car was a Peerless GT, of the 55 cars that started the race the Peerless would finish 4th in class and 16th overall after covering 240 laps – a remarkable success that brought the young company a wealth of free media attention and helped sell a significant number of cars.

Fast Facts – The Peerless GT

• The Peerless GT used advanced construction techniques by the standards of the late-1950s, with a tubular space frame chassis, de Dion rear suspension, independent front suspension, and a body made from a modern (at the time) lightweight composite material, better known as fiberglass.
• The handsome styling of the cars was likely influenced somewhat by the Aston Martin DB2/4, however the Peerless GT is 100% its own creation, and in recent years it’s proving to be an increasingly popular collector car.
• The mechanicals of the Peerless were supplied by the Triumph TR3 thanks to a close relationship enjoyed by Peerless with Triumph, this makes maintenance and spare parts acquisition relatively simple.

Building The Peerless GT

The Peerless GT was originally to be called the Warwick, the aluminum-bodied prototype carried this name however by the time production began in 1957 the name had been changed to the simpler “Peerless GT” and this is the name that would be used for the full production run of the original cars.

The elegant styling of the car has been winning it fans for generations, but due to the low production numbers we don’t often see them come up for sale.

The car was designed by Bernie Rodger with input from fellow company founders John Gordon and James Byrnes. Enzo Ferrari had a name for upstart British companies who appeared out of nowhere and starting building low volume cars, he called them “garagiste,” and Peerless was an excellent example of the phenomenon.

Rodger was a highly-regarded local engine builder and performance tuner who could squeeze every ounce of performance out of any engine you gave him. Byrnes was a club racer who had seen some on-track successes and wanted to try his hand at building his own car, and Gordon was brought onboard due to his experience in the world of automotive sales and for the fact that he was a keen club racer himself.

As it happened, James Byrnes was also a restauranteur. One of his restaurants was close to the Standard Triumph headquarters and as such it was a favorite with company executives. It was this familiarity that would see Byrnes secure access to Triumph engines and parts that the company would come to rely on for the rest of its existence.

Peerless GT Specifications

Though the Peerless GT is sometimes believed to be merely a rebodied Triumph TR3 nothing could be further from the truth. The car has its own motorsport derived tubular steel space frame chassis, and it measures in at six inches longer than the TR3 and five inches wider.

The GT is powered by the 100 hp, four-cylinder engine from the Triumph TR3, and it’s capable of 110+ mph.

These specifications coupled with the lightweight fiberglass body, the four-cylinder Triumph TR3 engine producing 100 hp and 117 lb ft of torque, and the four-speed gearbox with Laycock overdrive resulted in a car that could exceed 110 mph, a heady figure for the day, particularly for a four-seater.

The car was displayed at the 1957 Paris Motor Show where it received a positive reception and no small amount of curiosity about its fiberglass body, known to be the same material used by the Americans for their fancy Corvettes.

Later the same year a Peerless GT would be entered into the 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans piloted by British drivers Peter Jopp and Percy Crabb. Remarkably the car finished well and shot the fledgling car maker into the headlines.

Despite the promise of the car and the company the production of the Peerless GT ceased in 1960, it was exceedingly tough for small automakers to remain competitive but Peerless did better than most – building 325 cars and making a good name for themselves.

The Return Of The Warwick

In the years that followed the GT was successfully relaunched using its original name, the Warwick, by company co-founder Bernie Rodger. Though largely similar the car incorporated some chassis and body changes, and an updated dashboard. He kept the car in production from 1960 until 1962, selling approximately 40 of them.

The interior of the car offers seating for four and an excellent driving experience thanks to the chassis and suspension which had been developed for competition.

Rodger had plans for a more powerful version of the car using the all-alloy Buick 215 cubic inch V8, two prototypes with this engine would be built and the name was planned to be either “3.5 Litre” or “GT350.” Interestingly the tooling for this engine would later be bought by Rover and it would become the legendary Rover V8.

This still wouldn’t be the end of the road for the Peerless GT, John Gordon and Jim Keeble used the original Peerless spaceframe design to build a new car initially called the Gordon GT and later named the Gordon-Keeble. This car was powered by a Chevrolet 327 V8 and it featured bodywork designed by Giugiaro and built by Bertone. Approximately 100 were built.

The Peerless GT Shown Here

The car you see here is a 1959 Peerless GT that was given a comprehensive body-off restoration by a Peerless Register member in 2014. The restoration of rare vehicles like this is often best undertaken by marque experts, as they tend to have a wealth of knowledge that assists them in doing things correctly.

The car is now being supplied with its original ‘buff’ logbook and owner’s manual, and it would likely be eligible for a number of vintage racing events like the Goodwood Revival and Le Mans Classic due to the fact that the model was raced in period.

If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on H and H Auctioneers. It’s due to roll across the auction block on the 8th of September and the price guide is £25,000 – £30,000.

Images courtesy of H and H Auctioneers

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The Fiat Panda 4×4 – Italy’s Toughest Little Four-Wheel Drive

The Fiat Panda 4×4 is what happens when the man who designed the DeLorean DMC-12 sets out to create a cheap car that can go almost anywhere, while still accommodating two 50 liter wine demijohns in the trunk.

The name of the Fiat Panda has long been the source of confusion, it wasn’t actually named after those black and white bears from southwest China – it was named for Empanda, the ancient Roman goddess of travelers.

Fast Facts – The Fiat Panda 4×4

• First released in 1983, the Fiat Panda 4×4 featured four-wheel drive running gear built by Steyr-Puch in Austria.
• As the name suggests, the vehicle is the 4×4 version of the regular Fiat Panda, a car that was designed to be tough, cheap to buy, and easy to fix.
• The first version of the Panda 4×4 was powered by a 965cc inline-four cylinder engine with 48 bhp and a 5-speed transmission.
• The 1st gear was very low to give a low range gear for off-road driving, the 5th gear had the same ratio as the 4th gear in a normal Panda.

Developing The Fiat Panda In 15 Days

The Fiat Panda was developed in just 15 days by Giorgetto Giugiaro and Aldo Mantovani in the late 1970s. Giugiaro designed the body and interior, with Mantovani developing the running gear and engineering.

The Panda 4×4 has slightly higher suspension than its two-wheel drive sibling.

Fiat CEO Carlo De Benedetti had laid out a simple design brief for them, the car had to be a “container” that cost no more than the Fiat 126, and it should have the same design philosophy as the Renault 4 and the Citroen 2CV.

When the two men had finished their design they quickly learned that Benedetti had left Fiat days earlier, leaving them with a completed design but no one to sell it to. Fortunately the Fiat board took the time to look over the design and quickly realized that Benedetti had been correct – this car was exactly what Fiat needed to launch themselves into the 1980s.

“The Panda is like a pair of jeans: a simple, practical article of clothing without pretense. I tried to give it the essential quality of a military design — in particular a helicopter: something light, rational, and optimized for a specific purpose.” — Giorgetto Giugiaro

The Fiat Panda entered production in 1980 and it quickly became one of the best selling vehicles in Italy, over the course of the first model’s 1980 to 2003 production run they would sell almost 4.5 million units in Italy, across Europe, and around the world.

Fiat is now on their third generation Panda and it remains a best seller, and any walk though the winding streets of an Italian town will result in countless first generation Fiat Panda sightings. A strong indication that the model has a lot of life left in it.

The Fiat Panda 4×4

The Fiat Panda 4×4 was perhaps the ultimate iteration of the original Panda, a car that had been designed to be tough, utilitarian, and highly capable but lacked the additional ground clearance and four-wheel drive running gear to make off-road use a viable option.

The spare tire is stored under the hood to maximize storage space within the car.

When it was originally conceived the Panda 4×4 wasn’t intended as a leisure vehicle for weekend warriors but for crop farmers, wine makers, dairy farmers, and others who needed a tough, cheap four-wheeler for use both off road and on.

The stamped steel unibody chassis of the original Panda was kept largely the same, however the running gear underneath was changed drastically. Experienced four-wheel drive engineers from Steyr-Puch in Austria worked with Fiat to develop the new drivetrain, which included a live axle rear end on leaf springs, independent front suspension, a transverse front mounted engine taken from the Fiat 100 series, and a 5-speed gearbox.

Rather than integrate a 2-speed transfer case to allow the Panda 4×4 to have high and low range gearing, it was decided to use a 5-speed gearbox with a very low first gear and a high 5th gear that was the same as the regular Panda’s 4th.

The drive could select to use either 2×4 or 4×4 model courtesy of a gear lever in the cabin, and both costs and complexity were kept as low as possible.

The spartan interior was designed to be inexpensive and easy to clean.

Today surviving Panda 4x4s are becoming highly collectible, many lived hard lives on farms and haven’t survived, and many more still succumbed to rust years ago. As a result, good rust free examples are seeing their values rise across the board.

The Fiat Panda 4×4 Shown Here

The Panda 4×4 you see here is a 1989 model that was originally delivered to its first owner in the United Kingdom finished in the red paint work you see it still wearing today.

The car is accompanied by a comprehensive, mostly main dealer service history. The car’s eye-catching red paint work is matched with a multi-coloured cloth interior that extends to the upper section of the door cards and dashboard.

The original steel wheels were recently repainted in cream and four new Pirelli Winter 160 tyres were added. It’s now showing just over 38,000 miles on the odometer, and it’s one of the tidiest looking Panda 4x4s we’ve seen in recent memory.

The car is now being offered for sale by Collecting Cars in England, bidding is live online at the time of writing and you can click here if you’d like to read more about it or register to bid.

Images courtesy of Collecting Cars

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