Mayster - Other activities before 1990
1985 Mara Zora 1.3t Kabriolet
CSR147 - Out and in the open: CSR147 - Out and In the Open - #53 by AndiD
In the mid 1980s, Mara tasked Archanan boutique car manufacturer Mayster with turning the Mara Zora into a convertible, based on Mayster’s experience with its convertible sports car, the Triumf. To cope with the additional weight, Mayster also boosted the engine’s output through their first application of a turbocharger to a mass production vehicle.
The Mara Zora (or Zorya in its home country) was developed when safety requirements in Mara’s main export markets prevented the continued export of its predecessor, the Tovarysh of 1950s vintage.
Unlike the ‘Tov’, the Zorya was a modern unibody transverse FWD construction. During the Zora’s development, several engine prototypes were tested, but ultimately a modernised version of the venerable 1.3 OHV from the ‘Tov’ was chosen as the best compromise. The Zora had to re-use a few other existing Mara components as well, such as the Tov’s headlight units.
1987 Mara Irena 2.0 Kabriolet
Cult of Personality Round 5: Cult of Personality ][ : The Boogaloo [LORE][RD 5 FINAL RESULTS] - #323 by AndiD
Despite facing a number of constraints on what they could introduce on their Archanan home market, these constraints had not stopped Mara entirely from trying new things within the space they had. One one such idea was adding an affordable convertible to the Irena line-up. As a convenient means to keep the development low-profile, Mara contracted out the development of the convertible to Mayster.
Old V4.1 picture shown