The Maserati Kyalami (named after South Africa's Formula One circuit) was a new model rushed into production after Alessandro de Tomaso took helm of the company. De Tomaso, never shy of copying anything good (confer his Deauville, a smoothed-out copy of Jaguar's XJ 6, or his sports car prototype shown at the Turin Salon in 1974, a virtual carbon copy of Fiat's X1/9), took Tom Tjaarda's design of the De Tomaso Longchamp (itself inspired by the Mercedes 450SLC) modified the front and rear end to create a distinctive Maserati feel for the new car. The interior was also upgraded to incorporate classic Maserati elements such the steering wheel and instrumentation. The Kyalami, a four-seater notchback coupe, was launched at the 1976 Geneva Motor Show and was initially available with Maserati's 4.2 litre V-8 engine (255 hp) and, starting in 1978, with a 4.9 litre-V8 delivering 290 hp, both engines coupled with a ZF 5-speed manual transmission or on request a 3-speed automatic.