At the end of 1972, Thepenier, the French importer of Maserati, requested a competition version of the Bora to race on the Tour de France and at Le Mans. Two cars, fitted with a high-compression, dry-sump version of the 4.9-liter V8, were prepared by the relatively small staff in Modena.

Built to Group 4 regulations, the car was immediately competitive but its career was cut short due to homologation issues as well as financial issues. When properly driven, the Bora posed a real threat to Ferrari Daytonas and Porsche 911s.