Maserati

Maserati is a famous Italian manufacturer of racing cars and sports cars, established in 1914 in Bologna. The company's headquarters are now in Modena, and their emblem is a trident. more...

Today, Maserati is owned directly by the Italian car giant Fiat, after having been a part of Ferrari (a company in which Fiat has a majority stake) for some years.

History

The company was founded by Alfieri Maserati, one of seven Maserati brothers, all but one of whom were involved in the development of cars. The seventh brother, Mario, an artist, is believed to have devised the company emblem. Alfieri Maserati died in 1932 but three other brothers, Bindo, Ernesto and Ettore, kept the firm going and winning races.

Orsi ownership

In 1937 the remaining Maserati brothers sold their shares in the company to the Orsi family, who in 1940 relocated the company headquarters to their hometown of Modena, where it remains to this day. The brothers continued in engineering roles with the company, however. Racing successes continued, even against the giants of German racing, Auto Union and Mercedes. In 1940 a Maserati won the Indianapolis 500, a feat repeated the following year.

The war then intervened, Maserati abandoning cars to produce components for the Italian war effort.

Once peace was restored, Maserati returned to making cars, doing well in the post-war racing scene. The famous Argentinian driver Juan-Manuel Fangio raced for Maserati for a number of years in the 1950s, producing a number of stunning victories including winning the world championship in 1957. After that, Maserati retired from factory racing participation, though it built racing cars to be raced by others after that date.

After 1957, Maserati became more and more focussed on road cars, and introduced the 6-cylinder Maserati 3500 2+2 coupe featuring an aluminum body over Touring's Superleggera structure. Next came the Maserati Sebring bodied by Vignale and launched in 1962, the Maserati Mistral Coupé (1963) and the Spider (1964), both designed by Pietro Frua, and their first four-door, the Maserati Quattroporte (1963), also designed by Pietro Frua. The two-seater Maserati Ghibli coupe was launched in 1967, followed by a convertible in 1969.

Citroën ownership

In 1968 came a great change - purchase by Citroën. Adolfo Orsi remained the nominal president, but Maserati changed a great deal. New models were launched, and built in much greater numbers than hitherto. Citroën borrowed Maserati expertise and engines for the Citroën SM and other vehicles, and Maseratis incorporated Citroën technology also, particularly in hydraulics.

New models included the Maserati Bora, the first mass-produced mid-engined Maserati, in 1971, and the Maserati Merak and Maserati Khamsin soon afterwards, Maserati Quattroporte II which shared some parts with Citroën SM never came into production. The 1970s oil crises, however, put the brakes on this ambitious expansion - suddenly, the demand for fuel-thirsty sports cars shrank. On May 23, 1973, Citroën declared that Maserati was in liquidation. Propped up by Italian government funds, the company stayed alive, if barely.

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