Many point to December 1, 1914 as the beginning of Maserati. That day was when Alfieri II Maserati decided to become independent and found Societa Anonime Officine Alfieri Maserati. Quickly his brothers Ettore and Ernesto joined him and then Bindo did. The other three brothers did not join the project: two because they had died (Alfieri I died shortly after birth and the eldest, Carlo, died prematurely in 1910) and the third, Mario, because he did not have a passion for mechanics but for the art.
Initially, the company did not manufacture its own vehicles. He was dedicated to preparing cars to compete in automobile races. Many of them were Isotta Fraschini, a brand that most of the brothers -Carlo included- had worked for.
After World War I, Alfieri had an idea: to install an Isotta aviation engine in a Diatto chassis to compete, he had previously mounted a Hispano Suiza moor in an Isotta Fraschini. He officially named it Tipo Especial Alfieri Maserati and it achieved numerous victories. Given these good results, Diatto asked him to take charge of driving his racing cars; with the help of the engineer Coda he evolved them and built new engines.
Thus, in 1925, Diatto presented the Type 26, powered by a two-liter block with 8 cylinders in line and compressor that was developed by Alfieri and was called 8C. While the Diattos were race-winning cars, on the contrary, the company’s finances were losers.
The factory closed its doors, but the Marquis Diego de Sterlich, Diatto’s client and Alfieri’s friend, seized ten chassis, gearboxes, parts, and 8C engines and handed them over to the Maserati brothers, who quickly got down to business. construction site.
While customer Diattos were being repaired and updated, the latest Diatto 2-litre model was evolved to make it reliable and competitive: thus the Type 6 was born, the first Maserati to bear the trident logo.
The sporting successes followed one another and the clients continued to trust the company. However, everything could break when in 1932 Alfieri died while undergoing surgery on the only kidney he had after having lost the other in an accident. The brothers continued their work.
But they were engineers and “careers” and did not understand business management. Despite the attempts of Bindo -then CEO- to keep the company afloat, finances were at a minimum and in 1937 they were forced to sell Maserati to Adolfo Orsi. The three brothers continued as employees, or rather consultants, while the production moved to Modena.
World War II paralyzed or transformed the automotive sector. At that time, Mussolini wanted him to launch a car for the people, a project similar to the one that Porsche carried out for Hitler. While the Volkswagen went into production, the Italian project did not go beyond that.
In 1947, after the war, the Maserati brothers definitively abandoned the brand they had founded. They did not agree with the decisions of the Orsi family, which was committed to cars ‘for the road’, although without ruling out competition, the raison d’être of the original brand.
In 1947 the A6 was born (some say the vowel was a tribute to Alfieri). This was the firm’s first ‘gran turismo’ and the last work of Ernesto Maserati. It mounted a block of 1,500 cc and 6 cylinders that developed a power of only 120 CV and its bodywork was the work of Pininfarina with some parts designed by Zagato.
A version with a 2-liter engine and 150 CV quickly appeared, “dressed” by Pininfarina, Bertone, Ghia, Zagato, Allemano, Vignale or Frua, to choose from in the case of the A6G. Production was never high, but the successes in F1 maintained the value and prestige of the brand.
Ten years later the second Maserati was born as a replacement for the A6. We are referring to the Gran Turismo 3500 GT, the first model produced in series by the brand and its inline 6-cylinder engine was that of the ‘civilized’ competition 350S. It was followed by another more ambitious one, the 5000 GT, with a V8 engine, perhaps due to the determination of the Shah of Persia to have a car with the Maserati 450S engine.
Although the cars gained prestige and production went from a few dozen to a few hundred a year, the accounts did not come out. Not even the launch of the Quattroporte saloon could save the critical situation.
The Orsi sold Maserati to Michelin, which put it under the umbrella of Citroën, who took advantage of a Maserati V6 engine to launch the Citroën-Maserati, while Maserati launched the Bora, its first mid-engined sports car and facilitated the launch of other models. .
The 1973 oil crisis caused Peugeot to buy Citroën virtually at the imposition of the French government. And Maserati was sold/leased to Alessandro de Tomasso.
Then came difficult years. The myth maintained the brand, but the accounts still did not come out, despite the launch of models. In 1989, Fiat acquired 49% of the company and in 1993 it took full control. He put it under the protection of Ferrari, which also gave him engines. The Maserati MC12, a Ferrari Enzo with a few changes, resurrected the marque’s pedigree.
Sergio Marchione, the mythical leader of Fiat and Ferrari, restored its independence and is currently under the control of the Stellantis Group and with a bright future ahead of it. Maserati has announced big plans. At the moment, it has just launched the new Gran Turismo, while the Levante and Grecale SUVs are a sales success. Its luxury sedans, Ghibli and Quattroporte, are well valued. And customers looking for more extreme cars can enjoy the MC20 with a mid-engine that’s all the rage. There is already a great electric sports car in the portfolio.
