Maserati’s history began near the end of the 19th century in
Italy. Rodolfo Maserati had seven sons. Of the seven, five made
auto engineering, builders and designers their careers. The boys
spend several years working under Isotta Fraschini. Alfieri
Maserati worked for customer service at Fraschini, but left in
1914 to open Officine Alfieri Maserati in Bologna. The brothers
continued to work on autos including the Isotta Franchini. One
of the sons, Alfieri, also raced and designed Diattos. In 1926,
the history of Maserati truly began with the Tipo 26. Alfieri
drove this car in the Targa Florio and won first place in its
class. During the 1930s, several records were broken in races.
They were won with Maserati’s 1929 V4, which held a 16-cylinder
engine as well as the 8C 2500, manufactured in 1931. The 8C 2500
was the last car Alfieri designed before his death.
As with other luxury car manufacturers, the Depression took its
toll on Maserati. The remaining brothers moved their
headquarters to Modena and sold shares to the Orsi family.
Throughout World War II, Maserati made spark plugs, electric
vehicles and machine tools used during the war. When the war
ended, Maserati went back to race car building and introduced
the A6 1500.
During the 1950s, Maserati hired a Formula One racer named
Fangio. He won the Angentine Grand Prix driving the 250F.
Shortly thereafter, the Maserati Company left the racing arena,
but maintained a presence producing the Birdcage and other
prototypes for racing teams. It also supplied Formula 1 engines
for various builders, including Cooper.
During the 60s, Maserati produced cars including the 3500 GT and
the Quattroporte, which was Maserati’s first four-door sedan.
The 1970s introduced many famous autos made by Maserati,
including the Merak, Khamsin and the Bora. When the global gas
crisis hit, the Italian government literally saved Maserati from
shutting down. In addition, the Benelli Company and Argentinian
Formula 1 driver Alejandro De Tomaso helped the company to
survive. In 1976, Maserati introduced the Kyalami.
During the next decade, things were rather quite for Maserati,
but the company did introduce a lower priced vehicle called the
In 1993, Maserati was bought out by Fiat in a deal that had a
short life. In 1997, Fiat sold out Maserati to Ferrari. With
this deal, Maserati built a new plant in Modena and manufactured
the 3200 GT.
The centerpiece of Maserati models continued on as the
Quattroporte helped Maserati maintain its fortunes. It was, in
fact, the most popular model in the new century. Maserati also
made a comeback to the world of racing at this time with the
American Le Mans series and the MC12 in the FIA GT.
By 2005, another transfer of ownership occurred when Ferrari
transferred control of Maserati back to Fiat. The two companies
then teamed up with Alfa Romeo.
All this led to present times with the history of Maserati
moving forward, manufacturing more than 2000 automobiles each
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