- The brand was created in 1914 in Bologna by Alfieri Maserati, born into a family of seven brothers, five of whom were involved in the development of automobiles. The sixth brother, Mario, an artist, is supposed to have designed the brand's emblem: a trident. Carlo, the eldest, was the first to start. He made bicycles, then motorcycles. He later became a test driver for Fiat and Isotta Fraschini, but was killed racing in 1910. In 1917, Alfieri began manufacturing spark plugs.
- Alfieri and Ettore were hired in 1922 by the Diatto firm to create a first racing car: the Tipo 20. Unlucky in the Grand Prix, the Diatto was nevertheless a fast and reliable car. It showed this by achieving its first great success, in an endurance race, at the 24 Hours of Monza, in 1924. The second car, a 2 liter eight-cylinder engine, designed by Alfieri, was less brilliant, and its failure led to Diatto to withdraw from the race.
- In 19262, the two brothers decided to build their own racing cars. It was on this date that the Maserati automobile brand was truly launched. The first Maserati car was developed on the basis of the Diatto and took the name Tipo 26 (it) in 1926. It is the first “real” Maserati. It quickly became the formidable rival of the Bugattis. In 1926, she won the Targa Florio.
- Alfieri died in 1932. With his death, the firm lost its engineer and especially its manager. The three Bindo brothers, Ernesto and Ettore, continue the business. Bindo takes over the general management, Ernesto the technical direction and Ettore has financial responsibility. He will prove to be the weak link in the organization which, despite sporting and commercial successes, will be sold to Adolfo Orsi.
- Orsi family
- Maserati 3500GT.
- In 1937, the Maserati brothers sold their shares in the company to the Orsi family. Adolfo Orsi is a major industrialist from the Modena region who has a passion for car racing. Aware of his limits, he took care to sign a contract with the three Maserati brothers which bound them to the brand for ten years.
- Faced with the increase in displacement and power of German manufacturers and unfavorable regulations, especially from 1933, Maserati concentrated its efforts on smaller, multi-cylinder and sometimes supercharged engines. These engines find their place in “carts” or Formula Junior (1.5 liter single-seaters, generally) such as the 6CM. Innovation always remains a priority, the Maserati 8CM of 1932 will be the first sports car equipped with hydraulic brake controls.
- Panini Maserati Museum in Modena.
- Panini Maserati Museum in Modena.
- Maserati took part in events in the United States in 1939 and 1940 where the absence of German competitors still made it possible to achieve some success. Wilbur Shaw, driving a Maserati Tipo 8CTF with a three-liter engine - nicknamed the "Boyle Special" - won the famous American race of the Indianapolis 500 in 1939 and 1940 - no European car had won this race at the time. trophy for twenty years -, and at the end of the war, Louis Unser the no less famous Pikes Peak race in 1946 and 1947. Shaw also won the American AAA automobile racing championship in 1939.
- In 1940, Maserati moved to Modena. During the Second World War, the company was forced to participate in the military effort. The automobile activity is stopped in favor of the design and manufacture of spark plugs and accumulator batteries on one side and small electric utility vehicles on the other.
- Once peace returned, Maserati began building competition automobiles again. A key man joined the Maserati team, engineer Alberto Massimino, formerly of Fiat, who also worked at Alfa Romeo and Ferrari. He will be responsible for the design of all competition models for ten years. With him and the engineers Giulio Alfieri (1924-2002), Vittorio Bellentani and Gioachino Colombo (1903 - 1987), the author of the Ferrari V12 engine, who joined him, Maserati found racing success, notably with the famous driver Juan Manuel Fangio in the 1950s with the A6GCM until the world championship in 1957 with the 250F. Fangio will be surrounded by other famous pilots such as Emmanuel de Graffenried (1914-2007), Louis Chiron (1899-1979) and Prince Bira (1914-1985).
- Maserati then distinguished itself in sports car racing with the Tipo 60 and Tipo 61 nicknamed “Birdcage” in reference to their unusual multi-tubular chassis. The Swiss driver Benoît Musy raced privately on the A6GCS/53 in 19543, on the 300S in 1955 and finally on the 200S with which he was killed at Montlhéry in 19564.
- In 1946, the first sports road cars left the Maserati factory, starting with the A6 1500, presented at the Geneva Motor Show. Around 150 units will be built.
- In 1947, the contract that the Maserati brothers and the Orsi family had signed came to an end. Ettore continues his career at Maserati. Bindo and Ernesto founded the firm O.S.C.A. on December 1st. which will develop racing cars and sports models. After being taken over by the MV Agusta group in 1962, it disappeared in 1967.
- In 1953, Adolfo Orsi became the sole shareholder of Maserati. After a complete reorganization, his son Omer was appointed general manager. A motorcycle activity was launched, but ended quickly in 1961.
- In 1957, the first road-going Maserati was produced on a production line, the 3500 GT. It was at this time that Maserati established the tradition of giving each commercial model the name of a wind: “Mistral”, “Bora”, “Merak” and many others were used to name these automobiles.
- In 1958, financial difficulties pushed the Group to stop all direct sporting activities.
- Many private teams will then become Maserati's new customers.
- In 1963, the first Maserati Quattroporte (four doors), designed by Pietro Frua, was born and it was the fastest sedan in the world at the time, powered by a 4.2 L engine first and 4, 7 L then.
- In 1966, Maserati unveiled the Ghibli, with a 4.7 liter engine, which would be a direct competitor to the Ferrari Daytona and the Lamborghini Miura. The brand will also release a spyder version in 1969 as well as a version increased to 4.9 L in 1970. The Ghibli will be a great success despite its period price which exceeded that of the Daytona.
- But financial difficulties remain.
- Citroën period
- Maserati Bora
- Maserati Merak
- In 1968, Maserati came under the control of Citroën. This is to allow Citroën to acquire a V6 engine to equip its SM. The Maserati engine, specially designed for the SM with in particular an internal transmission shaft and a power take-off at the front to drive the accessories, unfortunately proved to be very unreliable, with in particular very frequent breakages of the automatic tensioner of the primary timing chain (the secondaries were driven by secondary chains with manual tension rollers installed in the cylinder heads) and sodium-cooled valve breaks, but today there are solutions for collectors.
- This association gave birth to three new Maserati models equipped with sophisticated hydraulics: the Bora (the large one), the Merak (the small one) — both with central engines — and the Khamsin. Sharing the same component banks and the same designers as the Citroëns, the interiors of these Maseratis will be more or less loaded with elements echoing the unsporty design of Citroën (single-spoke steering wheel, inclined meters, headlight and indicator controls, heating controls).
- The Maserati engine and gearbox from the SM will even be fitted to the Ligier JS2, a new French automobile brand which is starting up. At the time, Guy Ligier encountered enormous problems filling the engine compartment of his racing car, which he tried in vain to civilize. The SM's gearbox was also used by Lotus on its Esprit.
- The Citroën5 competition department has, on several occasions, equipped the DS6 with the SM's Maserati engine, like Björn Waldegård's prototype, on raid or off-road rallies such as the Bandama Rally. Among the Citroën team drivers, we find Bob Neyret7, organizer of the last Citroën Sport Classic.
- Alejandro de Tomaso period
- Maserati Biturbo
- Abandoned by the bankrupt Citroën in 1975 following the commercial failure of the V6-powered SM, Maserati once again changed hands to fall under the leadership of GEPI, an Italian state company responsible for the relaunch of businesses in difficulty.
- Then taken over by Alejandro de Tomaso for a very modest amount, it surprised the automotive world by producing the astonishing Biturbo sedan and all its descendants: Biturbo Spider, Karif, 2.24V and 4.24V, and finally the Maserati Racing without forgetting the Maserati Barchetta .
- All these sports cars will share the same engine concept, receiving notable improvements model after model (see the list of Maserati Biturbo engines).
- In a new series, Maserati will introduce the Ghibli II and the Shamal.
- Chrysler period
- Maserati Chrysler TC
- In 1983, Chrysler, which wanted to offer a range of high-end vehicles, came to meet Maserati. From these discussions came two models with a luxurious finish for American consumers, equipped with Chrysler engines prepared by Maserati: the Chrysler TC (for Touring Convertible), a convertible which proved to be a complete commercial failure.
- Lee Iacocca, then president of Chrysler and an old acquaintance of Alejandro de Tomaso, invested $35 million in the company. But Chrysler will take too long to introduce the model to the American market.
- Chrysler withdrew four years later and Alejandro de Tomaso also decided to sell his shares.
- Takeover by Fiat and Ferrari
- In 1987, the company was taken over by Fiat, which initially tried to make the Ferrari and Maserati teams work together, a risky thing given that the two brands had always been serious competitors. We will see some traces of this in programs to improve quality and reliability, as with the Quattroporte evoluzione. Then, in 1997, the Fiat group decided to merge Maserati and Ferrari, yesterday's adversaries.
