All About the History of Maserati

Maserati was started by the Maserati brothers on December 1, 1914, in Bologna. They worked on their own car ideas at the start of the First World War. During the 1920s and 1930s, Maserati sold racing cars worldwide. They also made road cars with the same speed as their race cars. Carlo Maserati loved making engines, so he developed a special material that made them more powerful and reliable. Maserati competed with Mercedes and Auto Union by 1937. The three brothers knew the company needed to go differently, so they let the Italian businessman Adolfo Orsi buy it and move it to Modena. The Maserati brothers still worked for the company as engineers.

The Tipo 26 was the first Maserati car to leave the factory in 1926. In the Targa Florio, Alfieri Maserati drove the vehicle to its first win in its class. The Great Depression was in full swing when the Maserati brothers sold the business to Orsi. The factory contributed to the war effort by producing spark plugs, machine tools, and electric vehicles during World War II. After the war, the A6 1500 was the first race car that the factory made again. The 8CTF (8 Cylinder Fixed Head) was the first thing Maserati-Orsi made public in March 1939. After naming it “The Boyle Special,” Maserati won its first race in America.

As World War II ended in 1946, Maserati also won the Grand Prix in Nice. After Ettore, Bindo, and Ernesto Maserati quit the company, they moved back to Bologna and established O.S.C.A. (Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili-Fratelli Maserati S.p.A.), where they made racing cars. The first GranTurismo was shown off at the Geneva Car Show in the early spring of 1946. This car was made for everyday use, not racing. In the 1950s, Maserati hired the famous Formula One driver Fangio, who later drove the 250F to win the Argentine Grand Prix. Adolfo Orsi had trouble paying his bills after Fangio won a string of races. Orsi would finally shut down the sports division and focus on the car business.

The GTi, a fuel-injected version of the G.T., was Maserati’s first luxury sports car. This new idea impressed the Shah of Persia, but he needed something unique. So, the renowned engineer Giulio Alfieri set out to do it, swapping the 450 S’s V8 engine into the GranTurismo. Collectors and people who study cars think that the “Shah of Persia” is one of the most valuable cars of its time.

During the 1960s, Maserati made improvements that are still talked about today. It all started when Alfieri made a revolutionary chassis that was light but very stiff. This gave the car great speed and great handling. The “Birdcage chassis” construction made the new Maserati race cars very fast. Maserati shocked the car world with the Quattroporte at the Turin Motor Show in 1963. It was a luxury automobile with a race engine. In the 1970s, when the Orsi family chose to work with the French car company Citron, a lot started to change. Maserati would make engines for the Citron SM and other cars. Both companies used each other’s new ideas and technologies, which helped them make more cars better.