History of Maserati

In 1914, an Italian company was founded, named after three brothers who founded a small workshop, on the basis of which the company was founded – Maserati. In the same year, Mario Maserati, who was engaged in art and did not see himself as an engineer, saw a statue of Neptune in the square of Bologna. This is how the emblem of the brand appeared, which later became the trademark of the company.

In 1926, with the financial support of Diato, the first car of its own design, Maserati, was created, which was a sports coupe with power units with 4, 6 and 8 cylinders. In the same year, Maserati’s most powerful Grand Prix 1500 model won a number of sports competitions throughout Italy. It was thanks to the success of the brand’s first sports model that the Maserati brothers completely shifted their production towards sports cars. In 1929, the Maserati Type was introduced, equipped with a four-cylinder engine.

However, by 1937, the young company had experienced a serious crisis and was sold to the Orsi family of industrialists, who retained their posts for the Maserati brothers. In 1940, the company moved to the city of Modena, where in just 3 months a new model was developed to participate in the Indy 500 racing competition, which immediately obeyed the Italian company.

During the Second World War, unlike other automakers in Italy, on the orders of Mussolini, Maserati began developing a luxury car for Benito himself, and Ferdinand Porsche, who had already managed to create a number of cars for the leadership of the Third Reich, was one of the project leaders .

After Italy’s withdrawal from hostilities, Maserati resumed the production of sports cars, introducing the Maserati A6, equipped with a sixteen-cylinder power unit. In addition, the brand’s engineers actively began to develop race cars for the Grand Prix races that preceded the modern Formula 1. However, after the foundation of this most prestigious racing championship to date, the Maserati factory team became one of its first participants. From 1950 to 1960, the team actively fought for victories, winning a landslide victory in 1957 with Juan Manuel Fangio, who became a five-time world champion. However, due to the rapid decline in sales of production cars, Maserati is curtailing its participation in racing competitions and concentrating on the development of new models. In the same year, the Maserati 3500GT was introduced.

In 1968, Maserati was sold to the French brand Citroen, which kept the Orsi family in leadership positions. However, a serious modernization of production and a change in the company’s policy were carried out.

In the same year, the Maserati Indy 2 + 2 model was introduced, and the production of brand engines came under the control of Citroen engineers. The next model of the brand was the Maserati Bora, which entered the automotive market of the United States of America and Great Britain. Another experiment with an eight-cylinder power unit presented in 1975 the latest Maserati model, developed under the leadership of the French concern Citroen, so the Maserati Kamsin, which had a 4.9-liter V8 engine, was presented.

After the outbreak of the global oil crisis, Citroen, which had previously experienced financial problems, got rid of the no longer profitable division of Maserati, which led to stagnation in the Italian brand. This was followed by 18 years of leadership of the wealthy industrialist Alexandro De Tomaso, who tried to create a number of new cars, but not with the help of his own technologies, but using the achievements of other companies, including the American Chrysler. At this time, talented specialists came to the company, such as Aurelio Bertochi, who were able to develop worthy models, one of which was the legendary 3rd generation Quattroporte, the design for which was developed in the Giugiaro studio.

In 1993, Maserati was sold to the largest Italian carmaker FIAT, which decided to expand its production to the largest in Europe, and this required another premium brand. In 1996, the Maserati Quatraporte IV was introduced, equipped with a power unit developed by another FIAT division, Ferrari. A year later, Maserati was included in Ferrari, which was the key to the revival of the brand.

Under the leadership of the CEO of Ferrari, Luca di Montezemolo, the production facilities of Maserati were modernized. And also saw the light of the new model 3200 GT, presented in the same 1998. Under the hood is a Ferrari 98 engine, a derated Formula 1 engine, and the design of the model was developed by the ItalDesign studio.

The entire model range of the Maserati company is gradually being updated, and in 2004 the MC12 model, built on the basis of the Ferrari Enzo, was introduced. The new hypercar from Maserati took part in a whole series of sports competitions, and also goes into mass production with a circulation of 25 cars annually.

In 2009, the company introduced a unique development – the first 4-door convertible GranCabrio. It was equipped with a 4.7 liter engine and had an aluminum body. Visitors to the Frankfurt Motor Show were the first to see it.

This was followed by a slight lull, which was interrupted by the release in 2011 of the concept car of the first Maserati Kubang off-road car, built on the basis of the Jeep Cherokee, since the Chrysler concern passed under the control of the FIAT brand. Under the hood of the SUV is a power unit from Ferrari.

In early 2012, it became known about the upcoming release of the new Maserati Quattroporte, the presentation of which was planned by the company for 2013. There was information that the car will be released in two versions at once – a sports car and a sedan. In March, it became known about another upcoming novelty – GranTurismo Sport, which Maserati will show at the Geneva Motor Show. The management shared their plans for the next few years. According to their hopes, the production of cars was to increase significantly, as evidenced by the regular presentations of concepts and updated models. Maserati decided to become the world’s best brand, displacing Porsche and other brands from leadership positions.

Long before the start of the Paris Salon, it became known about the presentation of a new convertible on it. The Maserati GranCabrio MC, according to the designers, was considered the most powerful representative of Maserati at that time. Among other things, the company took advantage of the exhibition in Paris to announce its immediate plans. In particular, it was about the release of three new cars – a crossover, a sedan and an SUV.

One of the new products saw the light a few months later – at the Detroit Auto Show 2013. The Maserati Quattroporte has been talked about in motoring circles for several years now and the release of the model was more than expected. The next promised model – Maserati Ghibli – the company decided to show in Shanghai. As planned by the manufacturers, the release of these two models significantly raised Maserati’s rating and tripled the percentage of sales. Rejoicing in their success, they immediately introduced the updated Maserati Quattroporte with a diesel engine. The second novelty of this year also did not go unnoticed, winning 5 stars in the Euro NCAP rating and receiving the “Top Safety Pick” award in the USA.

Geneva Motor Show 2014 expectedly began with the presentation of new products. The Alfieri coupe, named after the founder of the company, was shown. This year marks the centenary of the company’s founding. To celebrate such a grandiose event, it was decided to open an exhibition with 21 cars. Each of them was the best of its kind and symbolized the historical development of the company.

Despite the fact that the desire to increase car sales was previously voiced, in August 2014 it became known that the number of models produced was reduced to 75 thousand per year. Thus, it was planned to leave the status of an exclusive supplier for the brand. At the same time, in January 2015 it became known that the percentage of sales increased significantly compared to 2013. According to rough estimates, the company managed to sell 169% more cars than two years before.