Maserati
Maserati, one of the well known Italian racing car manufacturing company,set up on 1914.Four brothers Alfieri, Bindo, Carlo, Ettore, Ernesto and Mario, are the founders of Maserati.Today, Maserati is owned directly by the Italian car giant Fiat, after having been a part of Ferrari for some years.
The logo of maserati is quite interesting trident. Like Alfa, the Maserati badge is mere municipal pride - the trident is the traditional symbol of Bologna, where the cars were originally made.
Flash Back
Alfieri, Bindo and Ernesto built 2-litre Grand Prix cars for Diatto. In 1926, Diatto suspended the production of race cars, leading to the creation of the first Maserati and the founding of the Maserati marque. Maserati began making race cars with 4, 6, 8 and 16 cylinders.Alfieri Maserati died in 1932 but three other brothers, kept the firm well,.
Company -draw backs and success
Racing successes continued, even against Auto Union and Mercedes . In 1939, a Maserati 8CTF won the Indianapolis 500, a feat repeated the following year.
The war then intervened, Maserati abandoning cars to produce components for the Italian war effort. During this time, Maserati worked in fierce competition to construct a V16 towncar for Benito Mussolini before Ferry Porsche of Volkswagen built one for Adolf Hitler. This failed, and the plans were scrapped. Once peace was restored, Maserati returned to making cars; the Maserati A6 series did well in the post-war racing scene.Alberto Massimino, an old Fiat engineer, with both Alfa Romeo and Ferrari experiences oversaw the design of all racing models for the next ten years.
Well known Argentinian driver Manuel Fangio raced for Maserati for a number of years in the 1950s, producing a number of stunning victories including winning the world championship in 1957.
But,on the way in 1957,Maserati had retired from racing participation due to the Guidizzolo accident, though they continued to build cars for privateers. After 1957, Maserati became more and more focussed on road cars.
Ownership on balance:
In 1968, firm was taken over by the French car manufacturer, Citroën.
New models were launched, and built in much greater numbers than before. Citroën borrowed Maserati expertise and engines for the Citroën SM and other vehicles, and Maseratis also incorporated Citroën technology, particularly in hydraulics
In 1975 the company was taken over by Alessandro de Tomaso,
Company largely abandoning the mid-engined sports car in favour of squarely styled, front-engined, rear-drive coupes, cheaper than before but with aggressive performance, like the Maserati Biturbo.
In 1993, saw the company acquired by Fiat.
The fiat had a new milestone of Maserati's history when the company launched the 3200 GT .This two-door coupé is powered by a 3.2 L twin-turbocharged V8 which produces 370 hp (276 kW); the car does 0–60 mph in less than 5 seconds. Its top speed is 285 km/h (177 mph).
In 1997 Ferrari had taken the thrown.
In July 1997,[6] Fiat sold a 50% share in the company to Maserati's long-time arch-rival Ferrari (though this was, and is, itself controlled by Fiat).
In 2005 ,
As a consequence of the termination of the agreement between Fiat and General Motors under which GM may have been obliged to buy Fiat's car division, Maserati was separated from Ferrari and brought back under Fiat's full control. Fiat plans to create a sports and luxury division from Maserati and another of its marques, Alfa Romeo. Maserati sold 2,006 cars in the United States in 2005, 2,108 in 2006, and 2,540 in 2007. In the second quarter of 2007 Maserati made profit for the first time in the 17 years under Fiat Group ownership
Official website : http://www.maserati.com/
Head Office : The company's headquarters are now in Modena
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