A Gentleman’s Trident
The History Of Maserati
While researching my article, “The Age-Old Debate: What Makes Classic Cars More Desirable?”, the name Maserati kept coming up.
Some considered the cars exquisite to drive, others compared them to an old truck. One thing’s for sure: Maserati has one of the most diverse histories of any car manufacturer.
Sporting their iconic logo, Masarati cars represent one thing, a passion for racing, distilled for the road.
Buying one today, perhaps a 2020 Quattroporte or a Levante, is like buying a fine, Swiss watch. Sure, they’re not exactly cheap, but you’re not just paying for a car, you’re paying for a slice of exquisite, rich heritage.
The Early Days
Maserati’s racing pedigree goes back all the way to the 1920s. The company traces its roots to 1914 when it was founded by Alfieri Maserati. An Italian automotive engineer by trade, Alfieri was also endowed with a strong passion for speed and racing.
His workshop, the Societa Anonima Officine Alfieri Maserati, originally worked on a variety of cars, including the now-defunct luxury car manufacturer Isotta Fraschini. Although a success, it wasn’t long before Alfieri’s drive to build something unique took over, and he began designing and developing his own cars and engines.
The Trident
Being an excellent marketer, Alfieri recognised the importance of an iconic logo early on. He roped in his brother, Mario, to design a badge for his cars. Mario, rather surprisingly, took his inspiration from a statue in the market square of their home town, Bolognia. To this day, the statue that inspired him is still standing.
The Targa Florio
The first official badged Maserati, the Tipo 26, made a sensational appearance at the 1926 Targa Florio, an open road endurance race held in the foothills of Sicily, near Palermo.
The car itself was a fast, uncompromising, racer. Capable of 142 miles per hour, a figure which is still impressive by today’s standards, it was powered by a supercharged beast producing 205 bhp. Couple this with a body that weighed just 800kg, and it’s easy to understand why the car was so far ahead of the competition. A few years later, the Tipo 26 would attract the attention of British racing driver and Le Mans winner Tim Birkin.
Birkin purchased a Tipo 26 from the factory in 1931, and raced it in the French Grand Prix, finishing fifth. Spurred on by his success, he then took the car to Brooklands and set a lap record with the car. Birkin’s wins pushed Maserati into the spotlight.
The Death Of A Legend
Following Alfieri’s death in 1932, the company struggled without a director. After a time of uncertainty, the family pulled through, determined to succeed and continue what Alfieri had worked so hard to achieve. Racing was to remain at the heart of the business.
In 1934, Maserati was competing in Grand Prix racing when a couple of new faces arrived. Auto Union (the immediate predecessor of Audi)and Mercedes joined the racing action. Maserati, being a small company with limited funds compared to the Germans, decided to focus their efforts on producing miniature, voiturette racing cars. This allowed them to remain competitive.
In 1936, Maserati introduced one of their most successful voiturette racers, the 6C. Subsequent demand for the car was immense, and Maserati had a hard time keeping up with orders. At this stage, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the company was rolling in cash, right?
Well actually, no.
Maserati’s obsession with building the cars to the highest racing standards meant they were overspending, and hardly making any money off each car sold.
In financial troubles, the company was purchased from the Maserati brothers in 1937. The new Modena-based owners, the Orsi family, gave Maserati a new lease of life, one that would hopefully be more sustainable. Under the new management, Maserati produced a series of successful racing cars and even branched off into sports and road car market.
Their achievements culminated in 1957 when the famous racecar driver Juan Manuel Fangio won the Formula One World Championship in a Maserati 250F. It was around the same time that Maserati decided to expand their racing efforts into the World Sportscar Championship.
The 450S
A notoriously difficult car to drive, the 450S was Maserati’s entry into the World Sportscar Championship. Drivers like Fangio and Sir Stirling Moss weren’t impressed by the car, complaining that it was next to impossible to handle consistently.
At low speeds, the 450S drove like a truck, sluggish and heavy. At high speeds, it would transform into a 400 horsepower, skittish go-kart. The formula that had made the Tipo 26 such a success; a very light body with a powerful engine, had been taken too far.
The 450S had a tendency to slide unexpectedly, especially when it was low on fuel. Maserati had placed the fuel tank directly over the rear wheels, making the car twitchy as the tank got lighter.
Despite the unpredictable handling, the 450S was still a very capable racecar, and could easily top 320 kilometres per hour on a long straight. The car would turn out to be Maserati’s last great racing sportscar. In 1957, due to financial troubles, the company quit racing altogether.
The Dawn Of A New Era
The Geneva Motor Show, 1957. In a bold step, Maserati unveiled a new road car, completely different from anything they had produced before. The 3500GT was born. It was an immediate success, and with a few changes to the design, production began in the early months in 1960.
Despite shifting to road cars, Maserati still insisted on keeping production numbers low, with less than 2000 3500GT’s produced. For the first time in their history, Maserati had a car that financially was a success. The company’s image also started to evolve, going form racecar manufacturer, to a producer of exclusive, luxury grand tourers.
The Birdcage
Following their retirement from racing, and a shift towards road car production in the 60s, Maserati began to produce racecars for other teams.
The Tipo 60 was one of their most iconic offerings. With a chassis constructed out of a tubular frame for lightness, the car was quickly nicknamed the birdcage. Despite having reliability issues, the car became a favourite with many drivers, especially for events such as the 24 Hours Of Le Mans and the 1000km Nurburgring.
In 1963, Maserati launched two of their most elegant grand tourers, the Mistrale and Quattroporte. Both were opulent, luxury cars, with the Quattroporte being the company's first four-door saloon. Despite the new, refined image, Maserati was still struggling financially. Despite capitalising on their history and selling to a wider audience, Maserati was once again on the verge of bankruptcy.
The French Connection
In 1971, Citroen bought Maserati from the Orsi family. During the transition, the company managed to stay afloat thanks to the Ghibli, a 2-seater sports car available as a coupe, or spider.
With its leather-clad interior and exquisite finish, it was a fast, sleek and elegant automobile. Many reviewers at the time compared it to its arch-rival, the Ferrari Daytona. Although the comparison might have been a step too far, there was no denying Ghiblis were beautiful, hand made cars that stood out among the crowd.
By the mid-70s, a new trend of mid-engined sports cars had swept the exotic car market. Maserati’s offerings came in the form of the Bora and Merak.
They were the first cars to bear signs of Citroen’s influence on the brand. With plenty of quirks, like pedals that moved towards the driver instead of a seat that moved, and softer suspension, both cars were certainly not racecars for the road.
Maserati continued to cultivate its image as a producer of elegant, refined tourers. They prided themselves on trans-continental comfort, rather than outright speed. Their cars were stylish but very understated when compared to the Ferraris and Lamborghinis of the time, giving Maserati an image and charm of its own.
The 80s weren’t kind to Maserati. Their flagship for the decade, the Biturbo was significantly different from previous cars. Although it was incredibly fast, the car was plagued by reliability and bodywork problems, as well as the fact that it looked too similar to contemporary Fords and Fiats. Maserati had taken their understated image a step too far.
In early 1993, Fiat Auto Spa took over Maserati, relegating them to a niche right next to their old rival, Ferrari.
The idea behind the move was that small volume producers would understand each other better than large conglomerates.
Since then, Maserati has produced numerous re-editions of their previous cars, including the Quattroporte and Ghibli as well as some new models such as the Gran Turismo, their first SUV the Levante and its supercar racer, the MC12, which gained a chassis and engine shared by the legendary Ferrari Enzo.
To this day, Maserati holds its place as an Italian Luxury car maker and Ferrari stablemate based in Modena. Over time, the brand has morphed into something unique, a stylish, yet understated car manufacturer that still hasn’t quite severed its ties with the racing world. In 2020, Maserati also plans to launch the Alfieri, a grand tourer to pay homage to the original founder of the company.
TheOverkloker, 2018. History Of Maserati Documentary. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OgApWRKscE> [Accessed 18 July 2020].
MotorSport. 2020. TIM BIRKIN. [online] Available at: <https://database.motorsportmagazine.com/database/drivers/tim-birkin> [Accessed 18 July 2020].
