GTS 08
Junior Member
- Messages
- 172
This is not a bad short history /summary of the marque.
I have to post it in three parts apparently:
The name Maserati conjures different images to different people. If, say, you remember the first Mille Miglia or other races of the day, you may remember Alfieri or Ernesto Maserati as builders and drivers of some of the best race cars of the era. For some who remember this era, it was the ever-talented Nuvolari who was the only person able to beat the all-conquering Mercedes/Auto Unions, at the wheel of his Maserati. For some, the name brings back images of the golden years of F1, the Tipo 250F, and all of its successes. Still for others, it was the brilliant GT cars of the sixties and seventies. Exotic, but seemingly very practical when compared to their cross town rivals at the time (Ferrari).
The name Maserati, first and foremost belongs to the family that produced the Maserati brothers. There were seven Maserati brothers (born in Voghera to traindriver Rodolfo Maserati and his wife Carolina Losi): Carlo b 1881; Bindo b 1883; Alfieri b 1885 (he died in infancy and his name was given to the next son); Alfieri b 1887; Mario b 1890; Ettore b 1894; and Ernesto b 1898. All of the Maseratis were involved in the engineering, design, and construction of cars, except for Mario, who was a painter and is presumed to have invented the company trademark, the trident, borrowed from the statue of Neptune in the square of the same name in Bologna.
Carlo, the eldest brother, was the first to become involved with engines. He worked in a bicycle factory in Affori, near Milan and designed a single-cylinder engine for a velocipede, which was later manufactured by Marquis Carcano di Anzano del Parco. Carlo Maserati also raced on Carcano bikes equipped with the engine he had designed, winning a few races and setting a speed record of 50 km/h (31 mph) in 1900.
Carlo moved to Fiat in 1901 when Carcano closed down and then, in 1903, to Isotta Fraschini, where he worked as a mechanic and test driver. He also managed to have his brother Alfieri taken on at Isotta, despite the fact that he was only 16 at the time. He then worked and raced for Bianchi, and went on to become General Manager of Junior. Carlo was the first to actually build a car. This single cylinder engine with the very simple chassis was the first ever Maserati. He built not only cars, but was actually commissioned to build aircraft engines as well. While working for Junior, Carlo raced cars himself. ( Carlo raced a Bianchi at the 1907 Coppa Florio. Unfortunately, he had to stop often to replace the low voltage ignition breaker arms. He still finished seventh. After that, Carlo began replacing low voltage systems with high voltage ones, which alleviated these problems.)
Carlo resigned from Junior, and he took over a plant formerly devoted to pharmaceuticals. There Carlo, with Ettore, converted many ignitions to the high voltage type for private customers. Carlo was working on a radial aircraft engine that he was commissioned to build during this time. Carlo's brilliant but ultimately short career ended in 1929 when he fell ill and died at age 29 - the radial engine was never finished.
Alfieri soon emerged as Carlo's spiritual heir, with the same extrovert personality and skills as a technician and driver. In 1908, Isotta entrusted a car to him which he took to 14th place in the Grand Prix for Voiturettes in Dieppe, in spite of the carburettor breaking. In the meantime, Bindo and Ettore had also joined Isotta Fraschini, where Alfieri had started out as a mechanic and progressed to driving. In 1912, after having represented the company in Argentina, the USA and Great Britain with his brother Ettore, Alfieri was put in charge of Isotta's customer service structure in Bologna.
The wide-ranging experience he had built up in his career convinced Alfieri that he was ready to explore the possibility of going into business in his own right to exploit his talents and creativity in full. In 1914, he rented office space in Via dé Pepoli, in Bologna's old town centre and this went on to become, opening on 1 December 1914, the first headquarters of the Società Anonima Officine Alfieri Maserati.
At Societá Anonima Officine Alfieri Maserati, Alfieri specialised in Isotta Fraschini's and after the war founded a spark-plug factory initially at Milan, later moving it to Bologna. However, Maserati was little more than a garage run by a family of motoring enthusiasts who had a tradition of superlative craftsmanship and a passion for cutting-edge engineering. It was there that the first race cars were built, using the chassis' from Isotta Fraschini coupled with aircraft engines. Cars from Diatto were also modified for a short time. Suffice it to say, Maserati was on the map, building cars for customers and winning races. Thus Maserati started building race cars. Currently only 4 automotive manufacturers exist that were founded on racing. These are Maserati, Ferrari, Lotus and McLaren. Of these four, Maserati is the oldest by far.
(Alfieri began his career as a racing driver and soon proved his worth, winning on the Susa-Moncenisio, the Mugello Circuit and the Aosta-Great Saint Bernard. Diatto offered him a chance to design cars for the company and even to race with them. Unfortunately, in 1924, having dominated the San Sebastiano GP, he was disqualified for five years, even though he had retired, for having replaced the 2-litre engine in his car with a 3-litre unit. The penalty was lifted a few months later. Away from the racing world, Alfieri dedicated himself entirely to the workshop and in 1926, after leaving Diatto, he produced the Tipo 26, the first all-Maserati car, and the first to sport the trident trademark.)
But the real route lay in constructing one's own vehicles, and thus they built their first complete car, with an 8 cylinder dohc in-line 1.5-litre engine fitted with a Roots supercharger. This first true Maserati "production" car, the Tipo 26, did not emerge until 14 April 1926. Where better to premiere the first Maserati, but at the racetrack, where it won the Targa Florio on 25 April 1926? This was the birth of the Maserati trademark as we know it today, being the first car to bear the Maserati Trudent. The symbol was taken from Giambologna's Neptune designed by his brother Mario, and was to become the signifying feature of future Maseratis. Alfieri drove brilliant races, first in class, and ahead of many other larger displacement machines, even though he had to stop once for a burst radiator hose!!
In 1927, Alfieri had a serious accident in the Messina Cup with the Tipo 26B, after taking third place at the Targa Florio. But even with him sidelined, Maserati still won the Italian Constructors' Championship and Ernesto Maserati, the Italian Drivers' title. In 1929 the V4 appeared, with a 16-cylinder engine, making its debut at the Italian Grand Prix and setting the world Class C speed record over 10 km at 246.069 km/h in Cremona, with Baconin Borzacchini. The record set by the V4 helped to enhance the company's image and guaranteed a considerable influx of funds, allowing the company and its activities to expand.
The rapid rise to engineering and racing supremacy was celebrated in magnificent style in 1929 when Maserati shattered the world land speed record over 10km with a speed of 246.069 km/h. The car was the V4 powered by an amazing 280 BHP 16-cylinder 3961cc engine and was driven by Baconin Borzacchini. The same combination racked up Maserati's first Grand Prix victory at Tripoli a year later.
Meanwhile, the Maserati operation expanded in all directions. The first Maserati Grand Tourer with a Castagna body made its debut at the Milan Show in 1931. Count Theo Rossi di Montelera also employed a Maserati engine on his powerboat, which went on to win the world water speed record in the same year. This was the first record in a long series of Maserati successes in the powerboat sector.
I have to post it in three parts apparently:
The name Maserati conjures different images to different people. If, say, you remember the first Mille Miglia or other races of the day, you may remember Alfieri or Ernesto Maserati as builders and drivers of some of the best race cars of the era. For some who remember this era, it was the ever-talented Nuvolari who was the only person able to beat the all-conquering Mercedes/Auto Unions, at the wheel of his Maserati. For some, the name brings back images of the golden years of F1, the Tipo 250F, and all of its successes. Still for others, it was the brilliant GT cars of the sixties and seventies. Exotic, but seemingly very practical when compared to their cross town rivals at the time (Ferrari).
The name Maserati, first and foremost belongs to the family that produced the Maserati brothers. There were seven Maserati brothers (born in Voghera to traindriver Rodolfo Maserati and his wife Carolina Losi): Carlo b 1881; Bindo b 1883; Alfieri b 1885 (he died in infancy and his name was given to the next son); Alfieri b 1887; Mario b 1890; Ettore b 1894; and Ernesto b 1898. All of the Maseratis were involved in the engineering, design, and construction of cars, except for Mario, who was a painter and is presumed to have invented the company trademark, the trident, borrowed from the statue of Neptune in the square of the same name in Bologna.
Carlo, the eldest brother, was the first to become involved with engines. He worked in a bicycle factory in Affori, near Milan and designed a single-cylinder engine for a velocipede, which was later manufactured by Marquis Carcano di Anzano del Parco. Carlo Maserati also raced on Carcano bikes equipped with the engine he had designed, winning a few races and setting a speed record of 50 km/h (31 mph) in 1900.
Carlo moved to Fiat in 1901 when Carcano closed down and then, in 1903, to Isotta Fraschini, where he worked as a mechanic and test driver. He also managed to have his brother Alfieri taken on at Isotta, despite the fact that he was only 16 at the time. He then worked and raced for Bianchi, and went on to become General Manager of Junior. Carlo was the first to actually build a car. This single cylinder engine with the very simple chassis was the first ever Maserati. He built not only cars, but was actually commissioned to build aircraft engines as well. While working for Junior, Carlo raced cars himself. ( Carlo raced a Bianchi at the 1907 Coppa Florio. Unfortunately, he had to stop often to replace the low voltage ignition breaker arms. He still finished seventh. After that, Carlo began replacing low voltage systems with high voltage ones, which alleviated these problems.)
Carlo resigned from Junior, and he took over a plant formerly devoted to pharmaceuticals. There Carlo, with Ettore, converted many ignitions to the high voltage type for private customers. Carlo was working on a radial aircraft engine that he was commissioned to build during this time. Carlo's brilliant but ultimately short career ended in 1929 when he fell ill and died at age 29 - the radial engine was never finished.
Alfieri soon emerged as Carlo's spiritual heir, with the same extrovert personality and skills as a technician and driver. In 1908, Isotta entrusted a car to him which he took to 14th place in the Grand Prix for Voiturettes in Dieppe, in spite of the carburettor breaking. In the meantime, Bindo and Ettore had also joined Isotta Fraschini, where Alfieri had started out as a mechanic and progressed to driving. In 1912, after having represented the company in Argentina, the USA and Great Britain with his brother Ettore, Alfieri was put in charge of Isotta's customer service structure in Bologna.
The wide-ranging experience he had built up in his career convinced Alfieri that he was ready to explore the possibility of going into business in his own right to exploit his talents and creativity in full. In 1914, he rented office space in Via dé Pepoli, in Bologna's old town centre and this went on to become, opening on 1 December 1914, the first headquarters of the Società Anonima Officine Alfieri Maserati.
At Societá Anonima Officine Alfieri Maserati, Alfieri specialised in Isotta Fraschini's and after the war founded a spark-plug factory initially at Milan, later moving it to Bologna. However, Maserati was little more than a garage run by a family of motoring enthusiasts who had a tradition of superlative craftsmanship and a passion for cutting-edge engineering. It was there that the first race cars were built, using the chassis' from Isotta Fraschini coupled with aircraft engines. Cars from Diatto were also modified for a short time. Suffice it to say, Maserati was on the map, building cars for customers and winning races. Thus Maserati started building race cars. Currently only 4 automotive manufacturers exist that were founded on racing. These are Maserati, Ferrari, Lotus and McLaren. Of these four, Maserati is the oldest by far.
(Alfieri began his career as a racing driver and soon proved his worth, winning on the Susa-Moncenisio, the Mugello Circuit and the Aosta-Great Saint Bernard. Diatto offered him a chance to design cars for the company and even to race with them. Unfortunately, in 1924, having dominated the San Sebastiano GP, he was disqualified for five years, even though he had retired, for having replaced the 2-litre engine in his car with a 3-litre unit. The penalty was lifted a few months later. Away from the racing world, Alfieri dedicated himself entirely to the workshop and in 1926, after leaving Diatto, he produced the Tipo 26, the first all-Maserati car, and the first to sport the trident trademark.)
But the real route lay in constructing one's own vehicles, and thus they built their first complete car, with an 8 cylinder dohc in-line 1.5-litre engine fitted with a Roots supercharger. This first true Maserati "production" car, the Tipo 26, did not emerge until 14 April 1926. Where better to premiere the first Maserati, but at the racetrack, where it won the Targa Florio on 25 April 1926? This was the birth of the Maserati trademark as we know it today, being the first car to bear the Maserati Trudent. The symbol was taken from Giambologna's Neptune designed by his brother Mario, and was to become the signifying feature of future Maseratis. Alfieri drove brilliant races, first in class, and ahead of many other larger displacement machines, even though he had to stop once for a burst radiator hose!!
In 1927, Alfieri had a serious accident in the Messina Cup with the Tipo 26B, after taking third place at the Targa Florio. But even with him sidelined, Maserati still won the Italian Constructors' Championship and Ernesto Maserati, the Italian Drivers' title. In 1929 the V4 appeared, with a 16-cylinder engine, making its debut at the Italian Grand Prix and setting the world Class C speed record over 10 km at 246.069 km/h in Cremona, with Baconin Borzacchini. The record set by the V4 helped to enhance the company's image and guaranteed a considerable influx of funds, allowing the company and its activities to expand.
The rapid rise to engineering and racing supremacy was celebrated in magnificent style in 1929 when Maserati shattered the world land speed record over 10km with a speed of 246.069 km/h. The car was the V4 powered by an amazing 280 BHP 16-cylinder 3961cc engine and was driven by Baconin Borzacchini. The same combination racked up Maserati's first Grand Prix victory at Tripoli a year later.
Meanwhile, the Maserati operation expanded in all directions. The first Maserati Grand Tourer with a Castagna body made its debut at the Milan Show in 1931. Count Theo Rossi di Montelera also employed a Maserati engine on his powerboat, which went on to win the world water speed record in the same year. This was the first record in a long series of Maserati successes in the powerboat sector.