MASERATI Models — Full Catalog & VIN Decoder
Browse every MASERATI model and decode any MASERATI VIN. The catalog below lists 14 models in our database.
Browse every MASERATI model and decode any MASERATI VIN. The catalog below lists 14 models in our database.
Maserati S.p.A. is an Italian luxury car manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914 in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021.
Maserati S.p.A. (Italian: [mazeˈraːti]) is an Italian luxury car manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914 in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021.
The Maserati brothers, Alfieri (1887–1932), Bindo (1883–1980), Carlo (1881–1910), Ettore (1894–1990), and Ernesto (1898–1975), were involved with automobiles from the beginning of the 20th century. Alfieri, Bindo, and Ernesto built 2-litre Grand Prix cars for Diatto. After Diatto suspended the production of race cars in 1926, the brothers founded the Maserati marque. One of the first Maseratis, driven by Alfieri, won the 1926 Targa Florio. Maserati began making race cars with 4, 6, 8, and 16 cylinders (two straight-eights mounted parallel to one another).
The company's trident logo, designed by Mario Maserati, is based on Neptune's trident of the Fountain of Neptune in Bologna's Piazza Maggiore. In 1920, one of the Maserati brothers used this symbol in the logo at the suggestion of family friend Marquis Diego de Sterlich. It was considered appropriate for the sports car company because Neptune represents strength and vigour and the statue is a symbol of the company's original home city. Alfieri Maserati died in 1932, but Bindo, Ernesto, and Ettore kept the firm going.
Orsi ownership In 1937, the remaining Maserati brothers sold their shares in the company to the Adolfo Orsi family, who in 1940 moved the company headquarters to their home town of Modena, where it remains to this day. The brothers continued in engineering roles with the company. Racing successes continued, even against the giants of German racing, Auto Union and Mercedes.
In back-to-back wins in 1939 and 1940, an Maserati 8CTF won the Indianapolis 500, making Maserati the only Italian manufacturer ever to do so. The second world war then intervened and Maserati abandoned carmaking to produce components for the Italian war effort. During this time, Maserati worked in fierce competition to construct a V16 town car 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.
Key people joined the Maserati team. Alberto Massimino, a former Fiat engineer with both Alfa Romeo and Ferrari experience, oversaw the design of all racing models for the next ten years. With him joined engineers Giulio Alfieri, Vittorio Bellentani, and Gioacchino Colombo. The focus was on the best engines and chassis to succeed in car racing. These new projects saw the last contributions of the Maserati brothers, who, after their 10-year contract with Orsi expired, went on to form O.S.C.A. This new team at Maserati worked on several projects: the Maserati 4CLT, the Maserati A6 series, the 8CLT, and, pivotally for the future success of the company, the A6GCS.
The famous Argentinian grand prix driver Juan-Manuel Fangio raced for Maserati for a number of years in the 1950s, achieving a number of stunning victories including winning the Formula One World Championship in 1957 in the 250F.
Other racing projects in the 1950s were the Maserati 200S, Maserati 300S, Maserati 350S, and Maserati 450S, followed in 1961 by the famous Maserati Birdcage Tipo 61.
Maserati retired from factory racing participation because of the Guidizzolo tragedy during the 1957 Mille Miglia, though they continued to build cars for privateers. Maserati became more and more focused on building road-going grand tourers.
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA