110 years of Maserati

Trident trusted

The Maserati brand is 110 years old in 2024, which means it must have been doing something right along the way.

It was started by Alfieri Maserati, who was just one of six Maserati brothers: Carlo, Bindo, Alfieri, Mario, Ettore and Ernesto.

Five of them were involved in the motor industry in some way or another at the turn of the 20th century; they’d learnt the engineering trade from their father Rodolfo, who was a railway engineer.

At first, the Maserati company didn’t build cars, it made spark plugs. Meanwhile, Carlo became a technical director for the Isotta Fraschini racing team – when he passed away in 1910, Bindo, Alfieri and Ettore took over at Isotta Fraschini.

After the First World War, Alfieri, Bindo and Ernesto began to build race cars for the Diatto brand. However, Diatto decided to quit racing in 1926, while the Maserati family was determined to keep going.

Of course, the company needed a logo, which another brother, Mario, came up with – he chose the trident held by Neptune in the Neptune Fountain in Bologna, Italy, where the business was founded.

And so the story began… Enjoy our chronological run through some of Maserati’s greatest hits to celebrate its 110th birthday.

Maserati Tipo 26 (1926)

In 1926, the Maserati brothers decided to campaign the Tipo 26 they’d been ready to run for Diatto.

It was powered by a supercharged, 1.5-liter, eight-cylinder motor, that also had twin-overhead camshafts.
Underneath lay a ladder-type chassis and a three-speed manual transmission. 

The first competitive event the Maserati boys contested was Italy’s Targa Florio, five laps around a mountainous circuit in Sicily. 

The car was entered in the main racing class and was driven by Alfieri Maserati. He finished ninth overall and won his class, finishing ahead of a few faster cars from higher divisions.

Maserati Tipo 26 (cont.)

Maserati then entered two Tipo 26 cars into the Italian Grand Prix at Monza that year, but fueling problems put paid to their challenge.

However, further success was found at the Tripoli Grand Prix of 1927, when a Maserati scored another class win, and was third overall.

The Tipo 26 would continue to be developed over the next six years, before being retired in 1932.

Maserati 8CM (1933)

Following the death of Alfieri Maserati in 1932, the Maserati team returned to racing with a new car called the 8CM.

The chassis had been developed with a four-cylinder motor in mind, but when it appeared it had a 3-liter, eight-cylinder unit instead – this was an engine that had been developed by Alfieri Maserati just prior to his passing.

However, this motor’s maximum output was 240HP, which caused the chassis to flex too much.

Maserati 8CM (cont.)

The Maserati 8CM made its debut at the 1933 Tunis Grand Prix, but was wholly unsuccessful.

Then came the Belgian Grand Prix around the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, at which the car qualified quite poorly in 11th place, because of the chassis problem – driver Tazio Nuvolari asked for greater strengthening at the front, which cured the issue overnight.

The very next day, Nuvolari drove from 11th to the lead in just one lap, and continued to pull away from rivals that included the Bugatti team with its new T59.

The eventual winning margin was almost four minutes. Maserati was back.

Maserati 8CTF (1938)

The Maserati brothers continued to build race cars in the 1930s, but were critically strapped for cash.

Eventually, the inevitable came, and they sold the company to Italian industrialist Adolfo Orsi.

The new owner kept the firm’s factory in Italy, but moved it from Bologna to Modena, and set about building the 8CTF racer.

This new car had a 3-liter, eight-cylinder engine that produced almost 370HP, which made the 8CTF decidedly brisk – it performed well in its debut race, the 1938 Tripoli Grand Prix, but broke down before the finish.

However, much greater things lay ahead.

Maserati 8CTF (cont.)

Maserati had eyes on the United States or, more specifically, the Indianapolis 500, where the car’s top speed of 180mph would prove crucial.

In 1939, American racing driver Wilbur Shaw drove a Maserati 8CTF to victory in the great race and, astonishingly, he repeated the feat the very next year in the same car.

Maserati’s name immediately became known globally, although the Second World War put development plans on ice for a few years.

Maserati A6 1500 (1947-’56)

During the Second World War, Maserati stopped building cars, and instead produced parts and spares for the Italian war effort.

Once the conflict was over, the company was keen to not only get back to racing, but also to enter the world of building road cars.

So, in 1947, it displayed its first-ever roadgoing machine, the A6 1500, at the Geneva motor show, with berlinetta bodywork designed and made by Pinin Farina.

Maserati A6 1500 (cont.)

It signaled Maserati’s intent to be a maker of luxury motor cars, so had the trident logo etched into the pedals, had a clock built into the lid of the glovebox and featured leather trim throughout.

However, with only 65HP, it wasn’t at all rapid. Some later cars were fitted with triple carburetors, which increased the power output.

Nevertheless, the Maserati A6 1500 proved reasonably popular, with the company eventually building 61 examples.

In 1948, two convertible versions were built, one of which was shown at the Turin motor show.

Maserati 250F (1954-’58)

Formula One regulations changed for the 1954 season, with the high expense of small, forced-induction motors ditched, replaced with larger, naturally aspirated units.

The Maserati 250F used a 2.5-liter, straight-six engine that produced around 240HP, which was plenty in a car that weighed less than 700KG (1543LB).

The chassis was a steel tubular-framed affair, with lightweight, aluminum bodywork on top.

Maserati 250F (cont.)

The Maserati 250F made its competition debut in the 1954 Argentine Grand Prix, where home hero Juan Manuel Fangio drove the car and in it took the first of his two victories there.

He also won the Belgian Grand Prix that year, in the same car.

After a brief switch to Mercedes-Benz, Fangio returned to the 250F for 1957, taking four wins that year, including his legendary triumph around the Nürburgring, when he overcame a 48-sec deficit and passed erstwhile leader Mike Hawthorn, who was driving a Ferrari, on the very last lap.

Other famous 250F drivers included Stirling Moss, who secured two victories in these cars in 1956, and later claimed it was the best front-engined Grand Prix machine he’d ever driven.

Maserati 3500GT (1957-’64)

The year 1957 is a significant one in the history of Maserati, because there were two huge events for the company.

First, Maserati dropped the bombshell that it was withdrawing from racing as a factory outfit, although it would continue to provide cars for privateers.

The second major event was the launch of the Maserati 3500GT, which was the company’s first-ever, mass-produced vehicle.

Maserati 3500GT (cont.)

Engineer Giulio Alfieri designed a 3.5-liter, straight-six engine for the company’s new grand-touring cars.

Due to Italian laws at the time, Maserati was forced to look overseas for mass-production components, so the car had UK-made brakes, axles and suspension units, while German company ZF supplied manual and automatic transmissions. Milan’s Carrozzeria Touring provided the aluminum bodywork.

However, it worked and, immediately, the company’s production numbers went up from a few dozen cars a year to a few hundred.

The Maserati 3500GT started life with three carburetors, but in 1961 it was fitted with Lucas fuel injection, which boosted power and drivability.

Maserati Tipo 61 ‘Birdcage’ (1959-’61)

Maserati may have abandoned competition as a factory concern in 1957, but it was still building race cars for privateer teams.

However, its cars weren’t as competitive as they could be, so in 1958 engineer Giulio Alfieri was tasked with coming up with a lighter, more competitive machine.

And in 1959 his creativity was in full flow, so he designed a chassis that comprised 200 small lengths of 10mm- and 15mm-diameter tubing, welded together in a triangular style for extra strength – it therefore became known as the ‘Birdcage’.

It worked, and the Maserati Tipo 61 was smaller and lighter than most of its rivals at the time.

Maserati Tipo 61 ‘Birdcage’ (cont.)

Unfortunately, the Maserati Birdcage was also more fragile than most of its rivals, so despite being victorious in its first outing, at Rouen with Stirling Moss at the wheel, it would never win the Le Mans 24 Hours, which was the aim of most of its buyers.

That said, the Camoradi team did achieve victory at the Nürburgring 1000km in 1960 and ’61, a feat celebrated by Maserati itself in 2004, when it released its MC12 supercar in colors similar to that of the winning squad.

Stirling Moss and Dan Gurney took the spoils in 1960, while the following year it was Masten Gregory and Lloyd Casner who were on the top step of the podium.

Maserati Quattroporte (1963-’69)

Things always sound so much better in Italian. Case in point: Quattroporte, which translates as ‘four-door’.

When you put it like that, it hardly seems like the most creative name, but it says precisely what the car was and, thankfully for Maserati, the vehicle itself was definitely worth taking notice of.

Designer Pietro Frua came up with a simple, elegant shape that wowed crowds at the 1963 Turin motor show. 

Under the hood lay a 4.1-liter V8, which drove the rear wheels through either a five-speed manual ZF gearbox, or a three-speed Borg Warner automatic transmission.

Maserati Quattroporte (cont.)

The Maserati Quattroporte was built to take advantage of the rapidly expanding highway network across Europe, so had a top speed of 143mph – in essence, this was a GT with extra doors.

Underneath, it had independent front suspension, while early cars had a de Dion tube and coil springs at the rear, although this was changed to a leaf-spring set-up for later models.

Maserati built around 730 examples of the Quattroporte between 1963 and 1969.

Maserati Ghibli (1967-’73)

The first-generation Maserati Ghibli marked the beginning of the marque’s relationship with automotive stylist Giorgetto Giugiaro, and certainly looked like nothing the company had produced up to that point.

The Ghibli was angular, with long-nose-short-rear proportions and pop-up headlights.

It was initially shown as a two-seat concept at the 1966 Turin show, but by the time it reached production, Maserati had added two rear seats.

Maserati Ghibli (cont.)

Well, they might have technically been rear seats, but in reality it was simply a cushion to sit on. There wasn’t even a backrest.

Nevertheless, this allowed Maserati to market the Ghibli as a 2+2 instead of just a two-seater, which broadened its appeal.

Under the hood lay a four-cam, 4.7-liter V8 engine that produced 310HP. A five-speed ZF manual gearbox was standard, with a three-speed auto as a cost option, and its top speed of 155mph meant it had real grand-touring pace.

Maserati also produced a two-seat convertible version in 1969, and then developed a high-performance Ghibli SS that same year, with a 4.9-liter V8 that produced 334HP and allowed the Ghibli to hit 174mph.

Maserati Bora (1971-’78)

At the end of the 1960s, Maserati was running short of money, and owner Adolfo Orsi was forced to sell the brand to Citroën.

The companies had been working together for some time before the acquisition, and indeed Maserati provided the engine for Citroën’s SM.

However, the first real fruit of the new ownership came in the shape of the 1971 Bora.

This was Maserati’s first mid-engined sports car. It was, again, penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro, who by this time had set up his own company, Italdesign.

Maserati Bora (cont.)

The Maserati Bora that was sold in most markets around the world featured a 4.7-liter V8 that generated 310HP, but cars bound for the United States had a 4.9-liter unit because of the stringent US emissions laws – a larger engine was deemed necessary to keep performance up to an acceptable level.

All Boras had some clever technical features for the time, including a tilt-and-reach-adjustable steering column, plus pedals that could be moved to suit the driver’s leg length.

Citroën’s advanced hydraulic technology was also found on the Bora. There were two circuits: one controlled ancillary items such as the pop-up headlights, the pedalbox and the driver’s seat-height adjustments, while the other circuit operated the hydraulic brakes.

Maserati Merak (1972-’83)

While the Maserati Bora was great if there was just you and one other, it was no good if you wanted to carry more than a solitary passenger.

The auto maker recognized this, so set about producing the Merak, a mid-engined 2+2 coupe that was a more practical stablemate to the Bora.

The cars were largely similar up to the doors, but went their separate ways thereafter.

The extra length of the Merak’s cabin dictated a smaller engine, so the Bora’s V8 was ditched in favor of a shorter 3-liter V6, donated by parent company Citroën.

Maserati Merak (cont.)

And for the Merak, Maserati ditched the heavy and expensive glass engine cover of the Bora, and replaced it with a flat metal item.

Early cars also featured the dashboard from Citroën’s SM, but some customers were less than thrilled about this, so from 1975 the car had a bespoke dash.

Bigger changes happened later in the car’s life, because in 1977 an Italian-market version with a 2-liter V6 was made, because of an Italian law that subjected vehicles with engines larger than 2 liters to extra VAT of 38%.

Maserati Khamsin (1974-’82)

As the 1970s wore on, Maserati needed a new GT car.

It approached Marcello Gandini of the Bertone design studio, who came up with a sleek, edgy-looking machine. 

The car featured pop-up headlights at the front, a large glass area, plus a Kamm-tail end in which the rear lights appear to float in a transparent panel. 

Maserati’s Khamsin was first exhibited on the Bertone stand at the 1972 Turin motor show and went into production two years later.

Maserati Khamsin (cont.)

The Maserati Khamsin was aimed at people who wanted a front-engined grand tourer, but who weren’t attracted to the mid-engined Bora.

Front-engined, yes, but in fact the engine sat so far back in the chassis that there was room for the spare wheel to be mounted between the radiator and the engine under the hood.

However, as stylish as the car undoubtedly was, this was a 4.9-liter V8-powered machine that was trying to achieve sales success through the storm of the ongoing fuel crisis in the 1970s.

Demand for such cars crashed, so Maserati ended up building only 435 examples of the Khamsin in its eight-year lifespan.

Maserati Biturbo (1981-’94)

The various fuel crises of the 1970s had hit Citroën hard, to the extent that it had barely survived.

It therefore had to get rid of things that were costing it money, and in those days a small sports-car maker was the sort of thing that could drain resources quite briskly.

So, Maserati was sold to a partnership of Peugeot and Italian public finance group GEPI, which put Argentinian industrialist Alejandro de Tomaso in charge.

De Tomaso wanted a model that was sporty, luxurious, but cheaper to run, so the Maserati Biturbo was born.

Maserati Biturbo (cont.)

The all-new motor can claim a couple of firsts.

It was the first production car to have an engine with two turbos (hence the name), and it was also the first production engine to feature three valves per cylinder, although later cylinder heads were changed to have four valves per cylinder.

Maserati built two versions, a 2.5-liter unit for markets around the world, plus a 2-liter model for the Italian domestic market, to avoid the 38% VAT that was added to vehicles sold in Italy with engines over this size limit.

It proved popular, with more than 40,000 examples being sold in its 13-year run, and it helped turn Maserati’s fortunes around.

Maserati 3200GT (1998-2002)

In 1993, de Tomaso sold his share in Maserati to Fiat, which then sold it on to Ferrari in 1997.

Ferrari envisaged the Maserati brand as its luxury arm, so set about developing a new, high-end coupe. In 1998, it showed the fruits of its labor, in the shape of the 3200GT.

The 3200GT was a grand-touring 2+2 coupe in the vein of the Ghibli and Khamsin, with a twin-turbocharged, 3.2-liter V8 engine that produced 370HP.

It had a six-speed manual gearbox, although a few months after launch, Maserati released the 3200 Automatica, which had a four-speed automatic transmission, and was designed to enhance the car’s mile-covering abilities.

Maserati 3200GT (cont.)

Maserati had long been a standard-bearer for new technology (witness the world’s first twin-turbo engine, first three-valves-per-cylinder engine, hydraulically adjustable pedals…) and so it continued with the 3200GT.

This model featured the world’s first LED tail-lights, stylishly arranged in a boomerang shape around the car’s rear corners.

Maserati MC12 (2004-’05)

Under the ownership of Ferrari, Maserati flourished at the end of the last century.

Sales were up and people were talking about the brand again, so Maserati decided a return to racing would be a good plan, specifically in the FIA GT Championship.

The company pinched an Enzo supercar from Ferrari and set to work.

Designer Frank Stephenson (who also penned cars such as the original BMW X5) produced a shape that was both aerodynamic and striking.

It was also large, because the finished MC12 was 2in (50.8mm) wider and taller than an Enzo, and more than 17in (431.8mm) longer.

Maserati MC12 (cont.)

The Maserati MC12’s bodywork not only looked great, but was also designed to produce significantly more downforce than that of the Ferrari Enzo.

Large changes lay beneath, too, because the Enzo’s 6-liter V12 was reworked with gear-driven camshafts instead of chain-driven ones, while the rev limit was reduced to 7700rpm.

This meant the engine generated 630HP, 30HP less than an Enzo’s, but it would be reliable during track use.

Only 25 roadgoing Maserati MC12s were produced, after which the company could take it racing, where it dominated.

It won the 2005 FIA GT manufacturers’ championship with 239 points, almost double that of second-placed Ferrari.