History of automobile: Maserati

Maserati is one of the most evocative names in the marketplace. Mid 19th century Europe was the era of the railway train and in the medieval city of Piacenza a few miles north of Modena, Rodolfo Maserati, a young engineer working with the railways met and married Carolina Losi. Shortly afterward they moved to Voghera and raised a large family of seven boys, six of whom survived childhood. The brothers’’ names were Alfieri, Bindo, Carlo, Ettore, Ernesto and Mario.

All of the Maserati brothers, expect for Mario, were interested in mechanics and engineering.

The oldest son, Carlo had a fascination for anything mechanical, particularly if it happened to have wheels. He was apprenticed to a bicycle factory in Affori. At the age of 17 he had designed a single cylinder engine for bicycles; in other words, a motorcycle.

In 1901, Carlo found work with the Italian carmaker, Fiat. Later, he went to work for Isotta Fraschini, He even convinced his new employer to hire his 16 year old brother, Alfieri. Carlo and Alfieri served as test-drivers and technicians.

Maserati was founded by Alfieri and his brothers in December 1914; the company built only race cars. They named their company Societa Anonima Officine Alfieri Maserati. The Maserati brothers started out fine-tuning Isotta Fraschini engines for racing. They were known for designing and racing cars for other companies.

The first car with the Maserati name was built in 1926. This race car was called the TIpo 26, Alfieri drove the Tipo 26 in a road race called Raga Florio.

Through the takeover by the Adolfo Orsi family in 1937, Maserati continued to build only race cars. It was not until 1947 that the first sports car was introduce, the A6. In 1958, Maserati introduced their first large-scale production model, the beautiful 3500 GT coupe.

Since 1993, Fiat has owned Maserati.
History of automobile: Maserati