To celebrate the 110th anniversary of Italian luxury sports car manufacturer Maserati, we look back at some of the most iconic models produced by the company since 1914.
ADVERTISEMENT
On December 1, 1914, an Italian luxury car company was founded in Bologna, Italy, by a group of brothers led by Alfieri Maserati. Initially, the goal was to create racing cars, originally designed for another company, Diatto.
When Diatto stopped producing racing cars, the Maserati company went out on its own and began producing its own vehicles in 1926, with the now iconic trident emblem designed by Mario Maserati, one of the only brothers not to be involved in the business.
The first car created solely by Maserati was the Type 26who won the 1926 Targa Florio, his very first race, driven by Alfieri himself.
After Alfieri’s death in 1932, the remaining Maserati brothers sold the company to the Adolfo Orsi family in 1937, who moved the company to Modena, where it remains today.
Maserati continued to be a successful racing team with star drivers Juan Manuel Fangio et Stirling Moss. Fangio even won the Formula 1 world championship in 1957 driving the 250F.
But Maserati’s racing pedigree came to a halt after the Guidizzolo tragedy, when 11 people died after Alfonso de Portago crashed his Ferrari 335 S in the 1957 Mille Miglia.
Deciding to retire from motorsport, Maserati focused on road cars that celebrated their racing pedigree.
The 1947 Maserati A6 1500 was the first production car released by the company. The A6 series is named afterAlfieri and the car’s straight-six engine, the 1500 taking design principles from the company’s racing cars, the A6 Sport and A6GCS.
It was designed by Giovanni-Battista “Pinin” Farina, who won the Grand Prix d’Elégance for his design of the A6.
After the success of the A6 series, Maserati wanted to establish itself in the grand touring car market with a range of cars bearing the name GranTurismo. While Maserati enjoyed international success in Formula 1 and withdrew from competition after the Mille Miglia tragedy, the 3500 GT sees the light of day.
Nicknamed “the white lady”, the 3500 GT is still considered by many today to be the most beautiful Maserati ever created.
With the success of the 3500, the GT range was firmly established as Maserati’s flagship product. The next car, the 5000was to be an even more exclusive version.
Engineer Giulio Alfieri redesigned his previous car for a few specific buyers, starting with the Shah of Persia. In total, only 34 versions of the 5000 GT were produced.
Popular in Europe, Maserati now wants to conquer the American market. She went back to the drawing board to create a grand tourer that Americans would fall in love with. The result was the Sebringnamed after the team’s victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1957.
The last car produced by Maserati and equipped with the company’s legendary straight-six engine, which powered the 250F with which Fangio won the world title, was the Mistral. It is also the first Maserati in a series to be named after a type of wind, the mistral, which blows from France to the Mediterranean.
After the Mistral, Maserati named a car after the wind of the Libyan desert, the Ghibli. Known for its iconic low-slung shark nose, the Ghibli turned up the volume on Maserati’s approach to fast design.
Marketed for the first time in 1971, Maserati changed its tune with the Bora. At the time, the brand was known for beautiful, fast cars that weren’t necessarily cutting-edge. By creating their first mid-engined car with the Bora, Maseratis were no longer just superb, fast vehicles, they were cutting edge technology.
Another car named after the wind, this time in reference to the Egyptian gust of wind, the Khamsinwas a popular Maserati model produced in the 1980s.
Named after the company’s legendary 3500 GT, Maserati has brought back the line GT with the 3200. After a turbulent few years, Maserati was back and a new era of desirable sports cars had begun.
In the years since the GT’s rebirth, Maserati has mastered the craft and made it its flagship vehicle. In 2014, the company’s centennial year, Maserati sold more cars than ever before in the United States. Yet the company has always adhered to a strict limit. It will never produce more than 70,000 cars per year in order to maintain its status as an exclusive luxury brand.
In 2022, the company announced its latest innovation with a range of fully electric vehicles. The Maserati GranTurismo is the first to be marketed with the electric version Thunderbolt.
Related News :