15 Things You Didn’t Know About Maserati!
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15 Things You Didn’t Know About Maserati!
Get Better Acquainted with the Lovely Trident
Since starting as a spark plug manufacturer, Maserati has won races, built cars for world leaders, and was once Ferrari’s greatest rival on-and-off the track.
It’s also been to the brink of bankruptcy more than a few times, but now hums along nicely as part of the Fiat group. (Which, of course, also owns Ferrari)
2014 marks 100 years since Officine Alfieri Maserati SA opened it doors in Bologna, Italy. Here are 15 of the stranger, little known anecdotes that got Maserati to where it is today.
15. THERE WERE SIX MASERATI BROTHERS IN ALL
Carlo, Bindo, Alfieri, Ettore, Mario and Ernesto Maserati were born to Rodolfo Maserati and Carolina Losi in Bologna, Italy. Rodolfo was a mechanically inclined railroad worker who instilled his sons with a love of speed. Though, this philosophy didn’t quite take with Mario, who became an artist.
Carlo was the oldest, and somewhat of a boy-genius. He designed and built his first engine when he was 17 — a single-cylinder he mounted on a bicycle. He took his contraption to the Brescia-Cremona-Mantua-Verona-Brescia Rally in 1900 and won.
14. THE FIRST MASERATI WAS MADE OF WOOD, SORT OF
Carlo was soon hired for a short stint at Fiat where he developed another single cylinder engine in his free time, which he mounted it in a four-wheeled wooden chassis.
Maserati wouldn’t officially become a company for a few more years, but depending on which Italian car historian you ask, this may or may not be the first Maserati.
13. MASERATI’S LOGO CAME FROM A RENAISSANCE WATER FOUNTAIN
One of the more famous landmarks in the Maserati family’s hometown of Bologna, Italy is the Fountain of Neptune by Bartolomeo Ammannati in the Piazza Maggiore. In case you’re not up on your Roman mythology, Neptune was the god of the sea, and always kept a trident handy.
Mario, the artsy brother, was asked to come up with a logo, and at the suggestion of a family friend went with Neptune’s trident, which is a symbol of strength.
12. THE FIRST MASERATI WON ITS FIRST RACE
The first car to wear the Maserati name was the Tipo 26. The Maserati brothers worked for racing team called Diatto in the 1920s, and after parting ways, purchased 10 Diatto chassis, which would be the starting point for the Tipo 26.
The new car, driven by Alfieri Maserati, did incredibly well in its race debut, finishing first in class for cars under 1.5-liters and eighth overall.
11. MASERATI DIDN’T JUST MAKE ENGINES FOR CARS
Photo Courtesy of: Darin Schnabel ©2013 / RM Auctions
By the 1930s, Maserati was becoming known for making powerful, reliable engines. Count Theo Rossi used two Maserati V16s to power one of his boats. That’s 32 cylinders for one boat!
Photo Courtesy of: Darin Schnabel ©2013 / RM Auctions
Legendary hydroplane builder Cantieri Timossi used a bored-out version of the V8 from the successful Maserati 450S of the 1950s, and promptly went out and won the hydroplane world championship in 1958. A 450S Timossi hydroplane was sold at auction last year for $280,500. The perfect runabout for your Lake Como mansion.
10. MASERATI IS THE ONLY ITALIAN BRAND EVER TO WIN THE INDY 500
Considering the rich racing histories of Ferrari and Alfa Romeo, it’s amazing that neither of them have ever won The Greatest Spectacle in Racing. The only Italian company to pull it off was Maserati, which it did twice
American racing driver Wilbur Shaw took the 8CTF to victory at the Indy 500 in both 1939 and 1940. A straight-8 engine designed by Ernesto Maserati powered the 8CTF.
9. BENITO MUSSOLINI WANTED MASERATI TO BUILD HIM A CAR
Photo Courtesy of: “Mussolini mezzobusto” by The original uploader was Vituzzu atItalian Wikipedia – This file is lacking source information.Please edit this file’s description and provide a source.. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
In the lead up to World War II, it was rumored that Benito Mussolini wanted a personal car that was faster than Adolf Hitler’s Porsche — a sort of chummy competition between fascist dictators.
Maserati was commissioned to build Il Duce a 16-cylinder town car, but for reasons unknown, the project was scrapped. He ended up spreading tyranny around Italy in an Alfa Romeo instead.
8. MASERATI DIDN’T BUILD A ROAD CAR FOR OVER THREE DECADES AFTER IT WAS FOUNDED
The Maserati brothers were all about racing. They didn’t have much interest in building a road until they entered a partnership with industrialist Adolfo Orsi. Orsi convinced the brothers to diversify the company and move Maserati to Modena, Italy in 1940 where it remains today.
But because of World War II, the consortium would have to wait six more years to build its first road car. The new Maserati was called the A6 — “A” for Alfieri, who had passed away a few years prior, and “6” for the number of cylinders. The body was designed Pininfarina, who still works with Maserati today.
7. THE MASERATI BROTHERS LEFT THE COMPANY THEY FOUNDED
Photo Courtesy of: By Rex Graycropped and faces blurred by Mr.choppers (1955 Osca MT4 Morelli Spider – fvl) [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
They wanted to get back to racing, so they started Officine Specializzate Construzioni Automobili, or Osca for short. The company entered a few Formula 1 races in the 1950s but never made any real impact. Osca did however turn out some gorgeous cars like the 1955 Osca MT4 Morelli Spider (pictured).
6. MASERATI AND FERRARI DIDN’T ALWAYS LIKE EACH OTHER VERY MUCH
Imagine what New York City would be like on Mondays if the Giants and Jets played each other every weekend. That’s what the Emilia-Romagna region Italy was like for decades where both Maserati and Ferrari are still based.
They might be bedfellows under the Fiat umbrella now, but Ferrari and Maserati became bitter rivals as Formula 1 started gaining momentum in the early 1950s. The trash talk between backers and employees of the two companies could be heard in piazzas and bars from Modena to Maranello.
5. MASERATI EMPLOYED ONE OF THE GREATEST DRIVERS EVER
Juan Manuel Fangio was the most dominate driver in Formula 1 in the 1950s. He won the World Drivers’ Championship five times — a record that wouldn’t be broken until Michael Schumacher won his sixth in 2003.
Other famous Maserati drivers included Tazio Nuvolari, Alberto Ascari, and Stirling Moss. Not a bad line-up.
Fun fact: Fellow Argentinian ex-pat Horacio Pagani used Mercedes engines in the Pagani Zonda at the behest of Juan Manuel Fangio, who asserted that Mercedes built the best engines (sorry, Maserati).
4. THERE WAS A MASERATI SEBRING BEFORE THERE WAS A CHRYSLER SEBRING
The Maserati Sebring 2+2 coupe was built to celebrate Maserati’s 1957 victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring in Florida. It was based on the Maserati 3500 and featured bodywork designed by Italian coachbuilder Vignale.
The Maserati Sebring predated the Chrysler of the same name by 33 years, and unlike Chrysler, Maserati actually won a race at the track both cars are named for.
The Italian Sebring is also a bit nicer to look at.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
3. THERE’S A BAND CALLED MASERATI
Maserati the band, got its start in Athens, Georgia in 2000, and have been cranking-out psychedelic, post-rock jams ever since. You won’t find any irritating vocals here — just driving beats and spaced-out guitars.
Check them out at their website, and if they’re touring anywhere near you, go see them. I can tell you firsthand they’re quite good live.
2. MASERATI BUILT A CAR EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE SHAH OF PERSIA
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Persia from 1941 to 1979, was a bit of a car nut, but unlike many of us, he had the means to indulge his obsession. He was suitably impressed with the Maserati 3500 of the early 1960s, but wanted something more exclusive. So, Maserati went to work.
The team in charge of naming cars at Maserati didn’t get too creative. They called it “The Shah of Persia,” but the engineers went all-out. A version of the V8 from the 450S was bored-out to 5.0-liters and dropped in the chassis of the 3500. A run of 34 5000 GTs (pictured above) were built, but only the Shah’s had an interior finished in rare wood and gold.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
1. MASERATI TROLLED ENZO FERRARI WITH THE ITALIAN PRESIDENT’S CAR
After he was elected President of Italy in 1978, Sandro Pertini chose a Maserati Quattroporte Royale as his personal transport. Little did he know it was a move that would draw the ire of notorious grumpy old man Enzo Ferrari.
The Emilia-Romagna region of Italy had become known as the supercar center of the world, so Pertini wanted to pay the area a visit. When he stopped by Ferrari’s factory gates in Maranello, Enzo refused to welcome him because he was in a Maserati.
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