Maserati History: Six Brothers, a Trident and 110 Years of Owners

Maserati at a glance

The Maserati brothers and the Bologna workshop

The family produced several engineers. Carlo, the eldest, worked on engines before his early death in 1910, and Alfieri, Bindo, Ettore and Ernesto all built and raced cars. Mario, the artist of the family, chose a different path. Alfieri opened the workshop in Bologna in 1914, at first preparing and tuning other makers' cars.

In 1922 the brothers ran the racing programme of the Turin firm Diatto, with Alfieri as lead driver. Four years later they built a car under their own name. The Tipo 26 made its debut at the 1926 Targa Florio with Alfieri at the wheel and won its class. Mario designed its trident badge, inspired by the statue of Neptune in Bologna's main square, at the suggestion of a family friend.

Through the late 1920s and early 1930s the workshop built racing cars with engines from four to sixteen cylinders. Alfieri died in 1932 from the after-effects of a 1927 racing accident. Bindo became president, while Ernesto and Ettore led the engineering.

Racing years under the Orsi family

In 1937 the industrialist Adolfo Orsi bought Maserati, and the brothers stayed on as engineers under contract. The company moved to Modena, Orsi's home town, in 1939–1940. In the same years the 8CTF won the Indianapolis 500 twice with Wilbur Shaw, in 1939 and 1940, and it remains the only Italian make with an Indy 500 win.

Car production stopped during the Second World War. Afterwards the remaining brothers left to found a new company of their own, OSCA, while the Orsi-owned firm returned to racing and built its first road cars in small numbers. The high point came in 1957, when Juan Manuel Fangio won the Formula One World Championship in a 250F. The same year the works team withdrew from racing after the fatal accident at Guidizzolo on the Mille Miglia, and the company switched to selling racing cars to private teams. The 450S Costin-Zagato and the Tipo 61 "Birdcage" of 1961 came from this period.

Grand tourers and the Citroën years (1957–1975)

The 3500 GT of 1957 was the turning point: an aluminium-bodied 2+2 coupé with a 3.5-litre straight-six and the first car from Modena built in series. The Quattroporte followed in 1963 as the brand's first four-door saloon, and the Ghibli coupé of 1967 and the Indy of 1969 extended the range.

Citroën took control in 1968. The French company wanted a high-performance engine, and Modena supplied the V6 for the Citroën SM of 1970, while Citroën hydraulics found their way into the Italian cars. Production became steadier, and the 1970s range grew with the mid-engined Bora of 1971 (the brand's first series mid-engined model), the V6 Merak and the V8 Khamsin.

The 1973 oil crisis hit demand for large, thirsty cars hard. Citroën, itself in financial trouble, announced Maserati's liquidation on 22 May 1975, and the new PSA group showed no interest in keeping it.

De Tomaso and the Biturbo

On 8 August 1975 the company passed to the Italian state holding company GEPI and to Alejandro de Tomaso, who became president. The Kyalami and the Quattroporte III, which shared parts with De Tomaso's own cars, kept the factory working in the late 1970s.

In 1981 De Tomaso launched the Biturbo, a compact saloon and coupé with a twin-turbocharged 2.0-litre V6. It was designed to reach many more buyers, and about 40,000 were sold. The Biturbo family produced many derivatives, including the 1989 Shamal and the Ghibli II of 1992, both with twin-turbo engines of more than 220 kW (300 PS). Build quality problems damaged the brand's reputation in this period.

Fiat, Ferrari and the modern range

Fiat entered the company in 1989 and became sole owner on 19 May 1993. In July 1997 it sold half of the business to Ferrari, which took full control in 1999 and rebuilt the old Modena plant. The 3200 GT coupé of 1998, with a 272 kW (370 PS) twin-turbo V8, opened the new era. Compared with the 2.0-litre V6 of the first Biturbo, its 3.2-litre engine had two more cylinders and about 60 % more displacement. In 2002 the Coupé and Spyder replaced it with a 4.2-litre dry-sump V8 and marked the return to the US market.

The Quattroporte V and the MC12 supercar arrived in 2003, and the MC12 brought the brand back to official racing in 2004. A year later Fiat moved the brand from Ferrari into a group with Alfa Romeo. The GranTurismo of 2007, later joined by the GranCabrio, helped the company to its first profit in 17 years.

Growth and decline under FCA and Stellantis

The 2013 Quattroporte VI and the smaller Ghibli saloon took the trident into the volume premium market, and for the centenary in 2014 it showed the Alfieri concept. The Levante, the brand's first SUV, followed in 2016. Sales rose from 15,393 cars in 2013 to about 51,500 in 2017, more than three times as many.

The MC20 mid-engined sports car of 2020 brought an in-house Nettuno V6 with pre-chamber ignition. Stellantis became the owner in 2021, the Grecale SUV arrived in 2022 and the new GranTurismo of 2023 was the first model with an electric Folgore version. The Ghibli and Quattroporte ended in 2023 and the Levante in 2024. Sales fell to about 11,300 cars in 2024, 78 % lower than in 2017, and in 2025 the MC20 was updated as the MCPura.

Landmark models

The modern cars compete with Porsche, Aston Martin and the fast versions of German saloons. The 1cars ranking of the most powerful coupés shows where they sit by output, and the comparison tool lines up any two of them.

Current Maserati line-up

The GranTurismo and GranCabrio are built at Mirafiori in Turin, the Grecale at Cassino, and the mid-engined cars in Modena. Older models remain in the Maserati section of the 1cars catalogue.

Maserati in numbers

Which classic Maserati to look for

For a collector, the 3500 GT and the first Ghibli are the safest classic choices, with strong club support and well-documented production histories. The Biturbo family is the cheapest way into an older Maserati, but it suits only buyers who accept complex turbo engines and the need for a specialist. Among modern models, a well-maintained GranTurismo with the naturally aspirated V8 is the most popular pick for its sound and simple engineering.

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