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About Maserati
History
See Maserati Brothers
The Maserati brothers, Alfieri, Bindo, Carlo, Ettore, and Ernesto were all involved with automobiles from the beginning of the 20th century. Alfieri, Bindo and Ernesto built 2-litre Grand Prix cars for Diatto. In 1926, Diatto suspended the production of race cars, leading to the creation of the first Maserati and the founding of the Maserati marque. One of the first Maseratis, driven by Alfieri, won the 1926 Targa Florio. Maserati began making race cars with 4, 6, 8 and 16 cylinders (two straight-eights mounted parallel to one another).
The trident logo of the Maserati car company is based on the Fountain of Neptune in Bologna's Piazza Maggiore. In 1920 one of the Maserati brothers, artist Mario, used this symbol in the logo at the suggestion of family friend Marquis Diego de Sterlich. It was considered particularly appropriate for the sports car company due to fact that Neptune represents strength and vigor; additionally the statue is a characteristic symbol of the company's original home city.
Alfieri Maserati died in 1932, but three other brothers, Bindo, Ernesto and Ettore, kept the firm going, building cars that won races.
Orsi ownership
In 1937, the remaining Maserati brothers sold their shares in the company to the Adolfo Orsi family, who in 1940 relocated the company headquarters to their hometown of Modena, where it remains to this day. The brothers continued in engineering roles with the company. Racing successes continued, even against the giants of German racing, Auto Union and Mercedes. In back-to-back wins in 1939 and 1940, a Maserati 8CTF won the Indianapolis 500, the only Italian manufacturer ever to do so.
The war then intervened, Maserati abandoning cars to produce components for the Italian war effort. During this time, Maserati worked in fierce competition to construct a V16 towncar for Benito Mussolini before Ferry Porsche of Volkswagen built one for Adolf Hitler. This failed, and the plans were scrapped. Once peace was restored, Maserati returned to making cars; the Maserati A6 series did well in the post-war racing scene.
Citroën ownership
In 1968, Maserati was taken over by the French car manufacturer, Citroën. Adolfo Orsi remained the nominal president, but Maserati changed a great deal. New models were launched, and built in much greater numbers than before. Citroën borrowed Maserati expertise and engines for the Citroën SM and other vehicles, and Maseratis also incorporated Citroën technology, particularly in hydraulics.
New models included the Maserati Indy 1969 a grand turismo designed by Vignale and the Maserati Bora, the first mass-produced mid-engined Maserati, in 1971, and the Maserati Merak and Maserati Khamsin soon afterwards; the Maserati Quattroporte II, which shared some parts with Citroën SM, never came into production, although seven were made to special order. The 1973 oil crisis, however, put the brakes on this ambitious expansion when the demand for fuel-hungry sports cars shrank. Citroën went bankrupt in 1974 and on 23 May 1975, the new controlling group PSA Peugeot Citroën declared that Maserati was also in administration. Propped up by Italian government funds (GEPI, Societa di Gestioni e Partecipazioni Industriali dello Stato Italiano), the company was kept in business.
Fiat ownership
Fiat acquired the company in 1993.Substantial investments were made in Maserati, and it has since undergone something of a renaissance.[citation needed]
In 1998, a new chapter began in Maserati's history when the company launched the 3200 GT. This two-door coupé is powered by a 3.2 L twin-turbocharged V8 which produces 370 hp (276 kW); the car does 0–62 mph in 5.1 seconds. Its top speed is 285 km/h (177 mph). It was replaced by the Maserati Spyder and Coupé in the 2002 model year, which in turn were replaced by the GranTurismo and GranCabrio.
Over two decades after the ill-fated Chrysler TC by Maserati during Chrysler's brief ownership stake in Maserati, the two companies became interconnected again when Fiat purchased majority control of Chrysler in 2011 as a result of Chrysler's bankruptcy.
Maserati Ghibli
Main article: Maserati Ghibli (M157)
The first presentation of this car was on 20 April 2013 in Shanghai. It is a saloon, smaller than the Quattroporte (press have called it the 'baby Quattroporte'[citation needed]), that will compete against the BMW 5 Series, Mercedes E-Class or Audi A6. This new model is expected to be key in order to reach the ambitious target sales of 50000 cars a year by 2015. The car, along with the new Quattroporte, will be built in the Italian factory of Grugliasco, Turin province (former Bertone).
Maserati GranTurismo
Main article: Maserati GranTurismo
A 4.2-litre V8 grand tourer introduced in 2007 has 405 PS (298 kW; 399 hp) in standard from and year later introduced GranTurismo S version has 4.7-litre and 440 PS (324 kW; 434 hp).
Maserati GranCabrio
Main article: Maserati GranCabrio
A convertible (cabriolet) version of the GranTurismo S Automatic introduced in September 2009 in Frankfurt Motor Show.
Maserati Levante
Maserati Levante is due to be released in 2014 and has the choice of 2 engines. A 3.0L V6 or 3.8L V8. It is a SUV introduced as the Maserati Kubang concept SUV in September 2003 at the Frankfurt Motor Show and again in 2011 as a 2013 model. It was announced, at the Paris Motor Show held in Paris in September 2012. The Levante will be assembled in Mirafiori Plant, in Turin.
