The car maker that emphasises ‘Excellence Through Passion’ was born on December 1 1914, in Bologna, once the Maserati brothers Alfieri, Bindo, Ettore and Ernesto harnessed their love for mechanics and speed into building racing cars and making spark plugs. In 1926, Maserati produced its first car – the Tipo 26 – scoring a victory on its debut inside the 1926 Targa Florio. It was eventually around this point that another Maserati brother, Mario, used his artistic talents to make Maserati’s trident emblem – driven by Fountain of Neptune in Bologna. Six years later however, tragedy struck when Alfieri Maserati died from liver complications. Despite the setback, Bindo, Ettore and Ernesto continued to construct racing cars until 1937, once they sold their shares inside the company towards the Adolfo Orsi family. Orsi demanded the firm be relocated to Modena (where it remains today ), while he allowed the Maserati brothers to carry on doing work in engineering roles inside the company. Further racing successes followed, using the Maserati 8CTF winning the 1939 and 1940 Indianapolis 500. During the Second World War, the Maserati brothers focused their attentions on building spark plugs along with other components to the Italian war effort. Towards finished from the war, key engineers from Fiat and Alfa Romeo were brought in by Orsi, further ruffling the Maserati brothers’ feathers and essentially side-lining them. In 1947 they walked from the company That They‘d founded, happening to launch the OSCA Italian sports car company. Shortly after their exit, Adolfo Orsi got an open road car bug, signing off such projects like the Maserati 4CLT, 8CLT, A6-series and also the iconic A6GS. In 1954, the Italian company launched the Maserati 250F racing car to compete in Formula One. Powered using a 2. 5-litre straight-six engine firing out 270bhp at 8, 000rpm and proficient at 180mph, it propelled the legendary Argentinian racer Juan Manuel Fangio during the very first half the 1954 season and his entire 1957 drivers’ World Championship crown. Following the 1957 Mille Miglia Guidizzolo tragedy, Maserati pulled from racing altogether and immersed itself in producing luxury road cars. This era proved a golden period to the Italian manufacturer, using the creation from the 3500GT that year, the V8-powered 5000 in 1959 and also the Vignale-bodied Sebring 3 years later. In 1963, the Mistral 2+2 coupe and spider were launched together with the company’s first four-door car – the Quattroporte – the latter two cars penned by Pietro Frua. The stunning Maserati Ghibli two-seater coupe debuted in 1967, as the Ghibli Spider was unveiled 2 yrs later. It featured a 330bhp 4. 7-litre V8 early on and will sprint from 0-60mph in 6. 8sec and onto 154mph. Following a financial deal between Adolfo Orsi and General Peron of Argentina went sour inside the late-1950s, the Italian banks began that will put heat on Maserati’s property. The new models through the entire 1960s were profitable sufficient to keep your creditors at bay, but time was running out. In 1967 it became apparent that Citroën was curious about making a flagship GT car with Maserati, and thus in December 1967 Orsi sold a 60 per cent share in Maserati towards the French carmaker – Citroën acquiring Maserati outright by 1971. The partnership produced audacious cars such as the Merak, Khamsin and Bora, but when Citroën sales were hit hard from the 1973 oil crisis, the bean-counters lost patience using the profit-dwindling Italian car firm. Under French ownership, employee numbers had inflated from 300 employees in 1968 to 900 in 1974, but productivity had fallen from 600 to 500 cars each year. By May 1975, Citroën declared Maserati bankrupt. Three months later, Alejandro De Tomaso bought a 30 per cent share inside the company using the help of public holding company GEPI. De Tomaso cut senior management and also the workforce by half and set about launching new models as the Maserati Kyalami, Quattroporte III, Biturbo and Ghibli II. Throughout the 1980s, focus shifted far from mid-engined sports cars to less expensive boxy-styled, front-engine, rear-wheel-drive coupes. The Biturbo would be a BMW 3-series rivalling 200bhp V6 available like a coupe or saloon and will hit over 130mph. However, development was too hasty and it was eventually poorly made. Maserati reached arguably its lowest ebb in 1989, using the ‘Chrysler TC by Maserati’ – essentially a re-badged Dodge Daytona marrying a Chrysler body having a Maserati engine – the motoring press at that time describing it as “taking the worst from each partner. ”In 1993 Alejandro De Tomaso suffered a stroke and sold his 51 per cent share in Maserati to Fiat, with considerable investment ploughed into Maserati from the Italian company. Under Fiat’s reign, the Maserati 3200GT was launched in 1998, proving to become a turning point and injecting Maserati with much-needed integrity it severely lacked. Fiat later sold a 50 per cent share to Ferrari, who later took full control, making Maserati its luxury division. In 2004, the Maserati MC12 supercar was unleashed. Designed and built upon the Ferrari Enzo chassis it was eventually developed to signal Maserati’s go back to racing after 37 years. Power came given by a Ferrari Enzo-derived 6. 0-litre V12 lump with 620bhp at 7500rpm, via a six-speed semi-automatic transmission. The MC12 was good for 0-62mph in 3. 8sec and also a top speed of 205mph. Only 55 examples were made. That same year, the fifth-generation Maserati Quattroporte was released, powered by a similar 395bhp 4. 2-litre V8 unit coming from the 4200GT and GranTurismo. A year later, Ferrari gave up the corporate to Alfa Romeo under Fiat Auto and in 2007 Maserati turned a profit for the very first time in 17 years under Fiat Group ownership. Using the sixth-generation Maserati Quattroporte and BMW 5-series rivalling Ghibli currently on sale, and also the luxury SUV market locked firmly in Maserati’s crosshairs using its Levante crossover slated for 2015, the Italian car company is better placed than ever. “Maserati stands today in the fringe of an unparalleled strategic and industrial growth that could see our presence inside the world rise to 50, 000 units a year by 2015, ” says Maserati’s CEO Harald Wester. Aaron Smith History of Maserati - picture special
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
History of Maserati - picture special
The car maker that emphasises ‘Excellence Through Passion’ was born on December 1 1914, in Bologna, once the Maserati brothers Alfieri, Bindo, Ettore and Ernesto harnessed their love for mechanics and speed into building racing cars and making spark plugs. In 1926, Maserati produced its first car – the Tipo 26 – scoring a victory on its debut inside the 1926 Targa Florio. It was eventually around this point that another Maserati brother, Mario, used his artistic talents to make Maserati’s trident emblem – driven by Fountain of Neptune in Bologna. Six years later however, tragedy struck when Alfieri Maserati died from liver complications. Despite the setback, Bindo, Ettore and Ernesto continued to construct racing cars until 1937, once they sold their shares inside the company towards the Adolfo Orsi family. Orsi demanded the firm be relocated to Modena (where it remains today ), while he allowed the Maserati brothers to carry on doing work in engineering roles inside the company. Further racing successes followed, using the Maserati 8CTF winning the 1939 and 1940 Indianapolis 500. During the Second World War, the Maserati brothers focused their attentions on building spark plugs along with other components to the Italian war effort. Towards finished from the war, key engineers from Fiat and Alfa Romeo were brought in by Orsi, further ruffling the Maserati brothers’ feathers and essentially side-lining them. In 1947 they walked from the company That They‘d founded, happening to launch the OSCA Italian sports car company. Shortly after their exit, Adolfo Orsi got an open road car bug, signing off such projects like the Maserati 4CLT, 8CLT, A6-series and also the iconic A6GS. In 1954, the Italian company launched the Maserati 250F racing car to compete in Formula One. Powered using a 2. 5-litre straight-six engine firing out 270bhp at 8, 000rpm and proficient at 180mph, it propelled the legendary Argentinian racer Juan Manuel Fangio during the very first half the 1954 season and his entire 1957 drivers’ World Championship crown. Following the 1957 Mille Miglia Guidizzolo tragedy, Maserati pulled from racing altogether and immersed itself in producing luxury road cars. This era proved a golden period to the Italian manufacturer, using the creation from the 3500GT that year, the V8-powered 5000 in 1959 and also the Vignale-bodied Sebring 3 years later. In 1963, the Mistral 2+2 coupe and spider were launched together with the company’s first four-door car – the Quattroporte – the latter two cars penned by Pietro Frua. The stunning Maserati Ghibli two-seater coupe debuted in 1967, as the Ghibli Spider was unveiled 2 yrs later. It featured a 330bhp 4. 7-litre V8 early on and will sprint from 0-60mph in 6. 8sec and onto 154mph. Following a financial deal between Adolfo Orsi and General Peron of Argentina went sour inside the late-1950s, the Italian banks began that will put heat on Maserati’s property. The new models through the entire 1960s were profitable sufficient to keep your creditors at bay, but time was running out. In 1967 it became apparent that Citroën was curious about making a flagship GT car with Maserati, and thus in December 1967 Orsi sold a 60 per cent share in Maserati towards the French carmaker – Citroën acquiring Maserati outright by 1971. The partnership produced audacious cars such as the Merak, Khamsin and Bora, but when Citroën sales were hit hard from the 1973 oil crisis, the bean-counters lost patience using the profit-dwindling Italian car firm. Under French ownership, employee numbers had inflated from 300 employees in 1968 to 900 in 1974, but productivity had fallen from 600 to 500 cars each year. By May 1975, Citroën declared Maserati bankrupt. Three months later, Alejandro De Tomaso bought a 30 per cent share inside the company using the help of public holding company GEPI. De Tomaso cut senior management and also the workforce by half and set about launching new models as the Maserati Kyalami, Quattroporte III, Biturbo and Ghibli II. Throughout the 1980s, focus shifted far from mid-engined sports cars to less expensive boxy-styled, front-engine, rear-wheel-drive coupes. The Biturbo would be a BMW 3-series rivalling 200bhp V6 available like a coupe or saloon and will hit over 130mph. However, development was too hasty and it was eventually poorly made. Maserati reached arguably its lowest ebb in 1989, using the ‘Chrysler TC by Maserati’ – essentially a re-badged Dodge Daytona marrying a Chrysler body having a Maserati engine – the motoring press at that time describing it as “taking the worst from each partner. ”In 1993 Alejandro De Tomaso suffered a stroke and sold his 51 per cent share in Maserati to Fiat, with considerable investment ploughed into Maserati from the Italian company. Under Fiat’s reign, the Maserati 3200GT was launched in 1998, proving to become a turning point and injecting Maserati with much-needed integrity it severely lacked. Fiat later sold a 50 per cent share to Ferrari, who later took full control, making Maserati its luxury division. In 2004, the Maserati MC12 supercar was unleashed. Designed and built upon the Ferrari Enzo chassis it was eventually developed to signal Maserati’s go back to racing after 37 years. Power came given by a Ferrari Enzo-derived 6. 0-litre V12 lump with 620bhp at 7500rpm, via a six-speed semi-automatic transmission. The MC12 was good for 0-62mph in 3. 8sec and also a top speed of 205mph. Only 55 examples were made. That same year, the fifth-generation Maserati Quattroporte was released, powered by a similar 395bhp 4. 2-litre V8 unit coming from the 4200GT and GranTurismo. A year later, Ferrari gave up the corporate to Alfa Romeo under Fiat Auto and in 2007 Maserati turned a profit for the very first time in 17 years under Fiat Group ownership. Using the sixth-generation Maserati Quattroporte and BMW 5-series rivalling Ghibli currently on sale, and also the luxury SUV market locked firmly in Maserati’s crosshairs using its Levante crossover slated for 2015, the Italian car company is better placed than ever. “Maserati stands today in the fringe of an unparalleled strategic and industrial growth that could see our presence inside the world rise to 50, 000 units a year by 2015, ” says Maserati’s CEO Harald Wester. Aaron Smith History of Maserati - picture special
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