Maserati is an Italian manufacturer of racing cars and sports cars, established on December 1, 1914 in Bologna. The company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. It is a luxury car manufacturer competing directly with
Aston Martin and
Jaguar, and sometimes with large German mass-producers, including
Audi,
Mercedes-Benz and
BMW. Today, it is owned by the Italian car giant
Fiat S.p.A. since 1993. Inside the Fiat Group, Maserati has been initially associated with
Ferrari S.p.A., more recently it is part of the sports car Group with Alfa Romeo.
The Maserati brothers, Alfieri Maserati, Bindo Maserati, Carlo Maserati, Ettore Maserati, Ernesto Maserati and Mario Maserati, 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 (actually two straight eights mounted parallel to one another). Mario, an artist, is believed to have devised the company's trident emblem, based on one the Fontana del Nettuno, Bologna. Alfieri Maserati died in 1932 but three other brothers, Bindo, Ernesto and Ettore, kept the firm going, building cars that won races.
