100 Years of Maserati
In the beginning ... the early years
The Maserati Pages

1997 it appears was the year of the anniversary. Whilst it is well known that Ferrari enjoyed its 50^th year in 1997 along with SAAB, there are others who may well claim a 50^th year anniversary, including Porsche and Lotus. Lamborghini, I am told is celebrating its 40^th year. Be that as it may, Maserati is now in its 100^th year since Carlo Maserati designed his first engine. Now that's a reason to celebrate.

In a forward to the history of Maserati in his excellent book "Maserati: Catalogue Raisonne: 1926-1990", Gianni Cancellieri in the section entitled "The seven sons of the railwayman" outlined the early development years of Maserati which I have reproduced below:

The Maserati brothers, seven male sons, were all born in a small house on the outskirts of Voghera, in the province of Pavia, where their father, Rodolfo, a railway engine driver, had moved from Piacenza after marrying Carolina Losi. Carlo, the eldest son, was born in 1881, Bindo in 1883, Alfieri in 1885: the latter died after only a few months and his name was given to the next son, born in 1887. Then Mario (1890), Ettore (1894) and Ernesto (1898) were born.

With the exception of Mario, who turned his creative vocation towards painting, they all became involved in engineering, in modification and later in design and construction of automobiles and engines.

The initial experiences were gained by Carlo Maserati.

Carlo the oldest son, who as a very young apprentice in a bicycle factory at Affori, near Milan, designed a monocylindrical engine in 1898 to power a velocipede. He even found a patron, the Marquis Michele Carcano di Anzano del Parco who, together with his son Cesare, started a factory for the production of bicycle engines in the same year.

Carcano took part in motor cycle competitions for a few seasons and with Carlo Maserati riding, some successes were gained such as the Padova-Bovolenta, the 5 km record and the Brescia-Mantova-Verona-Brescia race, all in 1900. The following year (1901) the Carcano firm ceased its activity and Carlo Maserati went to work first for Fiat (the current owners of Maserati) and then, in 1903, for Isotta Fraschini, as technical adviser and test-driver. He quickly made a career for himself: in 1907 he was with Bianchi, in 1908 with Junior as General Manager, but in 1919 his young life was cut short with an illness.

In 1903, when Carlo joined Isotta Fraschini, he also persuaded them to hire his brother Alfieri, who was only sixteen, but with a passion at least equal to his refined mechanical sensitivity. These two qualities were destined to become related in Alfieri with the progressive expression of his uncommon creative talent.

Alfieri Maserati soon made a name for himself at Isotta Fraschini (where his brother Bindo and Ettore later followed) both as a technician and as a driver and later the Milanese firm sent him and his brother Ettore to Argentina, then to London and finally, in 1912 to Bologna with the task of organising customer service. Two years later Alfieri Maserati set out on his own.

The 14^th of December, 1914, was a normal Monday just like any other. Italy, the only "great power" of Europe not to have been overwhelmed by what was to pass into history as the First World War, was half way through the ten illusory months which separated its short-lived proclamation of neutrality (August 2^nd , 1914) from its fatal entry into the conflict on May 24^th of the following year. These were certainly not propitious times for any sort of business initiative, except perhaps for arms and munitions factories. Nevertheless, on that cold winter's day towards the end of the year, the "Societa Anonima Officine Alfieri Maserati" was born in Bologna at a ground floor office rented in Via de' Pepoli. A "trademark" was about to be added to the list of those which "had made" the history of the automobile.

Starting business with a workshop specialising in race preparation for Isotta Fraschini engines, Alfieri was joined by Ettore and Ernesto Maserati (20 years and 16 years old respectively) and five mechanics. It was the beginning of a legend!

At the outbreak of war, Alfieri and Ettore were called up for action and the workshop was entrusted to young Ernesto. When Alfieri completed his military service, he set up a spark plug factory in Milan while hostilities continued and in 1919 moved it to Bologna and returned with his brothers Ettore and Ernesto. A new site was acquired for the workshop on the eastern outskirts of the city in an area known as the Alemanni quarter but which was better known as the Ponte Vecchio. These years were agitated not only by deep social unrest and upheavals but also by a great fervor of activity in industrial reconversion, reconstruction initiatives and growth in every sector of the economy. Even at Maserati activity resumed intensely.

Race modifications were based on Isotta Fraschini mechanics but every now and then other marques were used especially for Alfieri Maserati's race appearances, which were becoming more and more frequent as well as promising. The Isotta Fraschini Tipo Speciale was built in 1920 and this coupled a series-built chassis to a four-cylinder engine of 6330cc . Alfieri drove this car brilliantly in 1921 races winning the Susa-Moncenisio and coming fourth at the Mugello Circuit and the Gentleman GP in the Settimana di Brescia. In 1922, Alfieri, together with his brother Ernesto, used an improved version of this car to win the Mugello Circuit in record time, the Susa Moncenisio again and the Aosta-Gran San Bernadino.

These victories impressed the directors of Diatto who offered Alfieri Maserati a car for the remaining races of the season together with a technical consultancy contract for preparation of their competition models. The Monza victory in the GP d'Autunno (3000cc class), gave rise to big expectations, but was not to be followed up in 1923. In spite of numerous retirements and the not too healthy state of the company, that same year Diatto helped Maserati to build a unique racing car powered by a 5000 cc Hispano Suiza V-8 cylinder engine which had been radically modified. This car enabled Alfieri to win the Coppa Principe Amedeo and gave him his third consecutive victory in the Susa Moncenisio, followed by his second in the Aosta-Gran San Bernadino.

1924 was less successful and the year in which Ernesto Maserati made his racing debut with some good results, while Alfieri, after having dominated the San Sebastian GP was unable to finish because of engine failure. Then he was unceremoniously disqualified (for five years, but condoned a few months later), for having replaced the two litre engine of Diatto with a three litre for the Rabassada Hill climb, not too far from Barcelona.

Forced to give up racing, Alfieri dedicated more of his time to work in the factory and this enabled him to build a Grand Prix Diatto for the 1925 season powered by an eight cylinder, two litre engine designed to be fed with a supercharger. However, the unhealthy economic situation at Diatto brought a definite end to the Maserati brothers' collaboration and so, in the winter between 1925 and 1926, they committed themselves to construction of an entire car, which would be the first to carry their name ... the Maserati Tipo 26.

By way of historical footnote to this early history, as noted by Richard Crump and Rob de la Rive Box in their book Maserati Sports, Racing and GT Cars 1926-1975, it is worth noting that from 1926 onwards the workshops produced some fine and very successful racing and sports racing cars until 1932, when the founder Alfieri Maserati died following an unsuccessful operation brought about from a racing incident five years earlier. The three other brothers Ettore, Bindo and Ernesto, the youngest and now in command, carried on to produce almost immediately the highly respected 3 litre 8CM Grand Prix car, which like all of their racing cars was for sale to both the amateur and professional racing driver alike.

It has been said that the Maserati brothers share the fault of many artists in that their business sense was not in accord with their artistic talents. Whilst always insisting on doing a job right (half measures were never considered by the factory), they nonetheless approached the point where financial assistance was required. This was forthcoming in 1937 (60 years ago) from Commendatore Adolfo Orsini and his industrial complex. The Bologna workshops were closed and the Maserati factory rehoused in Via Ciro Menotti, Modena a town destined to become synonymous with some of the most exciting automobiles every produced. Under the terms of the Orsi/Maserati agreement the Maserati brothers were retained for a 10 year period. At the termination of this agreement in 1947 (50 years ago) neither party sought to discuss a new contract so Bindo, Ettore and Ernesto returned to Bologna and their new idea ... OSCA.

With the Orsi family now in total control of the name Maserati for building cars, and after surviving the second world war, it was decided to exploit the opportunities which ten years previously they had been tempted into. The beginning of another era, 50 years ago, this year (1997).