Maserati

Founded on December 1, 1914 in Bologna, Maserati is an Italian luxury car manufacturer that has been associated with sports car companies such as Ferrari and Alfa Romero.  The company was purchased by Fiat S.p.A. in 1993, and currently operates out of Modena, Italy.  Maserati sports cars are internationally recognized for their performance-quality engineering and their smooth, elegant body styling.

The Maserati brand started off with a bang by establishing its name in the motorsport industry through Alfieri Maserati’s 1926 Targa Florio win in one of the first Maserati designs.  The company continued to manufacture race cars throughout the early half of the twentieth century, with great success.  A Maserati 8CTF won the Indianapolis 500 in 1939 and 1940.

From 1957 onward, Maserati became more focused on the manufacturing of streetcars, and produced a number of performance-engineered gems of Italian luxury car design.  In 1957, the company released the 6-cylinder 3500 coupe, which was composed of an aluminum body over a Carrozzeria Touring chassis.  The company launched the highly successful Sebring in 1962, followed by the Mistral Coupe in 1963 and the Spider in 1964.  In 1980, the company shifted focus away from mid-engined sports cars and towards front-engined, rear-drive coupes, such as the Karif and the Spyder.  The company was purchased by Fiat in 1993, and due to substantial investments and a strong enthusiast following, Maserati has been revived.  In 1999, Maserati released the 3200 GT, a highly successful two-door coupe powered by a 3.2-liter twin-turbocharged V8.