in #Life, #Rides

Maserati: Luxury, Sports and Style Cast In Exclusive Cars

by Rico 5 October 2016, 9:13 AM 262 Views

A 1960 Maserati 3500 GT

(CONFIDENTIAL) Constructed with the utmost attention to detail, every Maserati is a true masterpiece of Italian design.

Maserati is the Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer established on December 1, 1914, in Bologna, now headquartered in Modena. It has been owned by the Italian–American car giant Fiat ChryslerAutomobiles (FCA) and FCA’s Italian predecessor Fiat S.p.A. since 1993.

Maserati was initially associated with Ferrari S.p.A., which was also owned by FCA until being spun off in 2015, but more recently it has become part of the sports car group including Alfa Romeo and Abarth. In May 2014, due to ambitious plans and product launches, Maserati sold a record of over 3,000 cars.

The Maserati tagline is “Luxury, sports and style cast in exclusive cars”, and the brand’s mission statement is to “Build ultra-luxury performance automobiles with timeless Italian style, accommodating bespoke interiors, and effortless, signature sounding power”.

In addition to the Ghibli and Quattroporte, Maserati offers the Maserati GranTurismo, the GranTurismo Convertible, and the Maserati Levante, the first Maserati SUV, in 2016, and the Maserati Alfieri, a new 2+2 in 2016. Maserati is placing a production output cap at 75,000 vehicles globally.

In the beginning

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 vigour; additionally the statue is a characteristic symbol of the company’s original home city.

Following a series company ownership changes, crisis years and the De Tomaso era, on 19 May 1993, 17 years after having rescued it from liquidation, Alejandro De Tomaso sold its 51% stake in Maserati to Fiat, which became the sole owner. Substantial investments were made in Maserati, and it has since undergone something of a renaissance.

In July 1997, Fiat sold a 50% share in the company to Maserati’s long-time arch-rival Ferrari (Ferrari itself being owned by Fiat). In 1999, Ferrari took full control, making Maserati its luxury division. A new factory was built, replacing the existing 1940s-vintage facility. Ferrari is credited for bringing Maserati back into business, after many lacklustre years of Maserati teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

The Maserati and Alfa Romeo group, under Fiat Group, started in 2005, when Maserati was split off from Ferrari and partnered with Alfa Romeo. On 9 June 2005 the 20,000th Maserati, a Quattroporte, left the factory. In the second quarter of 2007, Maserati made profit for the first time in 17 years under Fiat ownership.

On January 22, 2010, Fiat announced that it had created a new partnership/brand group for Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and Abarth. Although Maserati and Alfa Romeo are in a brand group, Alfa Romeo is structured under FCA Italy S.p.A., which itself is structured under FCA, whereas Maserati is structured solely under FCA.

In 2013, Maserati started its expansion with the sixth-generation Maserati Quattroporte, which was designed to better compete with the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. This was followed by the introduction of the Ghibli, which was slated to compete against the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and BMW 5-series. On May 6, 2014 Maserati confirmed production of the Levante SUV and the Alfieri (previously a 2+2 concept sports car that was named after Alfieri Maserati).

Along with their expansion, Maserati started their re-entrance into the high-performance car field, in order to compete with brands such as Mercedes-AMG, BMW M, Porsche, Jaguar, and in certain cases, Ferrari. This is being done with Maseratis that have higher output engines, higher performance components, and better handling. The fastest Maserati Alfieri will be receiving a 520 bhp (388 kW; 527 PS) V6 with all-wheel drive, while the Quattroporte, Ghibli, and Levante are receiving 560 bhp (418 kW; 568 PS) V8s in the future with all-wheel drive, in order to better compete with their respective AMGs, M cars, Jaguars, and Porsches.

2014 marked an historic record of 13,411 total units sold in North America for the year, a 169% increase versus 2013, boasting the highest-ever overall sales year for Maserati North America, Inc. Worldwide, in 2014 Maserati sold about 36,500 cars, a 136% increase over 2013. The sales target for 2018 is 75,000 units worldwide.

In Costa Rica, the brand is handled by Viensa Motors, with a brand new showroom in Terrazas de Lindora, in Lindora, Santa Ana.

Enough of the boring stuff, let’s go to the photos of the designs by Marco Tencone, who has been the head designer of Maserati cars since 2009.