Maserati

Established 1914: Bologna, Italy

At its heart a simple, yet obsessive performance garage, many would not recognize the best of Maserati production because it is dedicated to racing. Originally founded by Alfieri, Ettore, and Ernesto, the firm properly materializes in 1926 with the purchase of the Diatto company remnants. At this point, eldest brother Carlo has predeceased his siblings by some unfortunate distance, yet demonstrated enough ingenuity in a short time to herald Alfieri's rise to prominence. Brother Bindo opts to remain at Isotta Fraschini, where he had partnered Alfieri for some time. And Mario, the only brother not interested in mechanics, is a skilled artist whom Alfieri asks to design his marque's emblem. Those three Maserati brothers operate a successful racing concern until Alfieri's death in 1932, which brings Bindo back from Isotta Fraschini to rejoin as president, while Ernesto assumes technical leadership.

In reviewing Maserati family history, similarities between they and the Duesenberg brothers surface time and again. These are each families of seven children whose younger members follow the initiative of the eldest outgoing scion (Carlo and Henry, respectively). Those who then forge the family's name in history are self-taught engineers of extraordinary aptitude with a naturally sporting disposition; they move about and gather industry experience wherever they can, sometimes together and sometimes apart. They design and build all manner of machines, and find success in numerous technical domains. Serendipitously, both families set land speed records, and both enjoy a spell of good fortune at the Indy 500. Indeed, Duesenberg and Maserati are two of the only period race car producers to campaign their cars across the Atlantic, let alone to find success. Both families also suffer the untimely loss of their key enterprising motivator (Alfieri and Frederick, in this case).

Both great names also depend on the patronage of others. Two benefactors champion Maserati—first the Marquis Diego de Sterlich, and later Adolfo Orsi, (whereas E.L. Cord is a rather Orsi-like figure in the Duesenberg story). Adolfo Orsi sees Maserati transition from Bologna to Modena in 1937. With the Orsi family in control, the surviving Maserati brothers established O.S.C.A., but their influence remains at their namesake factory in the technical development of Maserati racing cars. Financial necessity at last brings Maserati to public roads in the post-War era, and the passion for racing persists well into the 1960s.

These four decades produce the pure Maserati car, Italy's first true four-wheel obsession. These are the cars that overtake a young Enzo Ferrari, giving him a target at which to aim, because Maserati are the cars every ambitious Italian driver must own. A true Maserati is a bespoke gem, not unlike the early Duesenberg, a car of intuitively potent design finished to an exceedingly high standard. For these reasons, 12cylinders prioritizes Maserati above other Modenese concessions, however brief the sampling may be.