Maserati's trident comes from the Neptune statue in Bologna's main square
The trident on every Maserati grille was borrowed from the Fountain of Neptune in Bologna's Piazza Maggiore, a nod to the city where five brothers started the firm in 1914. Since then the company has won the Indianapolis 500 twice, been declared bankrupt, and changed owners more times than most carmakers.
The Maserati brothers had worked with cars since the early 1900s. Three of them built Grand Prix racers for Diatto, and when that company quit racing in 1926 they launched their own marque; Alfieri won the Targa Florio that same year in one of the first Maseratis. The emblem, designed by Mario Maserati at a family friend's suggestion, was chosen because Neptune stood for strength and the statue for their home city. After Alfieri died in 1932, the others sold to the Orsi family in 1937, and in 1940 the headquarters moved to Modena, where they remain.
Racing defined the early decades. A Maserati 8CTF won the Indianapolis 500 in 1939 and 1940, and no other Italian manufacturer has ever won it. Juan Manuel Fangio took the 1957 Formula One world title in a 250F. That same year, after the Guidizzolo tragedy at the Mille Miglia, the company withdrew from factory racing and turned to road cars. The 1957 3500 GT, its first series-produced model, lifted output from a dozen cars a year to a few hundred, and over 2,200 were built.
Citroën took control in 1968, and Maserati supplied the V6 for the Citroën SM while absorbing French hydraulics. The 1971 Bora, the first mid-engined production Maserati, finally gave it four-wheel independent suspension, years after Lamborghini. Then the 1973 oil crisis hit hard: domestic sales, over half the total, fell from 360 cars in 1973 to 150 in 1974. On 22 May 1975 Citroën announced Maserati's liquidation, and workers, unions and politicians fought to save 800 jobs.
Alejandro de Tomaso, an Argentine industrialist and former racing driver, took charge that August, backed by an Italian state holding company. His twin-turbo Biturbo sold 40,000 units, and Joe Walsh's line about a Maserati that does one eighty-five kept the name famous. Stellantis has owned the company since 2021.
Source: Maserati
