Maserati, founded by seven brothers in Bologna in 1914, started out tuning cars made by Isotta Fraschini, but after Alfieri Maserati was disqualified from Grand Prix racing in 1924 (for replacing the 2.0-litre engine in his car with a 3.0-litre unit) he turned to developing a car to be sold under the family name. The first Maserati, the Tipo 26, made its debut in 1926 and was the first to wear the trident badge, a symbol borrowed from the statue of Neptune in a square in Bologna. The badge was designed by the only Maserati brother not to be involved in car design of engineering, Mario, a painter. The Tipo 26 won its class that year in the Targa Florio road race, and the following year Maserati won the Italian Constructors' Championship and Ernesto Maserati the drivers' title. 1930 saw the company's first Grand Prix win, at Tripoli, and the first production car, a GT with a body by the carozzeria (coachbuilders) Castagna appeared in '31. Further racing victories followed, including Tazio Nuvolari's 1933 Belgian, Montenegran and French Grand Prix wins, but in 1937, the Maserati brothers, running short of money to keep the race teams going, sold their business to the Orsi family, handing over its control but continuing to develop the design and engineering under contract.
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The new 8CTF racer won the Indianapolis 500 in both 1939 and 1940, but in 1940, the firm was relocated to its current site in Modena, just as its activities had to be concentrated on supporting Italy's war effort. The new factory made spark plugs, tools and even electric vehicles, but returned to business as usual post-war with the Pininfarina-bodied A6 1500 Sport and a series of new racing cars, including the 250F driven by Fangio to many victories and the Tipo 60-61 'Birdcage' driven by Stirling Moss. Minus the Maserati brothers, however: freed from contract with the Orsi family, they left the firm which carried their name and founded OSCA. Maserati's continuing Grand Prix wins supported the sale of the company's elegant road cars, the Frua- , Allemano- and Zagato-bodied coupe and spider (roadster) models of the mid-'50s, and then the 3500 GT 2+2. Maserati withdrew its works team from motorsport in 1956, under financial pressure despite Fangio's world championships win, but continued to build cars for private teams and supply engines to other constructors, including a 12-cylinder unit to Cooper. Demand for the 3500 GT was such, however, that the revived firm expanded its production lines and began to concentrate on road cars.
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The Quattroporte, literally the 'four-door', was developed in response to feedback from 3500 GT and later 5000 GT owners who suggested that they would like a roomier, more versatile car. At the time, there was little in the luxury car world between the top-end sports cars - Aston Martins, Ferraris and so on - and the much larger, more lumbering saloons from Bentley, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz and Rolls-Royce. Maserati endeavoured to produce a car with the elegance and sporting abilities of its GT, but the convenience and space of a four-doored saloon body. Adolfo Orsi junior was said to be against the idea of such a car, but his father won out, citing his wish to appeal to the American market.
Maserati's staple engine was the 450S unit it sold for powerboats and which was also used in the 5000 GT. This was reduced to 4136cc for the Quattroporte, and tuned for 260bhp at 5000 rpm with peak torque at a low 3000 rpm. It featured four chain-driven camshafts and four Weber carburettors, and was paired with a five-speed ZF manual gearbox (a three-speed Borg-Warner auto was optional) and matched to the proven De Dion rear axle. The front suspension was by an independent double-wishbone layout with coil springs, attached to a front sub-frame with rubber mounts, and Girling disc brakes were fitted all round. Its body structure was a relatively new unitary construction with box sections, making it Maserati's first car not built on a tubular chassis; with welded steel panels, the Quattroporte wasn't light - some 1700kg - and nor was it small, with a 2750mm wheelbase. Styling was by Frua's studio, heavily influenced by a special-bodied 5000 GT the design house had prepared for the Aga Khan a couple of years earlier. The Quattroporte was then unveiled at the Turin Motor Show of 1963.
Tipo 26
3500 GT Coupe
5000 GT with Frua body
