History
The Maserati brothers: how the trident brand began in Bologna
Alfieri, Ettore and Ernesto Maserati opened a Bologna workshop on 1 December 1914. Their first car under the family name, the Tipo 26, raced in 1926 with a trident drawn by their brother Mario.
By the My Hangar editorsPublished 5 min read
Key takeaways
- Alfieri, Ettore and Ernesto Maserati opened their workshop at Via de' Pepoli 1A in Bologna on 1 December 1914.
- The Tipo 26 of 1926 was the first car to carry the Maserati name and the trident, and Alfieri won his class with it on its Targa Florio debut.
- Mario Maserati, a painter rather than a mechanic, drew the trident, which comes from the Neptune fountain in Bologna.
- Alfieri died on 3 March 1932, aged 44, and Bindo, Ettore and Ernesto carried on the firm.
- Adolfo Orsi bought the business in 1937; when their ten-year contract ended in 1947, the brothers left and founded OSCA.
Maserati began on 1 December 1914, when Alfieri, Ettore and Ernesto Maserati opened a garage and repair workshop at Via de' Pepoli 1A in Bologna. It built no car under the family name until 1926, when the supercharged 1.5-litre Tipo 26 raced at the Targa Florio. Their brother Mario drew its trident, taken from Bologna's Neptune fountain.
Who were the Maserati brothers?
Six brothers reached adulthood: Carlo, Bindo, Alfieri, Mario, Ettore and Ernesto. They were the sons of Rodolfo Maserati, a railway worker, and Carolina Losi. A seventh boy, the first to be called Alfieri, died as a baby, and the name passed to the next son.
| Brother | Dates | Role in the story |
|---|---|---|
| Carlo | 1881–1910 | Built the family's first engine; died of a lung disease at 29 |
| Bindo | 1883–1980 | Stayed in Milan, then joined the firm as president in 1932 |
| Alfieri | 1887–1932 | Founder, engineer and racing driver |
| Mario | 1890–1981 | Painter who designed the trident |
| Ettore | 1894–1990 | Co-founder; later ran projects |
| Ernesto | 1898–1975 | Co-founder, driver and test manager |
Carlo set the pattern. At 17, working in a bicycle factory near Milan, he built a single-cylinder engine for a bicycle. He went on to work for Fiat, Isotta Fraschini and Bianchi, and Alfieri followed him into Isotta Fraschini.
When and where was Maserati founded?
In Bologna on 1 December 1914, the date given by both Motor Valley and Motor Web Museum. Alfieri had moved to the city to represent Isotta Fraschini, and the new business was a garage with a repair shop rather than a carmaker.
Histories describe that first business in slightly different ways. Motor1 Italia calls it an electrician's workshop, while Classic & Sports Car says the company began by making spark plugs. Spark plugs certainly mattered later: a separate plug factory, Fabbrica Candele Maserati, was part of the 1937 sale.
The First World War soon interrupted the work. Motor Valley dates the brothers' return to full-time work to 1 April 1919, and the workshop then moved to Pontevecchio.
How did Diatto lead to the first Maserati?
Diatto's exit from racing left the brothers with a Grand Prix project and no client. They worked for the Turin firm in the early 1920s as consultants and racing engineers, and when it pulled out, they carried on under their own name. Motor Valley dates the withdrawal to 1925; Classic & Sports Car says 1926.
Motor Valley also credits a gentleman driver, the Marquis Diego de Sterlich, with paying for the move into production, which brought ten Diatto 30 Sport chassis to the Bologna workshop.
The result was the Tipo 26, named after its year. It had a supercharged 1.5-litre straight-eight with twin overhead camshafts and about 120 hp. Motor Valley counts 43 built across numerous variants, while Wikipedia counts 11. Motor Valley calls it "the first real Maserati", although the brothers had already won the 1921 Susa-Moncenisio in the Tipo Speciale, a special they assembled from an Isotta Fraschini chassis and a Hispano-Suiza engine.
How did the Tipo 26 do at the 1926 Targa Florio?
It won its class first time out. On 25 April 1926 Alfieri drove the red car, number 5, on the Sicilian mountain course and took the class for cars up to 1.5 litres, ahead of two Bugattis. Overall he was eighth or ninth, depending on the history you read.
That day also set the course of the firm. Maserati had become a constructor, and it would stay one, with road cars arriving only after the Second World War. You can follow what came next on the Maserati timeline.
Where does the Maserati trident come from?
From the statue of Neptune in Bologna's Piazza del Nettuno, the work of the sculptor Giambologna. Mario, the one brother drawn to art rather than mechanics, turned the sea god's trident into an emblem for the firm.
Motor Valley adds that the idea is said to have come from de Sterlich, and it presents that detail as legend. The Tipo 26 was the first car to wear the badge.
What happened to the brothers after Alfieri died?
They kept the firm going, sold it, and then started again. Alfieri died on 3 March 1932, aged 44. Bindo left Milan to become president, Ettore took charge of projects and Ernesto of testing.
Money remained short, as Classic & Sports Car notes, and on 1 May 1937 the industrialist Adolfo Orsi bought both Officine Alfieri Maserati and the spark-plug factory. The brothers stayed on under a ten-year consulting contract. Orsi moved the company to Viale Ciro Menotti in Modena: Motor Valley says September 1939, while Motor Web Museum links the move to 1937.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1914 | Workshop opens in Bologna on 1 December |
| 1926 | Tipo 26 debuts at the Targa Florio on 25 April |
| 1932 | Alfieri dies on 3 March |
| 1937 | Adolfo Orsi buys the business on 1 May |
| 1939 | Move to Modena, by Motor Valley's date |
| 1947 | Contract ends; the brothers found OSCA |
| 1964 | OSCA sold to MV Agusta at the end of the year |
| 1967 | MV Agusta closes OSCA |
When the contract ran out in 1947, Bindo, Ettore and Ernesto went back to the Bologna area and founded OSCA at San Lazzaro di Savena. The name stands for Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili, and it concentrated on small-engined sports cars. The name they had made stayed behind in Modena with the company that bore it.
Think you can name all six? Try the My Hangar Maserati quiz, then read how Fangio gave the firm its greatest day in the Maserati 250F and the 1957 title.
FAQ
Who founded Maserati?
Alfieri Maserati, with his brothers Ettore and Ernesto, opened the business in Bologna on 1 December 1914. Their brothers Carlo, who had died in 1910, and Bindo were not among the founders, and Mario became involved as the designer of the trident.
What was the first Maserati car?
The Tipo 26 of 1926, a supercharged 1.5-litre straight-eight racer. It was the first car to carry the Maserati name and the trident, and it won its class on its debut at the Targa Florio.
Why does Maserati use a trident?
Because the firm came from Bologna. The badge, drawn by Mario Maserati, takes its trident from the statue of Neptune in the city's Piazza del Nettuno.
Do the Maserati brothers still own Maserati?
No. They sold the company to Adolfo Orsi in 1937, stayed on for ten years under contract and left in 1947 to found OSCA.
Sources
- Maserati: at the origins of the Trident House, Motor Valley
- Maserati, le vere origini della Casa del Tridente, Motor1 Italia
- 110 years of Maserati, Classic & Sports Car
- Maserati moves to Modena with the Trident brand, Motor Web Museum
- Maserati marks 100 years since motorsport debut, Cyprus Mail
- Maserati brothers, Wikipedia
- Maserati Tipo 26, Wikipedia
Every figure here was checked against at least two independent sources, listed at the end.
