| Maserati
In 1926, the Italian car company Diatto suspended the production of race cars and the Maserati brothers, some of whom were building the Diatto race cars, founded the Maserati marque by creating the first Maserati. Mario Maserati is believed to have created the company's trident emblem. Alfieri Maserati won the 1926 Targa Florio in a Maserati. Alfieri Maserati died in 1932 but three other brothers, Bindo, Ernesto and Ettore, kept the company alive, building cars that won races. In 1937 the remaining Maserati brothers sold their stake in the company to the Adolfo Orsi family, but continued on as engineers within the company and Maserati racing success continued. During WWII Maserati discontinued automobile production and joined the war effort. After the war, Maserati resumed auto production with the A6 series, which did well in the postwar racing era. After the 10-year contract with Orsi, the Maserati brothers left to form the car builder, O.S.C.A. After 1957, Maserati became more focussed on road cars. In 1968 Citroën purchased Maserati. New models were launched, and built in much greater numbers than before and moved Maserati into mass production. Citroën borrowed Maserati expertise and engines for the Citroën SM and other vehicles, and Maseratis also incorporated Citroën technology, particularly in hydraulics. In 1973 the oil crisis hurt high performance sports car sales significantly. Citroën went bankrupt in 1974 and in 1975 the new controlling group, PSA Peugeot Citroën, started liquidating Maserati. Later in 1975 former Argentinian race driver, Alessandro de Tomaso, arranged for Benelli motorcycles to buy the company and place him in charge. 1975 saw the company back on its feet with Alessandro de Tomaso,[2] an Argentinian former racing driver, the new managing director. De Tomaso had arranged for the Benelli motorcycle company, which he controlled, to buy Maserati from Citroën and install him as its head. New models were introduced in 1976, including the Maserati Kyalami and the Maserati Quattroporte III. In the 1980s Maserati abandoned mid-engined sports cars and started making cheaper front-engined, rear-drive coupes. Through de Tomaso's friendship with Lee Iacocca, Maserati also worked with Chrysler. Eventually Chrysler purchased a part of Maserati and they jointly produced the Chrysler TC by Maserati. In 1993 Fiat acquired Maserati and invested in it substantially which met with success. Fiat sold 50% interest in the company to Maserati's long-time arch-rival Ferrari, but in actuality Ferrari is a Fiat property. In 1999 Ferrari took full control and Maserati became Ferrari's luxury division and gave the company new life. In 2001 Maserati's Modena factory was upgraded significantly, becoming one of the most advanced in the world. In 2005 Maserati was separated from Ferrari and brought back under Fiat's full control and became profitable in 2007.
http://www.maserati.com/
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