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On Sunday, 4 September, under partly sunny skies Seattle honored Maserati and enjoyed the unique beauty and sound of the Italian automobile and motorcycle at the fourteenth annual Italian Concours d? Elegance at South Lake Union Park next to the Center for Wooden Boats. Maserati held the featured spot but other marques represented included automobiles: Alfa Romeo, DeTomaso, Ferrari, Fiat, Iso, Laforza, Lamborghini, and Lancia, and motorbikes: Ducati, Gilera, Moto Guzzi, and Lambretta.
From their humble beginnings as a manufacturer of spark plugs and high voltage ignition systems, in 1914 the Maserati brothers built a foundation for the company that we know today. The Maserati story begins back in 1900 when Carlo Maserati strapped a 2.75 HP engine to a Carcano bicycle and finished 6th in the Padua-Bovolenta race behind Vencinzo Lancia and Ettore Bugatti, who would also go on to found their own respective automobile companies. For the next 14 years the Maserati brothers would work for Fiat, race for Bianchi (with a 120 HP, 8 liter engine!), build radial engines for aircraft and race for Isotta Fraschini before actually designing and building the first model to bear their name.
With spark plugs and a service shop being their primary business, on December 1, 1914, the Maserati brothers set off on their own and filed official documents with the Italian government to become a business entity. The birth of the Maserati as we know it today happened at the start of the Targa Florio in 1926 when Alfieri Maserati introduced and raced the first car to bear the now famous trident, the Tipo 26; and what an entrance it was with Alfieri finishing 1st in class and 9th overall. Throughout the years Maserati has been a force to be reckoned with. With their domination of the Formula 1 season in 1957 with Juan Manuel Fangio behind the wheel of the Tipo 250F, to the ground-pounding V8 of the mighty 450S in road racing, Maserati always put a twinge of fear into the likes of Alfa, Ferrari, Mercedes, Auto Union, Aston Martin and Jaguar.
From their humble beginnings as a manufacturer of spark plugs and high voltage ignition systems, in 1914 the Maserati brothers built a foundation for the company that we know today. The Maserati story begins back in 1900 when Carlo Maserati strapped a 2.75 HP engine to a Carcano bicycle and finished 6th in the Padua-Bovolenta race behind Vencinzo Lancia and Ettore Bugatti, who would also go on to found their own respective automobile companies. For the next 14 years the Maserati brothers would work for Fiat, race for Bianchi (with a 120 HP, 8 liter engine!), build radial engines for aircraft and race for Isotta Fraschini before actually designing and building the first model to bear their name.
With spark plugs and a service shop being their primary business, on December 1, 1914, the Maserati brothers set off on their own and filed official documents with the Italian government to become a business entity. The birth of the Maserati as we know it today happened at the start of the Targa Florio in 1926 when Alfieri Maserati introduced and raced the first car to bear the now famous trident, the Tipo 26; and what an entrance it was with Alfieri finishing 1st in class and 9th overall. Throughout the years Maserati has been a force to be reckoned with. With their domination of the Formula 1 season in 1957 with Juan Manuel Fangio behind the wheel of the Tipo 250F, to the ground-pounding V8 of the mighty 450S in road racing, Maserati always put a twinge of fear into the likes of Alfa, Ferrari, Mercedes, Auto Union, Aston Martin and Jaguar.
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