Maserati moves to Modena with the Trident brand

When Maserati gecan its procedure of moving to Modena in 1937, it was already in its 25th year of industry. Founded in Bologna on the 1st December 1914 by Alfieri Maserati, it achieved fame as carmaker only by the 1920s. The symbol chosen to identify its vehicles was the Trident, in honour of Neptune’s fountain in Bologna. The red-and-blue colour scheme was also a sideways wink to the Emilian regional capital. The logo’s elaboration turned out to be a family affair: the one who sketched it is Mario Maserati, the only brother of Alfieri who preferred his artistic career to engines.

The Trident appeared for the first time on the ‘Tipo 26,’ the first real Maserati ever produced (1926). With this car Alfieri Maserati, who was a skilled racing driver like his brother Ernesto, immediately wins the 1926 edition of the Targa Florio. When the carmakers’ works moved to Modena, the luxurious cars invented by Alfieri had already made a name for themselves. This event was a confirmation of the city’s place in motoring history. The town already hosted Stanguellini's factory and, a few hundred metres from Maserati, Enzo Ferrari will found his first company.

The move was due to the sale of the company to the family of entrepreneur Adolfo Orsi. For ten years the Maserati brothers remained contractually bound to the new company. In 1947 they decided to return to Bologna, where they had continued to live, founding the OSCA (Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili – workshops specialising in car building) to operate in the sector of sports vehicles with small displacement engines.

Despite the changes in property which will also see the Italian-Argentine entrepreneur Alejandro de Tomaso among the main players of Ferrari S.p.A. and FIAT, the Maserati factory remained in Modena. The original site has recently been renovated with a new executive department and showroom designed by architect Ron Arad.