Weekender Alicante North Issue 120

40 FRIDAY 6TH DECEMBER 2019
www.weekender.news
Motoring
MASERATI CELEBRATES
105 YEARS OF HISTORY
AS it begins the modernisation
work at the Modena
plant and plans a big event
for May 2020, when it will
be starring on the global
stage, Maserati celebrates
its roots and its more than a
century of history. Indeed, it
was 105 years ago that Alfieri
Maserati joined forces
with his brothers Ettore and
Ernesto to open the “Alfieri
Maserati” at number 1A on
via de’ Pepoli, in the heart
of Bologna.
The business was founded in
Bologna on 1 December 1914,
but officially the activities of
the mechanical workshop began
trading on 14 December.
The Maserati brothers were
passionate about mechanical
engineering and loved
speed, quite happy to get behind
the wheel of a racing
car themselves, despite their
many technical and commercial
commitments. Another
brother, Mario, contributed by
creating the famous Trident
logo (inspired by the Fountain
of Neptune in the centre of Bologna)
and their brother Bindo
joined Officine Maserati in
1932, after Alfieri’s death.
The first car to bear the Trident
logo was built in 1926. It
was the Tipo 26, a racing car
which debuted at the Targa
Florio that same year, winning
first place in the class up to 1.5
L, with Alfieri Maserati at the
wheel. This was the first in a
long series of successes, including
two consecutive editions
of the Indianapolis 500 (1939
and 1940), four consecutive
victories in the Targa Florio
(1937, 1938, 1939 and 1940),
nine F1 wins and the 1957
F1 World Championship with
Juan Manuel Fangio. More
recently, Maserati returned
to its winning ways with the
MC12, the car which, between
2005 and 2010, won six FIA
GT international championships,
the highest-level racing
category for production-derived
GT cars.
Maserati remained in Bologna
until 1939. In late September
1939, following the acquisition
of the Brand by the
Orsi family, operations began
for the transfer of the Maserati
headquarters from Bologna
(Pontevecchio, where it had
moved in the meantime) to
Modena, where the Orsi family’s
businesses were based,
to build new cars, invest in
research and innovation and
become Modena’s most globally
famous Brand. The production
site on Viale Ciro Menotti,
where the plant is still located,
officially opened its doors on 1
January 1940.
The year 1947 marked the
end of one era and the start
of a new one. The Maserati
brothers’ collaboration with
the company ended, while
the Brand launched its first
road car, the A6 1500. In 1963,
Maserati started another new
phase of its history: with the
launch of the Quattroporte, it
created a completely new, previously
non-existent market
segment, that of high-performance
luxury sedans.
After the brief period under
the ownership of Citroën
(1967-1975), during which
the French owners introduced
the first modern industrial
processes, in the following De
Tomaso period (1976-1993),
the Modena plant created and
sold a model destined to be
one of the Brand’s best-known,
best-selling cars: the Biturbo.
The acquisition by Fiat in
1993 was the start of a major
new chapter, which led to
Maserati coming under the
control of Ferrari in September
1997. These were years of
major transformations, which
saw the birth of the 3200 GT
(1998), followed by the Spyder
(2001), a car which marked
the important return to the
US market.
In 2005, Maserati was
separated from Ferrari and
returned to the control of
the Fiat Group. 2007 was a
very successful year, with the
debut at the Detroit Motor
Show of the Quattroporte (5th
generation) with automatic
transmission, enabling an
important step forward, especially
in markets such as the
United States, Japan and the
Middle East. The same year
saw the presentation at the
Geneva International Motor
Show of the GranTurismo,
another milestone in Maserati’s
history.
In 2009 it was the turn of
the GranCabrio, followed by
other new products that significantly
renewed the range:
the new Quattroporte (now in
6th generation and presented
at the 2013 Detroit Motor
Show), the Ghibli (Shanghai
Motor Show in 2013) and the
Levante (2016 Geneva International
Motor Show), the
first SUV for the Brand.
After over a century of history,
the Modena plant is still
producing extraordinary cars
sold in more than 70 markets,
all which stand out for their
luxury, elegance, style, performance
and quality. These
characteristics have made
Maserati a true Italian icon at
the global level.
VOLKSWAGEN ID.R IS “ELECTRIC
RACING CAR OF THE YEAR”
THE “Electric Racing Car
of the Year” award was
presented to the fullyelectrically
driven Volkswagen
ID.R at the “Race
Night” on the eve of the
Essen Motor Show.
This year’s auto show (30
November to 8 December
2019) is once again proving
to be a major attraction
for car and motorsport fans
from all over Europe. The
prize, awarded by Auto Bild
sportscars and Auto Bild motorsport,
acknowledges the
technology and successes of
the 680 PS electric racing
car, which has set five records
in four countries, on
three continents, in the past
two years.
“I am delighted that the
ID.R has been chosen as the
racing car of the year in the
Electro category this year”,
says Volkswagen Motorsport
Director Sven Smeets, who
picked up the prize at the
Race Night.
“I receive the trophy as
a representative of the entire
Volkswagen Motorsport
team, which has performed
so magnificently over the
past two years. This prize
also acknowledges the engineers
and technicians behind
the project, who are often
away from the limelight
but contribute hugely to
its success.”
The development of the
ID.R began at the end of
2017 and, behind the wheel
of the racing car, Frenchman
Romain Dumas set the
first record at the Pikes Peak
International Hill Climb
in Colorado (USA) in June
2018. The dynamic duo then
proceeded to break the electric
record at the Goodwood
Festival of Speed (GB). Dumas
claimed three more records
with the ID.R in 2019:
the ID.R now holds the record
for the fastest lap by an
electric car on the Nürburgring
Nordschleife, as well
as securing the overall track
record in Goodwood and at
Tianmen Mountain in China.