Photos for Maser fans on show
History of Maserati exhibition next month
 Juan-Manuel Fangio in a Maserati 250F, 1957  Stirling Moss in a 250F at the Autodromo di Modena, 1956 |
Mad about Maserati?
Maserati -- one of those sonorous names that speak volumes about Italian culture -- is starring at an exhibition of original photographs of the people – the racers, the stars, the royals, the troupers – whose reputations made the Maserati story. It has been selected from the Maserati archives by Stephen Bayley, who also wrote the commentary to the exhibition.
Maserati was founded in 1914 by the six Maserati brothers (one of whom was a painter). It was then sold to the Orsi family in 1937. But they continued to design great racing cars under contract: a Maserati 8CTF won the Indianapolis 500 in 1939 and 1940. In 1947 the brothers set up OSCA (Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili).
The Maserati company now entered its greatest period: some of the most successful and beautiful racing cars of all time carried the distinctive trident badge of Maserati. The A6GCS 2000 was the artistic equal of its contemporaries, the Jaguar D-Type and the Ferrari Testarossa, while the 250F single-seater gave post-war boys a stereotype of what a Grand Prix car should be like. Designed by Gioacchino Colombo, who had earlier made the technical reputations of Alfa Romeo and Ferrari, the 250F was, with 22 examples built, the first mass-produced Formula One car. Its most famous piloti were Juan-Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss. Fangio’s fifth and last World Championship was won in 1957 in a Maserati 250F.
Maserati now decided to make beautiful cars for beautiful people to drive on the road rather than the track. The first, a 3500GT used the same engine as the Grand Prix 250F. Road-going Maseratis have also been masterpieces in the history of design.
A troubled liaison with Citroën began in 1967 and then Argentinian entrepreneur Alejandro de Tomaso bought Maserati. Since 1993 Maserati has been wholly owned by the Fiat Group and an industrial rinascente began.
Vignale’s, Bertone’s, Giugiaro’s and latterly Pininfarina’s best work has been for Maserati. And the list of customers who have recognised Maserati’s extraordinary charisma is a colourful footnote to the history of design and its relation to celebrity. These customers have included The Shah of Persia, the astronaut Wally Schirra, Peter Sellers, Peter Ustinov, Sandie Shaw and Luciano Pavarotti; more recently, Jamie Oliver, Jay Kay and Jodie Kidd.
But most of all, the best designers have been attracted to the romance of the Modena machines: Frua, Bertone, Pininfarina and Giugiaro have produced some of their very best bodywork for Maserati.
When: 14 July-23 July 2005
Where: Michael Hoppen Gallery, 3 Jubilee Place, Chelsea, London SW3 3TD.
Call 020 7352 3649 for details.
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