Otto Explains — Legendary Cars
The Legendary Cars That Defined Maserati
Short Answer
Eight cars changed Maserati as a company. The Tipo 26 made the brothers’ business a carmaker, the A6 1500 Gran Turismo made Maserati a builder of road cars, the 3500 GT gave it volume production, the Quattroporte created its luxury saloon line, the Biturbo kept it going under De Tomaso, the 3200 GT led its revival under Fiat and Ferrari, the Levante took it into SUVs, and the MC20 began a new era with an engine of its own.
How did Otto decide which cars changed Maserati?
Each car here is included for what it changed: what Maserati built, how it sold, which markets it reached or which engines it used. Famous cars whose fame rests on victories or design, such as the 250F, the 1967 Ghibli or the MC12, are covered in Otto’s list of ten iconic Maseratis instead. Company events appear only as the background to each car; the full chronology is in Otto’s history of Maserati.
How did the Tipo 26 turn the Maserati brothers into carmakers?
Maserati credits Alfieri Maserati with turning the business from a sports car tuner into a renowned racing car manufacturer, and the Tipo 26 of 1926 was the car that did it: the brothers’ first racing car and the first car to carry the Trident. At the Targa Florio on 25 April 1926 Alfieri drove it to first in its class, Maserati’s first motorsport victory. Maserati still counts its racing history and its emblem from that car, which is why it calls 2026 the Year of the Trident.
How did the A6 1500 Gran Turismo make Maserati a road-car maker?
Styled by Pinin Farina and introduced at the 1947 Geneva Motor Show, the A6 1500 Gran Turismo was the first road-going Maserati, its name combining A for Alfieri and 6 for its cylinders. Its arrival coincided with the end of the brothers’ era, as they left the business that year. It won the Grand Prix d’Elegance, and Maserati says it marked the start of the company as a maker of luxurious sports cars for the road, the path it has followed ever since.
How did the 3500 GT give Maserati volume production?
In 1957 Maserati officially withdrew from motorsport and turned its full attention to Gran Turismo cars. The 3500 GT, launched at that year’s Geneva Motor Show, was the first Maserati road car built in relatively large volume, with a Touring Superleggera aluminium body and a six-cylinder engine from the 350S racing car. Its commercial success, in Maserati’s words, established the company as one of the world’s most exclusive high-performance marques.
How did the Quattroporte create Maserati’s luxury saloon?
The Quattroporte, Italian for “four doors”, put a high-performance engine into a saloon, which Maserati calls a first. Developed under Giulio Alfieri with a steel monocoque and a 4.2-litre V8 derived from the 5000 GT’s, it reached 230 km/h, and Maserati describes it as the world’s fastest saloon of its time. The line it began in 1963 ran to six generations, until the last Quattroporte was delivered on 31 July 2024.
How did the Biturbo keep Maserati going?
After Citroën’s agreement ended early in 1975, Maserati came close to closure, and Alejandro De Tomaso was appointed to run it. His answer was a smaller-engined Maserati at a reasonable price to increase sales: the Biturbo of December 1981, whose compact V6 used two small turbochargers, a world first on a production car according to Maserati. With 37,000 sold, Maserati’s history calls it the best-selling car in the company’s history, and its platform spawned a whole family, from the 222 and 430 to the Shamal and the Ghibli of 1992. Otto explains how turbochargers work.
How did the 3200 GT lead Maserati’s revival?
The 3200 GT was the car of Maserati’s Fiat and Ferrari years. Presented in 1998 with a body by Giorgetto Giugiaro, it closed the Biturbo chapter, and Maserati credits it with starting the brand’s worldwide revival that year. It also left a design detail that lasts: its boomerang-shaped rear lights were the first LED tail lights on a production car, and the Grecale’s are inspired by them. The open Spyder of 2001, built with Ferrari’s technical help, then reopened the American market for Maserati. Ferrari’s side of the story is in Otto’s history of Ferrari.
How did the Levante change Maserati’s market?
Unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2016, the Levante was the first SUV in Maserati’s history. Built on the Quattroporte and Ghibli architecture, it entered a segment in which Maserati was competing for the first time, and Maserati said that with it the range covered the entire global luxury car market. Like many Maseratis before it, it took its name from a wind, a warm Mediterranean one. The Grecale SUV followed in 2022.
How did the MC20 start a new era?
Maserati presents the MC20 of 2020 as the halo car that began a new era. Its name stands for Maserati Corse 2020, and it was the first car with the Nettuno, a V6 that marked Maserati’s return, after twenty years, to developing and producing its own engine at its Modena headquarters. The MC20 led to the GT2 racing car’s road version, the GT2 Stradale, which Maserati describes as combining the two, and in 2025 to the MCPURA, built at Viale Ciro Menotti. Otto explains how a V6 compares with other engine layouts.
Common Questions
- Which Maserati sold best? The Biturbo, launched in 1981. Maserati counts 37,000 of them sold, a figure it says made the Biturbo its top-selling model.
- Was the Levante Maserati’s first SUV? Yes. Maserati introduced it at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2016 as the first SUV in its history.
- Why isn’t the MC12 among the cars that changed Maserati? The MC12 marked Maserati’s return to racing in 2004 and is one of its most famous cars, but its impact was on the race track rather than on how the company worked, so Otto includes it among the iconic Maseratis.
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