A-Z Of Marques No 40: Maserati

The marque: Italy's other well-known supercar maker

The history: Alfieri Maserati set up his company in Bologna in 1914 to improve other makers' cars. Racing success led to Mr Maserati and his brothers designing their own car in 1926. Mr Maserati died in 1932. The Orsi family bought the company in 1937, but the brothers continued engineering and design work until 1939, when Maserati moved to Modena. The brothers pulled out in 1947 to set up Osca. Maserati cars, including the 4CLT and the 250F, won many races, and the Marques was one of the few foreign carsat the Indianapolis 500. Maserati's first GT car, after its 1957 racing withdrawal, was the 3500GT. In 1959 the 5000GT had the first road-going four-camshaft V8, and more GTs and Quattroporte saloons followed. The prettiest were the V8 Bora and V6 Merak, designed during Citroën's ownership of the company, which ended with its bankruptcy in 1975. Fiat Auto took control in 1993, passing it to Ferrari in 1997. Ahandsome model range has rekindled the Maserati fire.

Defining model: The 250F Formula One car of the 1950s; one of the most successfulracing cars.

They say: No more excuses.

We say: Bravery has rewards.