Maserati

Maserati is a Bolognese automobile and racing car manufacturer founded by the Maserati brothers in 1914. In the context of this vault, Maserati is Alfa Romeo’s primary pre-war rival in Italian Grand Prix and endurance racing. Maserati drivers and cars competed directly against Alfa Romeo’s P2, P3, 8C 2300, and 8C 2900 at events including the Targa Florio, Mille Miglia, and European Grand Prix throughout the late 1920s and 1930s.

The rivalry between Alfa Romeo and Maserati was personal as well as commercial: Tazio Nuvolari, Alfa’s greatest driver, raced Maserati equipment in periods when his relationship with Alfa Romeo was strained, most famously winning the 1933 Belgian Grand Prix in a Maserati against an Alfa Romeo works team. By the mid-1930s, both Italian firms faced the challenge of the German Silver Arrows — Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz — which outclassed them with state-funded engineering.

Connections

• Alfa Romeo — principal Italian pre-war rival in Grand Prix and endurance racing, source: wikipedia.org
• Tazio Nuvolari — drove for Maserati intermittently when not contracted to Alfa Romeo, source: wikipedia.org
• Targa Florio — venue where Alfa and Maserati competed directly, source: wikipedia.org