On 1 December 1914, an Italian luxury car company was founded in Bologna, Italy, by a group of brothers led by Alfieri Maserati. At first, the goal was to create racing cars, originally designing for another company, Diatto.

When Diatto stopped producing race cars, the Maserati company went solo and started producing its own branded vehicles in 1926 with the now-iconic trident insignia, designed by Mario Maserati, one of the only brothers not otherwise involved in the business.