Back in the early 50s, extremely successful and very sexy Italian automaker Maserati was split into three separate companies—Maserati Automobil which made cars, Fonderie di Modena which was a foundry, and Fabbrica Candele e Accumulatori Maserati which made, of all things, lightbulbs and spark plugs.
Only Maserati Automobil was supposed to keep the rights to Maserati's famous trident logo, but a legal cockup allowed Fabbrica Candele e Accumulatori Maserati to use it as well. That little administration error led to the creation of Maserati Motorcycles, some of the finest Italian bikes you've never heard of.
