Carlo Maserati
Encyclopedia
Maserati Brothers
The Maserati Brothers were involved with automobiles from the beginning of the 20th century. All were born to Rodolfo Maserati and his wife Carolina in Voghera, Lombardy, Italy. Rodolfo was a railway worker from Piacenza, driving a heavy Krupp locomotive, and married Carolina Losi...
.
His engineering career started in a bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
factory in Affori
Affori
Affori is a ward of Milan, Italy, part of the Zone 9 administrative division of the city, located north of the city centre. It borders with the wards of Bruzzano, Comasina, Bovisasca, Dergano and Niguarda...
, near Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, where he developed a one-cylinder internal combustion engine
Internal combustion engine
The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
for motorized bicycle
Motorized bicycle
A motorized bicycle, motorbike, cyclemotor, or vélomoteur is a bicycle with an attached motor and transmission used either to power the vehicle unassisted, or to assist with pedaling. Since it always retains both pedals and a discrete connected drive for rider-powered propulsion, the motorized...
s. The engine went into production at Marquis Michele Carcano
Michele Carcano
Michele Carcano was an Italian Franciscan preacher. He is known for his part in founding the montes pietatis banking system, with Bernardine of Feltre, and for the marked anti-Semitism of his attacks on usury.His sermons were later printed as Sermones quadragesimales fratris Michaelis de...
di Anzano del Parco
Anzano del Parco
Anzano del Parco is a comune in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 35 km north of Milan and about 11 km southeast of Como...
s factory, using a leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
strap as transmission. Carlo was engaged as a racer of these bicycles, winning the
Brescia-Orzinouvi (1899),
Brescia-Cremona-Mantua-Verona-Brescia and
Padova-Bovolenta (1900).
Carcanos factory ended in 1901, and Carlo worked as test driver for Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
(1901–1903), then as test driver and mechanic at Isotta-Fraschini
Isotta-Fraschini
Isotta Fraschini represents two Italian manufacturing companies which produce, respectively, marine engines and luxury goods. In the early 20th century it was famous worldwide as a luxury car manufacturer.-History:...
(1903) where he was joined by brother Alfieri Maserati
Alfieri Maserati
Alfieri Maserati was an Italian automotive engineer, known for establishing and leading the Maserati racing car manufacturer with the other Maserati Brothers....
.
He moved to work on automobiles for Bianchi (motorcycles)
Bianchi (motorcycles)
Bianchi motorcycles were made from 1897 to 1967 by F.I.V. Edoardo Bianchi S.p.A, a company which today is a major Italian bicycle manufacturer, and who also produced automobiles from 1900 to 1939. Edoardo Bianchi started his bicycle manufacturing business in a small shop on Milan’s Via Nirone in 1885...
(1907), where he raced the Coppa Florio
Coppa Florio
Coppa Florio was an Italian car race started in 1900, and renamed in 1905 when Vincenzo Florio offered the initial 50 000 Lira and a cup designed by Polak of Paris. The cup was to be offered the manufacturer that wins four or more of the first seven races, the first race held in 1905...
(7th) and the Kaiserpreis
Kaiserpreis
The Kaiserpreis auto race, named after Emperor Wilhelm II, was held in 1907. Like his brother's Prinz-Heinrich-Fahrt held from 1908 to 1911, it was a precursor to the German Grand Prix....
(9th), before becoming manager of the Junior car company (1908). At Junior, he hired his brother Ettore Maserati
Ettore Maserati
Ettore Maserati was an Italian automotive engineer, one of five brothers who founded the Maserati firm in Bologna 1914. He was born in Voghera.His oldest brother Carlo Maserati brought him to the Junior car manufacturer in 1908...
. Carlo died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
(1910) and his brothers established Maserati
Maserati
Maserati is an Italian luxury car manufacturer established on December 1, 1914, in Bologna. The company's headquarters is now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. It has been owned by the Italian car giant Fiat S.p.A. since 1993...
in Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
(1914).