You only get to turn 100 once, so you may as well do it in style! That appears to be the attitude that premium Italian brand Maserati has taken towards its centenary celebrations.
Preparations are reaching fever pitch as the Silverstone Classic – often regaled as the world’s biggest classic motor racing event – appears on the horizon only five months away. Maserati will be displaying a spectacular composition of its racing and sports cars from down the ages in order to celebrate its 100th birthday.
Event Director Nick Wigley waxed lyrical about the excitement building around the event:
“Boasting such an amazing pedigree both on and off the racetrack, we are honoured that Maserati will be marking its centenary at this year’s Silverstone Classic. As the biggest classic racing festival in the world, the event always attracts many of Maserati’s finest competition cars such as the stunning 250F and Tipo 61 Birdcage.”
These models are just the tip of the classic car iceberg though, as the event is predicted to gather a record-breaking number of Maseratis. As part of the birthday spectacle, the immaculate Silverstone Grand Prix circuit will be graciously given over to Maserati on Sunday 27 July in order to host an unforgettable parade of its motorsport and production models.
This renowned marque was established in 1914 in Bologna by Alfieri Maserati and in its 100 years of existence it has produced some of the finest sports cars of successive generations. Maserati went on to secure victory in both 1954 and 1957 F1 Driver’s Championships, due in no small part to the prodigious talents of their poster boy, Juan Manuel Fangio.
While the summer celebrations are sure to be a stunning success, Maserati has had something of a tough time for the beginning of its centenary year. In Australia, not one but two of its models were expected to launch but were overdue. The redesigned Quattroporte was due out last August but finally launched in January. Along with the sports sedan Ghibli, these two models are predicted to more than double Maserati car sales in Australia this year.
These growing pains are not limited to Australia though, as the huge increase in demand continues to cause backlog issues as the company hires additional staff across the board. However, as Glen Sealey general manager of Maserati in Australia and New Zealand recently intimated, there are worse problems to have than soaring demand:
“It’s an interesting problem, but it’s terrific that there’s so much demand,” he said. “I’d much prefer to have more demand than supply than the other way round. Production will catch up.
Maserati hopes to reach the point where it is comfortably turning over sales of 50,000 units each year by the end of 2015. If production capabilities do indeed catch up with the burgeoning demand, then they may well achieve this remarkable figure.