Maserati and Ferrari made a partnership which outshone thor historic rivalry in 1993, with Ferrari supplying the engines for Maserati – but does every Maserati have a Ferrari engine?
Every Maserati since 2002 has had a Ferrari engine under the hood. Maserati changed hands in 1998 but recently came back under the control of Fiat Chrysler, and Ferrari has made it clear that their contract supplying engines is not indefinite.
Read on to learn more about the history of the partnership between these two mighty Italian car brands, and their plans for the future.
Ferrari vs. Maserati
Maserati was founded in December 1914 in Bologna, and they released their first car in 1926.
The Maserati brothers initially only wanted to build race cars.
It took three decades before the first Maserati road car, the A6, was born, powered by a 6 cylinder engine.
Maserati made a name for themselves by becoming a big name on the racing scene and notably by competing with Ferrari, dominating the 1951 formula 1 races.
Modena is known as the city of supercars, and the rivalry between Ferrari and Maserati began when Maserati moved from Bologna to Modena, where Ferrari was based.
This rivalry was so strong that in 1978 Enzo Ferrari would not even let the Italian president visit the Ferrari factory because he drove a Maserati.
The old roman road running from north to south through the town even served as a dividing line between Ferrari and Maserati territory.
A partnership is formed
Historically rivals, Maserati and Ferrari joined forces in the early 1990s when Maserati was acquired by the owners of Ferrari, Fiat.
When the two joined forces, Maserati production was halted while their equipment was modernized, but production remained in their traditional Ciro Minotti.
Overcoming their rivalry and replacing it with a drive for innovation, the partnership created the 3200 GT in 1998 – the first Maserati with a Ferrari engine.
This was to the precursor to the now-iconic Maserati Gran Turismo Spyder of 2001, which was the model that burst Maserati back onto the US market.
During the partnership, Ferrari has been responsible for supplying Maserati with a pair of V8s – one twin-turbocharged and one naturally aspirated.
Which Maserati models have Ferrari engines?
The MC12, developed in 2004 to signal Maserati’s return to racing after 37 years was designed by Giorgio Giugliani and Frank Stevenson and has a Ferrari-designed engine.
This model is built on the chassis of the Enzo Ferrari and uses an Enzo-derived 4 cylinder engine, but it is larger and cannot reach the same speeds.
The Maserati Gransport could also be considered to have Ferrari engines since they were designed by Giorgio Giuliani during a time when Ferrari was the sole owner of Maserati.
Even the iconic Maserati Spyder has a Ferrari engine.
The iconic Ferrari-Maserati engine is the F136, a family of V8 engines jointly developed by Ferrari and Maserati and produced by Ferrari.
Every Maserati made since 2001 contains one of these engines, which the exception of some models such as the Maserati Quattroporte in 2013 which carries a twin-turbocharged F154 engine
Why is Ferrari dropping Maserati?
Ferrari revealed that Maserati was damaging their return profit on engine exporting, so ending the partnership makes sense from a business perspective.
Part of the reason may be Maserati’s plans for electrification, which would result in them needing fewer combustion engines supplied.
Many motor fans are disappointed at the news, seeing the Ferrari engine as the ‘beating heart’ of the Maserati, and lamenting the end of this all Italian partnership.
What does the future look like?
Ferrari’s contract with Maserati comes to an end in 2022, after which they will no longer be supplying Maserati with engines.
Maserati is turning to a twin-turbo V6 engine to replace their Ferrari built counterparts.
Maserati is also planning for a greener future, moving towards hybrid and electric-powered cars.
Ferrari will use the assets freed up by the end of the contract to expand the production of existing Ferrari cars and engines.
Although Maserati doesn’t plan on giving up on combustion engines completely, they will probably head to parent company Fiat-Chrysler to supply these now.
Do all Maseratis have a Ferrari engine?
In their early years, Maserati and Ferrari had an intense rivalry but later formed an innovative partnership when both were acquired by Fiat in the early 1990s.
Every Maserati made since 1993 has contained a Ferrari-produced engine, including the iconic Maserati Spyder.
However, Ferrari will not be renewing their contract with Maserati, so the near future will see Maseratis with different engines under the hood.