Ernesto Maserati: founding the family business and becoming its first driver

Ernesto Maserati (Voghera, 4 August 1898 – Bologna, 12 January 1975) was an Italian car driver, engineer and entrepreneur.
Together with his brothers he founded Maserati in Bologna on 1 December 1914. Alfieri Maserati was the head of the company. Ernesto directed Maserati during the First World War, while the brothers were on the front.
His racing career began in 1924. He won the Italian drivers’ championship in 1927 driving a Maserati Type 26, and in 1930.
After his brother Alfieri Maserati died in 1932, Ernesto became the director and chief engineer of the car manufacturer of the Maserati. He was also the only driver. When the company was sold to Adolfo Orsi in 1937, the Maserati brothers remained in the company with a ten-year contract, and Ernesto participated in the development of the Maserati A6 after the Second World War. In 1947 he left Maserati together with his brothers Ettore and Bindo, to found OSCA, a new car company.
He died in Bologna in 1975.