Ettore Maserati; Guiding Force of Racing Car Company

Ettore Maserati, a founder and guiding force of the famed racing car company, died Saturday, the ANSA news agency reported. He was 96.

With one of his five brothers, Alfieri, Maserati produced his first racing car in 1926. Maseratis went on to become a power in racing with victories in the Indianapolis 500 in 1939 and 1940, and the 12-hours of Sebring in 1953.

In 1937, the company was bought by the Orsi group in Modena, where Maserati worked for 10 years as technical director.

After leaving Orsi, he and his brothers founded a new car-manufacturing company in 1947 called “Osca Maserati.”

Ettore Maserati retired in 1966 at the age of 72, the last surviving brother.

The Maserati company is now based in Modena, controlled by Argentine-born Alejandro de Tomaso.

“He was the last survivor of that group of avant-garde super-technicians of the 1930s,” De Tomaso said of Maserati. “Today one talks a lot about overall quality, but in those days the Maseratis controlled their creations one by one, piece by piece.”