Founded in December 1914, Maserati initially only built racing cars. It was not until ten years after the Maserati brothers had sold their company to Adolfo Orsi that the first series-produced Maserati for road use appeared in 1947 with the 1500 GT. Under Orsi, the brand with the trident rose to become an established name alongside Ferrari in the 1960s, but then ran into financial problems almost as quickly. Citroën took over in 1968 and sold it to Alejandro de Tomaso in 1975, who ventured into large-scale production with the Biturbo models. Maserati has been part of the Fiat Group since 1993.