Next month, in an exhibition to be held at the Michael Hoppen Gallery in London, there will be a rare and unique opportunity to view original historic photographs from the Maserati archives.

Maserati - like Caravaggio, Puccini, Barolo, Riva - is one of those sonorous names that speak volumes about Italian culture. With 22 examples built, the Maserati 250F of 1954 was the first mass produced Formula One car! But, despite a glorious history of speed, luxury and style, Maserati is mainly appreciated by those people who have taken time to search for it. Maserati was founded in 1914 by the six Maserati brothers (one of whom was a painter). It was then sold to the Orsi family in 1937. A troubled liaison with Citroën began in 1967 and then Argentinian entrepreneur Alejandro de Tomaso bought Maserati. Since 1993 Maserati has been wholly owned by the Fiat Group and an industrial rinascente began.

Maserati has always attracted celebrities. The greatest racing drivers of them all - Nuvolari, Fangio and Moss - all drove Maseratis. The Aga Khan, the Shah of Persia, Alain Delon, Peter Ustinov and even Eva Longoria's character in the successful American TV series Desperate Housewives have all been customers. But most of all, the best designers have been attracted to the romance of the Modena machines: Frua, Bertone, Pininfarina and Giugiaro have produced some of their very best bodywork for Maserati, making dull metal sing.

This is an exhibition of photographs of the people - the racers, the stars, the royals, the troupers - whose reputations made the Maserati story. It has been selected from the Maserati archives by Stephen Bayley, entrepreneur of ideas, who also wrote the commentary to the exhibition. Michael Hoppen Gallery, Chelsea, are delighted to host, from 14th-23rd July, this rare opportunity to view original photographs from the Maserati archives.

MASERATI - A GLORIOUS TRADITION

There were six Maserati brothers. One was a painter, the others were obsessed by racing cars. The firm which bears their name was founded in Bologna in 1914. Dedicated to their art, the Maseratis were poor businessmen and in 1937 their firm was sold to the Orsi conglomerate. But they continued to design great racing cars under contract: a Maserati 8CTF won the Indianapolis 500 in 1939 and 1940. In 1947 the brothers set up OSCA (Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili).

The Maserati company now entered its greatest period: some of the most successful and beautiful racing cars of all time carried the distinctive trident badge of Maserati. The A6GCS 2000 was the artistic equal of its contemporaries, the Jaguar D-Type and the Ferrari Testarossa, while the 250F single-seater gave post-war boys a stereotype of what a Grand Prix car should be like. Designed by Gioacchino Colombo, who had earlier made the technical reputations of Alfa Romeo and Ferrari, the 250F was, with 22 examples built, the first mass-produced Formula One car. Its most famous piloti were Juan-Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss. Fangio's fifth and last World Championship was won in 1957 in a Maserati 250F.

Maserati now decided to make beautiful cars for beautiful people to drive on the road rather than the track. The first, a 3500GT used the same engine as the Grand Prix 250F. Road-going Maseratis have also been masterpieces in the history of design.  Vignale's, Bertone's, Giugiaro's and latterly Pininfarina's best work has been for Maserati. And the list of customers who have recognised

Maserati's extraordinary charisma is a colourful footnote to the history of design and its relation to celebrity. These customers have included The Shah of Persia, the astronaut Wally Schirra, Peter Sellers, Peter Ustinov, Sandie Shaw and Luciano Pavarotti;  more recently, Jamie Oliver, Jay Kay and Jodie Kidd. The people associated with Maserati tell the romantic story of over 90 years of motorsport, design and celebrities. This unique exhibition, using vintage photographs sourced from the Maserati archives in Modena, tells that story and establishes the meaning of Maserati as a compelling mixture of character, glamour, gorgeousness and speed.

STEPHEN BAYLEY

Stephen Bayley was once described as 'the second most intelligent man in Britain'. This is controversial and very possibly untrue, but what is indisputable is that - as the author of more than eight books, nearly 30 exhibition catalogues, countless articles and broadcasts - he is one of the world's best known commentators on modern culture.

Tom Wolfe said of him: 'I don¹t know anybody with more interesting observations about style, taste and contemporary design.'
 

Graphologist Diane Simpson did a blind analysis of Stephen Bayley's handwriting in The Daily Telegraph in 2000. She described her subject thus: 'His presentation skills are off the chart, as are his innovative and creative thinking. He is opinionated, innovative and people-oriented. Blessed with the courage of his own convictions, he leans to extremes, black or white. Never grey. You simply can't ignore him. The word 'bolshie' comes to mind.'

In the '70s he was a lecturer in history of art at The Open University and the University of Kent where he was the first person in British academe to make the rear lamp moulding of the 1957 Ford Zodiac a subject of aesthetic speculation. Then in the '80s he created the successful Boilerhouse Project at The Victoria & Albert Museum and the influential Design Museum which evolved from it. The Boilerhouse was host to more than 20 exhibitions - on Ford, Sony, Braun, Issey Miyake - which Stephen Bayley devised. One of these - 'Coke! Designing a megabrand' - was among the most successful exhibitions ever held in London, rivalling Tutankhamun and the Impressionists in attendances.

Since 1990 Stephen Bayley has been a design consultant working on imaginative communications projects for Ford, Absolut Vodka, The Coca-Cola Company, Volkswagen-Audi, Beefeater Gin, AMV, BST-BDDP, TBWA, Caroline Charles, Premier Magazines, FIAT,  Mercury, Marks & Spencer, United Distillers, Penhaligon's, Foster Associates, Harvey Nichols, BMW, Piaggio, TAG-Heuer, New Millennium Experience, the V&A, David Linley, Renault, Estee Lauder, Mercedes-Benz, Maserati, Reckitt Benckiser, New York Museum of Sex and Jaguar, but he is also well-known as an outspoken commentator on art and design, contributing regularly to The Times, The Daily Mail, The Observer, The Evening Standard, The Guardian, The Spectator, The Los Angeles Times, High Life, New Statesman, The Independent, The Independent on Sunday, GQ and Management Today as well as many trade and professional publications.

His books include In Good Shape (1979), The Albert Memorial (1981), Harley Earl and the Dream Machine (1983), The Conran Directory of Design (1985), Sex, Drink and Fast Cars (1986), Commerce and Culture (1989), Taste (1991), Labour Camp (1998), General Knowledge (2000), Sex (2001) and A Dictionary of idiocy (2003). Moving Objects (1999), which was published to accompany the exhibition of car design at the Royal College of Art, is the most complete book ever to appear on its subject. Smaller publications include The Beefeater 2-Day Guide to London, Gin and The Scorpio Paris Style Guide. His next book will be Cars are our Cathedrals, a global history of car design, and a modern edition of Lord Chesterfield's Letters to his Son provisionally called Start with a Whore.

Stephen Bayley was born in Cardiff in 1951 and educated at Manchester University and Liverpool School of Architecture. He broadcasts often and often appears on and in popular programmes including PM, Today, Newsnight, Start the Week, Channel 4 News, London Tonight, Have I Got News For You, Private Passions, Any Questions, Nightwaves and The Moral Maze. In addition, he has lectured in universities and museums throughout Britain as well as in Tokyo, Nagoya, New York, Chicago, Amsterdam, Delft, Maastricht, Geneva, Stockholm, Berlin, Dublin, Oslo, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Bucharest, Stuttgart, Milan, New Delhi, Bombay, Ahmedabad, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

He is married to Flo Bayley, the illustrator and graphic designer, and lives in London with their two children, Bruno (19) and Coco (18). He has been a judge of many national and international design competitions, including Campaign Press Awards, RIBA Architectural Awards, The Building Awards, Louis Vuitton Concours d'Elegance at Hurlingham, Cartier Style et Luxe at Goodwood, Jasmine Fragrance Awards and BBC Good Food Awards. 

In 1989 he was made a Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France's top artistic honour, by the French Minister of Culture.  In 1995 he was Periodical Publishers' Association Columnist of the Year.  A quarter of the awards for journalism won by British GQ were won by Stephen Bayley.