O.S.C.A.

Industry	Automotive
Founded	1947
Defunct	1967
Fate	Ceased production
Headquarters	San Lazzaro di Savena,Bologna, Italy
Key people	Ettore,Ernesto andBindo Maserati
Products	Automobiles

O.S.C.A. (Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili—Fratelli Maserati S.p.A.) was an Italian manufacturer ofracing andsports cars established 1947 inSan Lazzaro di Savena,Bologna, by theMaserati brothers, and closed down in 1967. The company name is usually writtenOSCA orOsca.

OSCA was founded in 1947 byErnesto Maserati (engineering manager) and his two brothersEttore, andBindo (operations managers) who had all leftMaserati after their ten-year contract withAdolfo Orsi terminated. Ten years earlier, in 1937, the remaining Maserati brothers had sold their shares in the Bologna-based company to the Orsi family, who relocated the company headquarters to their hometown ofModena in 1940. The Maserati company remains there to this day, but the Maserati brothers once again chose Bologna to be the home for their new company.^[1]

The OSCA factory was located in San Lazzaro di Savena outside Bologna,^[2] whereMaserati were originally made from 1926 to 1940. Their basic business goal was to develop an automobile to compete in the popular Italian 1,100 cc racing class.

OSCA's first automobile was theMT4, forMaserati Tipo 4 cilindri. The 1,092 cc engine, which produced 55 PS (40 kW; 54 hp) at 6,000 rpm originally, had a in-house designed block,alloy head, and the bodywork was built as a two-seater, cycle-fendered roadster. The MT4 first raced in 1948 at thePescara Circuit and theGrand Prix of Naples, where it was driven to a win byLuigi Villoresi. The engine was modified to 1,342 cc capacity in 1949,^[3] and then enlarged to 1,453 cc in 1953. A further enlargement, this time to 1,491 cc, followed in 1954 and was giventwin spark ignition in 1955 for the OSCA MT4 TN (forTipo Nuovo, "new model"). This version is often referred to as the 1500 TN.

The all newtipo 372 DS engine hasdesmodromic valves and was developed from the final MT4 engine in 1957 and built exclusively for F2 or sports car racing. This car received the new name F2/S or FS 372 (depending on its intended field of competition), and five were built until 1959.^[4] One of these belonged to SirStirling Moss, who raced it in historic races across the globe until his retirement in 2011. Versions of this engine went on to be used in coupé and convertible models of regular Fiats from 1959 to 1966.

The1954 12 Hours of Sebring was won by driversStirling Moss andBill Lloyd in an OSCA MT4^[5] as part of theBriggs Cunningham Team. In 1955, a 1500 TN engined MT4 chassis with a streamliner body called the "Simpson Special" beat a number of records at theBonneville Salt Flats. Afterwards, the car was sold to Harry Allen Chapman, heir to theMobil fortune, who went on to take a minor share of OSCA and also replaced Edgar Fronteras as the company's US distributor.^[6]

From 1951 to 1962, automobiles or engines made by OSCA also were entered in someFormula One andFormula Two events although they mainly built small sports cars of which some were designed byPietro Frua. In theWorld Sportscar Championship OSCA ranked 10th (1953), 4th (1954), 6th (1957), 5th (1958) and 4th (1961).

The 750 cc 70 hp (51 kW) type S 187 was introduced in 1956. Weighing 430 kg (948 lb), this car had a top speed of 110 mph (180 km/h). The name "187" refers to the displacement in cubic centimetres of each cylinder of the engine. In 1959 Jim Eichenlaub won the American H-Mod Title with his OSCA S 187. Operating on a shoestring budget, Eichenlaub often slept in his tow car because there was no money for a motel. However he won his first race at Pensacola in April 1959.^[7]

TheFormula Junior (FJ) used aFiat engine of 1089 cc, and saw wins byColin Davis andBerardo Taraschi in 1959.

In 1963 the brothers sold the company toCount Domenico Agusta, owner ofMV Agusta.^[8] They did design work for Agusta until 1966. One of their final designs was adesmodromic four-cylinder engine. OSCA ended operations in 1967.

• 
  1959 FJ 1100 atDonington Park (2007).
• 
  The OSCA twin cam engine of the Fiat 1500 S
• 
  1955OSCA MT4 Spider byMorelli

The1500S Coupé and Convertible were available with OSCA's twin cam 1491 cc engine as the 1200 were produced with a Fiat engine. These 90 PS (66 kW) SAE 1500S models, 80 PS (59 kW) DIN went on sale in November 1959, withPininfarina bodywork. The engine was uprated to 1568 cc and 100 PS (74 kW) SAE, 90 PS (66 kW) DIN in the summer of 1962 (1600 S,tipo 118SB) thanks to a 2 mm bore increase, and the shell underwent a facelift as theFiat 1300/1500 replaced the original 1200 in 1963. The 1600 S continued in production until replaced by theFiat 124 coupé/spider, which used Fiat's owntwin cam engine, in late 1966. In total, 3,089 OSCA-engined Fiat Coupés and Convertibles were built.^[9]

OSCA also offered their own cars powered by the 1.6-liter derivative ofAurelio Lampredi's four-cylinder twin-cam engine, as installed in the Fiat 1600 S. These featured a tubular chassis with independent suspension at the front and rear. Of 128 OSCA 1600 cars built between 1960 and 1963, 98 were bodied byZagato while the remaining cars were bodied by other coachbuilders such as Fissore andTouring.^[10] The Zagato cars (sometimes called 1600 GTZ) feature lightweight alloy coachwork with the company's signature "double-bubble" roof.

In 1998, a partnership was formed between Andrea Zagato (grandson of Ugo Zagato) and Japanese investor Shozo Fujita, with the intent of reviving historical Italian car brands. In 1999, the OSCA 2500GT Dromos was revealed. Designed byErcole Spada, the car was constructed by Touring Superleggera and was built on atubular frame chassis, with aDOHCSubaruboxer engine producing 187-horsepower. The project never progressed beyond the prototype stage.^[11][12]

In 2022, the rights to the OSCA brand were passed byAlfieri Maserati to Massimo Di Risio, owner ofDR Automobiles. Di Risio thanked the Maserati family and stated that 'a relaunch project' would be initiated as soon as possible.^[13]

• 
  1961 OSCA 1600 GT Touring
• 
  1963 OSCA 1600 GT2 withFissore bodywork
• 
  1963 OSCA 1600 GT By Zagato with covered headlights
• 
  1965 OSCA 1600 GT by Zagato

Name and year of introduction:

• OSCA MT4 (1947)
• OSCA S187 (1956)
• OSCA 750S (1957)
• OSCA 1050 Spider
• OSCA 1100 FJ (forFormula Junior)
• OSCA 1100 (1960)
• OSCA 2000 Desmodromico (Morelli, 1959/60)
• OSCA 1600 GT2 (1962)
• OSCA 1600 SP (1963)
• OSCA 2500GT Dromos (1998)

(key) (results inbold indicate pole position; results initalics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	Driver	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	WCC	Points
1951	OSCA Automobili	4500G	4500 4.5V12	P		SUI	500	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA	ESP				—1
					Franco Rol							9
1952	Élie Bayol	20	2000 2.0L6	P		SUI	500	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	NED	ITA				—1
					Élie Bayol								Ret
1953	Louis Chiron	20	2000 2.0L6	P		ARG	500	NED	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	SUI	ITA			—1
					Louis Chiron					15	DNS		DNS	10
	Élie Bayol	20	2000 2.0L6	P	Élie Bayol					Ret			DNS	Ret
1958	OSCA Automobili	F2/S	372 1.5L4	P		ARG	MON	NED	500	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	POR	ITA	MOR	NC	0
					Giulio Cabianca		DNQ
					Luigi Piotti		DNQ
Source:[14]

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	WCC	Points
1951	Prince Bira	Maserati4CLT/48	4500 4.5V12	P		SUI	500	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA	ESP		—1
					B. Bira								Ret
1959	OSCA Automobili	CooperT43	2.0L4	D		MON	500	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	POR	ITA	USA	NC	0
					Alejandro de Tomaso									Ret
1961	Scuderia Serenissima	De TomasoF1	372 1.5L4	D		MON	NED	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA	USA		NC	0
					Giorgio Scarlatti				Ret
	Scuderia Settecolli	De TomasoF1	372 1.5L4	D	Roberto Lippi							Ret
1962	Scuderia Settecolli	De TomasoF1	372 1.5L4	D		NED	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA	USA	RSA	NC	0
					Roberto Lippi							DNQ
Source:[15]

Notes

• ^1 – The Constructors World Championship did not exist before1958.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toOSCA vehicles.

• OSCA Owners Group
• O.S.C.A. designs of Pietro Frua(in German)
• New OSCA Registry
• O.S.C.A. badge

• Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Italy
• Automotive companies established in 1947
• Formula One constructors
• Formula One entrants
• Italian auto racing teams
• Italian racecar constructors
• 24 Hours of Le Mans teams
• World Sportscar Championship teams
• Italian companies established in 1947
• Car manufacturers of Italy
• Sports car manufacturers

• CS1 French-language sources (fr)
• CS1 Italian-language sources (it)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Commons category link is on Wikidata
• Articles with German-language sources (de)