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Osca 1600 GT - A sports car for everyone and no one

Name: OSCA 1600 GT 1961
Brand: OSCA

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Created on January 5, 2023

Text:

Paul Krüger

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

RM Sotheby's

Bonhams

Archiv

Daniel Reinhard

RM Sotheby's

Bonhams

Archiv

Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - almost pleasing for a Zagato

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - designed by Ercole Spada

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - The "double bubble" of the roof can be found on the windshield wipers

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - The airstream sucks warm air out of the interior through the scoops

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - plain front without bumper

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - plain rear without bumper

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - 15-inch magnesium wheels from Amadori

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - Z for Zagato

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - Zagato-typical "double bubble" roof

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - rear-facing scoops for interior ventilation

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - Emblem with reference to the Maserati brothers

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - lettering on the tailgate

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - Small warty tail lights from Carello

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - Zagato emblem and indicators on the front side panel

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - Storage space for spare wheel and luggage

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - simple but attractive interior door paneling

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - unmistakably Italian interior

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - of course with wooden steering wheel by Enrico Nardi

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - small bucket seats with thin upholstery

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - Luggage rack with lashing hooks

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - Jaeger instruments for engine speed, oil temperature and oil pressure

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - self-confident Maserati lettering on the steering wheel

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - The family name was allowed to appear more prominently on the speedometer and rev counter

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - Pull, push and toggle switches on the dashboard

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - strongly inclined gearshift with wooden knob

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - filigree buckle of the lap belts

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - DOHC four-cylinder with 125 hp

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - Weber twin carburetor of high aesthetics

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Osca 1600 GTV Zagato (1963) - Type plate with lubricant recommendation

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Osca 1600 GT (1960) - Presentation at the Turin Motor Show

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Osca 1600 GT Zagato (1960) - Count Giovanni Lurani next to the prototype

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Osca 1600 GT (1960) - The prototype on a test drive with Giovanni Lurani in 1961

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Osca 1600 GT Zagato (1961) - in a contemporary factory photo

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Osca 1600 GT Zagato (1961) - on the Zagato stand at the 1961 Turin Motor Show

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Osca 1600 GT Zagato (1962) - at the 1962 Turin Motor Show, behind it the Fiat 2300 Spider by Moretti

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Osca 1600 GT Zagato (1962) at the Geneva Motor Show - functional and aerodynamic design by Zagato

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Osca 1600 GT Zagato (1962) - Ventilation scoop on the roof

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Osca-Fiat 1500 GT Michelotti (1961) - designed and built by Giovanni Michelotti, Geneva Motor Show 1961

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Osca 1600 GT Berlinetta "Swift" Boneschi (1961) - designed by Rodolfo Bonetto, Turin Salon 1961

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Osca 1600 GT Berlinetta "Swift" Boneschi (1961) - at the 1961 Turin Motor Show

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Osca 1600 GT Berlinetta "Swift" Boneschi (1961) - Interior photo from the Turin Motor Show

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Osca 1600 GT Berlinetta "Swift" Boneschi (1961) - Geneva Motor Show 1962. Boneschi succeeded more convincingly with the rear with elegant and soft lines than with the front

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Osca 1600 GT Touring (1961) - at the 1961 Turin Motor Show

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Osca 1600 GT Touring (1961) - Steering wheel and dashboard

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Osca 1600 GT Touring (1961) - Bumper rudiment

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Osca 1600 GT Touring (1961) - at the 1961 Turin Motor Show, in the background the Bertone stand with the Bertone Jet

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Osca 1600 GT Touring (1961) - front view, Turin Motor Show 1961

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Osca 1600 GT Touring (1961) - light-colored upholstery with futuristic seat frame, Turin Salon 1961

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Osca 1600 GT Fissore (1961) - at the 1961 Turin Motor Show

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Osca 1600 GT Fissore (1961) - front view

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Osca 1600 GT Fissore (1961) - View of the interior

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Osca 1600 PR 2 Fissore (1962) - at the 1963 Geneva Motor Show

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Osca 1600 PR 2 Spyder Fissore (1963) - Press photo with actor Gianni Meccia

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Osca 1600 GT Corbetta (1964) - with plastic body based on a design by Michelotti, Turin Salon 1964

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Fiat 1500 Cabriolet (1962) - the 1200 standard version next to the Osca-fired 1500 version. The wide air scoop only had a visual function

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Fiat 1600 S Cabriolet (1962) - the fast version with OSCA engine had the air scoop on the left

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Fausto Mariani at the "Coppa Galenga" 1965

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Fiat 1500 (1960) - the engine with two overhead camshafts is based on a design by Osca - Geneva Motor Show 1960

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Osca MT4 1450 (1954) - Overall winner of 1954 - Stirling Moss at the wheel of an OSCA MT4 (12 Hours of Sebring 1954)

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Summary

The last real Maserati wasn't even called that. With the Osca 1600 GT, the brothers from Bologna wanted to build their own Porsche competitor for the road and the racetrack. In addition to a Mille Miglia-proven engine in four power levels, the little speedster could be ordered in a whole range of different styles. Depending on the coachbuilder, it was sporty and rounded, straightforward and elegant, wonderfully hideous or simply a shrunken Maserati in both senses of the word. In this article, we unravel the history of the first and last Osca for the road and show it in current and historical images.

This article contains the following chapters

Marriage of convenience with Fiat
Tubular frame and aluminum body
First impressions and three alternatives
Six versions in series production
Nothing is known for sure

Estimated reading time: 11min

Preview (beginning of the article)

From 1947, the real Maserati no longer came from Modena, but from Bologna again. In that year, the brothers Bindo, Ettore and Ernesto had left the "Officine Alfieri Maserati" and set up their own company. The company, which still bore their name, had not been family-owned for ten years. The brother who had founded the design office in 1914 had already died in 1932 following a kidney operation. And Mario had already turned to painting before then. In 1937, the three remaining Maseratis sold Alfieri's office to the steel producer Adolfo Orsi, to whom the founding brothers continued to serve as consultants and who moved the headquarters from Bologna to Modena in 1940. When their contract with Orsi finally expired in 1947, Bindo, Ettore and Ernesto returned to their old place of work and founded the "Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili" ("Workshops specializing in automobile construction") - OSCA for short. As they were not allowed to use their famous surname in the official company name, they hid it in the suffix "Fratelli Maserati, Bologna" ("of the Maserati brothers from Bologna").

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