PaulKanters
04-05-2000, 12:07 PM
Nothing to do with age indeed! Just love of cars, and an interest in their heritage.
It's not for nothing that a lot of new car designs keep turning back to the styling of Classic Cars to make them more interesting:
The new BMW Z8 is based on the BMW 507! The new Jag S type takes a lot of styling cues from the old MK2 and even the F-type is looking back to the E-type.
So if you know the Roots, it helps to appreciate the modern cars...
Which brings us to the mystery car of last week. Nobody guessed it, but we were very close, as we got the make and the designer right:
It actually is a FIAT/OSCA 1500S Coupe from 1959-1962.
The interesting thing about this little coupe, is the engine under the bonnet. It's not a FIAT engine, but an OSCA race tuned 1500cc twin cam engine. For most of us the name OSCA won't mean a thing, but OSCA stands for "Officina Specializzata Costruzione Automobili Fratelli Maserati" which in fact means "Special Automobile Construction Company of the Maserati brothers". Yes, that's right, the sons of the orginal founder of Maserati, sold the company in 1947, but not ready to retire yet, they decided to set up another company in Bologna in 1948, called OSCA, destined to develop race engines. But they nearly went bust, and to get some desperately needed cash flow going they made a deal with FIAT to allow them to shoehorn their lovely little tuned engine into the Fiat 1500's. These were then rebadged 1500S's, and could be recognised by the scoops on the bonnet. OSCA's top success was the 1500 OSCA Sport that helped Stirling Moss and Bill Lloyd win a class victory at Sebring in 1954.
You rarely see these unique OSCA cars on the market, but the above car is actually for sale in the Netherlands for approx 9000 pounds.
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Paul Kanters
Nothing beats Classic Motoring!
welcome.to/classiccarsireland (http://welcome.to/classiccarsireland)
--------------------
It's not for nothing that a lot of new car designs keep turning back to the styling of Classic Cars to make them more interesting:
The new BMW Z8 is based on the BMW 507! The new Jag S type takes a lot of styling cues from the old MK2 and even the F-type is looking back to the E-type.
So if you know the Roots, it helps to appreciate the modern cars...
Which brings us to the mystery car of last week. Nobody guessed it, but we were very close, as we got the make and the designer right:
It actually is a FIAT/OSCA 1500S Coupe from 1959-1962.
The interesting thing about this little coupe, is the engine under the bonnet. It's not a FIAT engine, but an OSCA race tuned 1500cc twin cam engine. For most of us the name OSCA won't mean a thing, but OSCA stands for "Officina Specializzata Costruzione Automobili Fratelli Maserati" which in fact means "Special Automobile Construction Company of the Maserati brothers". Yes, that's right, the sons of the orginal founder of Maserati, sold the company in 1947, but not ready to retire yet, they decided to set up another company in Bologna in 1948, called OSCA, destined to develop race engines. But they nearly went bust, and to get some desperately needed cash flow going they made a deal with FIAT to allow them to shoehorn their lovely little tuned engine into the Fiat 1500's. These were then rebadged 1500S's, and could be recognised by the scoops on the bonnet. OSCA's top success was the 1500 OSCA Sport that helped Stirling Moss and Bill Lloyd win a class victory at Sebring in 1954.
You rarely see these unique OSCA cars on the market, but the above car is actually for sale in the Netherlands for approx 9000 pounds.
------------------
Paul Kanters
Nothing beats Classic Motoring!
welcome.to/classiccarsireland (http://welcome.to/classiccarsireland)
--------------------