osca zagato

The Fabulous OSCA 1600 GT

May 11, 2011 By pete

Childe Freeman's OSCA 1600GT Zagato of the double bubble variety, S/N 0094.

By Antony Childe-Freeman and Mark R. Brinker

You’ve already read about the exploits of the OSCA 1600GT at Le Mans. Here’s a bit more history of the car itself, with a focus on another ex racer, S/N 0094.

The OSCA 1600 GT Zagato is perhaps one of the most underappreciated and misunderstood GT cars of the post war era. Signaling a close to the Maserati brothers dynasty and remaining in the shadow of the legendary OSCA MT-4 (overall winner at Sebring in 1954), the 1600 GT emerged with a very different goal in mind; to produce an agile and stylish coupe. The results were an international success.

The OSCA 1600 GT Zagato prototype debuted at the 1960 Turin Auto Show. The car was tested by Ludovico Scarfiotti (Auto Italiana Sport, February 1, 1961), receiving rave reviews. The Maserati brothers knew they had a winner. OSCA 1600 GT Zagato production quickly commenced.

An All-New Tubular Chassis
The 1600 GT was built on a specially designed tubular OSCA chassis, not on a Fiat 1500 or 1600 unit as some authors have incorrectly described. The chassis for the 1600 GT was constructed at the OSCA factory with some components sub-contracted out. The wheelbase was 2250mm (88.5 inches), 50mm longer than the MT-4. The majority of cars were equipped with independent suspension front and rear, although a few cars had live axle rear suspension. The rear live axle, also known as the Ponte Rigido (PR), was a less expensive alternative, but also used on the Le Mans Experimental flat topped OSCA Zagato s/n 0036.

Alberto Luti in 0094 before the start of the Ascoli-Colle San Marco event.

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OSCA 1600 GT at Le Mans: Heads and Tails, Part II

April 20, 2011 By pete

In Part I, we examined the 0036 entry at Le Mans in 1962. Clearly, in addition to being a flat-topped Zagato, the car had a twin plug head and solid rear axle when entered at Le Mans. But what of the other entry, 007? Did the team of Gordon/Bentley achieve another OSCA success? And what about those mysterious posteriors that are so hard to track? We continue—

By Pete Vack and John Gordon

The 1600 GT2/S, s/n 007

The white coupe with a blue stripe for the team of Arents/Behra was probably a more standard car than 0036. Although there have been reports that it was also a twin plug head and a GTS, consider this.

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OSCA 1600 GT at Le Mans: Heads and Tails Part I

April 13, 2011 By pete

By Pete Vack and John Gordon

While researching the story of the two Le Mans OSCA 1600GTs, we became delightfully enmeshed in the elusive search for truth and justice, Italian style. Heads, we searched rare OSCA twin plug heads created for a few of the GTS designated cars; and tails, we entertained discussions on the numbers and types of 1600s built with a solid rear axle versus the IRS. Serving as an anchor to our story is Sebring Index winner (1960, OSCA 750) John Gordon, who purchased OSCA 1600GTS s/n 0036 to race at Le Mans in 1962. Gordon, a rocket engineer by profession, OSCA pilot by choice, was an insightful and intelligent eyewitness to the events of that legendary era.
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