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Osca 1600 GT Zagato Berlinetta s/n 0094
The
Maserati brothers started Osca in the late-1940s, after they
sold Maserati to the Orsi family. They would build about 100
MT4, TN, and F2S sports racing cars in the 1950s. Then, in the
1960s, they would turn their attention to building GT cars.
0094 is a 1963 1600 GTS Berlinetta
Competizione Allegerita with coachwork by Zagato. Of
approximately 120 Osca 1600 GTs built, only 32 had Zagato bodies.
And, of the 32 Zagato-bodied 1600 GTs, some were street-specification
cars with lower performance motors and a few did not have the double
bubble roof. 0094 is, therefore, among perhaps 20 lightweight
competition cars with a double bubble roof. It also has
plexi-glass windows (other than the windshield, that was always glass
in these cars).
Engine: Four cylinders, twin
overhead camshaft, twin Weber 42DCOE carburetors, 1568cc, 144 HP at
8000 RPM. High compression competition specification.
Designed with the help of Aurelio Lampredi, the ex-Ferrari engine
designer.
Gearbox: Close ratio five-speed manual.
Suspension: Fully independent.
Brakes: Four-wheel disc.
Wheels: Lightweight Magnesium Elektron.
Steering wheel location: Left hand drive.
Seats: Lightweight “Alfa SZ-style” Zagato.
Weight: Approximately 1650 LBS.
HISTORY OF S/N 0094:
0094 was sold, directly from Osca,
to Alberto Luti in Firenze, Italy, in February of 1963. Luti
registered the car with Automobile Club Italia and raced it in the
following events:
- September 8, 1963, 2nd in class – Ascoli-Colle San Marco;
- October 6, 1963, wore # 206, 3rd in class – Pontedecimo-Giovi;
- October 13, 1963, 1st in class – Coppa Belvedere at Pescara;
Luti would race the car in other
local races and hillclimbs throughout 1963. It was painted white
at the time and wore Italian registration number “222755-F”.
In January of 1964, 0094 was sold
to Nello Serafini in Rome, Italy. Then, in 1967, it was sold to
Gianmaria Favia in Bologna.
In 1975, 0094 was sold to Howard
Ritter in the US. It would return back to Italy in 1988, when it
was sold to noted historian Maurizio Tabucchi in Pistoia, Italy.
Daniel Bovo was also involved with the car at that time. During
Tabucchi’s ownership the car would be meticulously restored over
a multi-year period. Photographs document the restoration that
was completed in the mid-1990s.
It was then registered for road
use and carried registration number “ZA 887 KX.”
Abraham Kogan (c/o Lucinda Interests UK) owned the car in the mid-1990s.
Through a Christies auction held
in England in March of 1999, 0094 was sold to a new owner in the
UK. Tony Green owned it through to May of 2005 (with registration
number “BHK 104A”). It then came to the US. It
appeared in a multi-page article in the July 2005 issue of Classic
& Sports Car (see pages 140 to 143).
Since that time, 0094 has been
exceptionally maintained and, recently, it was re-jetted and it is
running superbly. It is among very few 1600 GT Zagatos that are
documented since new.
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