5/18/10 4:03 PMA Vintage Italian Job: Classic Motorsports Magazine Articles

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A

With the OSCA engine, the car was sold as

the Fiat 1500. In later years, to distinguish it

from the Fiat-engined 1500 introduced in

1964, enthusiasts began to refer to the car as

the Fiat 1500 OSCA.

by Andy Reid

A Vintage Italian Job

From the Jan. 2004 issue

t first glance, Paul Smith’s 1959 Fiat 1500 OSCA looks alittle like a Fiat 124 Spider, the Italian roadster familiar tosports car enthusiasts.

But wait a minute. The Fiat 124 didn’t arrive until 1967, nearly adecade after the model year of this particular car. If this isn’t amass-produced 124, what exactly is it? And how in the heck didit find its way to a restoration shop in Virginia?

To find out, we have to set our Wayback Machine to 1959, whenthis rare car, a Fiat 1500 OSCA, belonged to Count VittorioCamerana, the aristocratic head of Fiat’s advertising andmarketing department and a member of the Agnelli family, theowners of Fiat. The car had been shipped to the U.S. forCamerana’s use, and also for the convenience of other Fiatexecutives, who when in New York City camped out at the swankHotel Volney in Manhattan and used the 1500 for transportationabout town.

One day in 1959, Camerana drove the car to a meeting with Fiat’s advertisingagency, Calkins Holden. Because he was leaving New York after the meeting, heasked Paul Smith, Fiat’s account manager at the agency and a friend, to drive himto LaGuardia Airport in the 1500.

When they arrived at LaGuardia, Smith asked where Camerana wanted the OSCAtaken. “Take it back to the agency, or to your house, because it’s yours,”Camerana replied.

Sure enough, a few months later the title to the car arrived from Fiat’s chiefaccountant, transferring ownership to Smith. It was a new year and Fiat had alreadyshipped over a new car for Camerana and other visiting Agnelli family members, sothey no longer needed the old one.

There was one slight oversight by Smith’s generous friend: The count neglected totell Paul about the 100 unpaid New York City parking tickets in the glove box. Itseems titled Italians parked wherever they wanted in those days. Smith paid off theparking tickets and kept the car, eventually giving it to his son, Paul Jr.

Son Paul drove the car for a number of years and recently decided to restore it. Aswith any restoration, knowledge of the model’s history was an essential ingredientin the process.

5/18/10 4:03 PMA Vintage Italian Job: Classic Motorsports Magazine Articles

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in the process.

Creating a Sporting Tradition

Historically, Fiat has always been a marque that wanted a sportingmodel alongside its bread-and-butter economy cars. This is a Fiattradition that exists even today with the company’s Barchetta Spiderand Coupe. Fiat traditionally sells fewer of these cars than othermodels, but it enjoys the “halo” effect that building sports cars hason the brand.

This practice was never more evident than during the late 1950s andall through the 1960s. Fiat used independent tuning companies andcoach builders to create Abarths, Morettis and Dinos. The idea wasto take off-the-shelf mechanical parts, hire a coach builder tocreate a stylish body and have various tuning shops enhance performance.

The story of the 1500 OSCA, a direct product of that tradition, begins with the Fiat1100 sedan. The first car of the series, named the 1100 Trasformabile, was Fiat’sfirst unit-body production car. Its pushrod engine displaced 1089cc, produced 53horsepower and topped out at 85 mph. In 1957, a 1221cc engine becameavailable, providing 55 horsepower and a top speed of 90 mph.

Sales of the Trasformabile were strong for such a specialized car, with 1030 copiesof the 1100 version and 2363 of the 1200 version sold.

An interesting feature of the Trasformabile was that it had swiveling driver andpassenger seats to ease entry and exit from the car, hence the derivation of thecar’s name from the Italian “trasformare”—transform.

Buoyed by the success of the model, Fiat hired designer Pininfarina to create a newbody to turn the 1100 TV (turismo veloce) convertible into a more modern sportscar. Fiat used the increased displacement 1200cc engine for the new 1200 Spiderconvertible. Production for the cars began in 1959.

The OSCA-Designed Engine

In 1958, Fiat retained the OSCA company, owned by the Maseratibrothers, to design a high-performance engine for the Pininfarina-designed Spider. Fiat may have intended to race the OSCA-poweredcar (one was, in fact, raced at Sebring with indifferent results) or justoffer a “tuner” version to its affluent customers and shareholders.The reasons have never been made clear.

Contrary to popular belief, this engine was not assembled at OSCA,but was in fact built by Fiat, though it was a hand-fitted, bench-made engine. The reason was simple: The Maserati brothers hadfound a way of securing engines for their own cars at a minimal costto themselves. Instead of footing the tooling and labor costs, they simply licensedthe design to Fiat, which then also provided them with the engines they needed fortheir own cars.

5/18/10 4:03 PMA Vintage Italian Job: Classic Motorsports Magazine Articles

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The OSCA Company

In 1937, facing difficult financial times due to theaftereffects of the Depression and the increasingpolitical turmoil in Europe, the Maserati family soldits interest in the Maserati Company and all rightsto the Maserati name to industrialist Adolfo Orsi,and the company was moved from Bologna toModena. Three of the brothers, Bindo, Ettore andErnesto, remained under contract to the MaseratiCompany through 1947.

After their contract expired, the brothers, stillunable to use their family name, formed OfficineSpecializata Costruzione Automobile de FratelliMaserati in Bologna to build race cars and racingengines carrying the OSCA badge.

Their small, graceful cars with free-revving engineswere quite successful. The marque came toAmerican notice with Stirling Moss and Bill Lloydtaking a class win at Sebring in 1954 in the cigar-bodied OSCA 1500 Sport.

The brothers also built engines for Formula 2 andFormula Junior cars during the 1950s. The engineinstalled in the Fiat 1500 was an adaptation of theirtwin-cam 1500 racing engine. They also used theFiat-built OSCA engine in their own road-going GTmodel, but this foray into sports cars for the streetwas unsuccessful. The brothers eventually sold thecompany to MV Agusta, a manufacturer of racingmotorcycles, in 1963. The last OSCAs, powered byV4 engines from Ford of Germany, were producedin 1967, but were unsuccessful and the name wasconsigned to history.

their own cars.

The arrangement had another advantage for both companies, as homologating anupgraded engine for FIA production classes required that at least 500 had beenmanufactured and made available to customers. By using the engines in severaldifferent production cars, the companies could easily meet the requirement.

The OSCA powerplant has nothing in common with the Fiat 1100-1500 pushrodengine. Many people will say that it is a Fiat block with an OSCA head, but anymechanic who has worked on both engines knows that this is incorrect. The OSCAengine has a cast-iron block that was built for this model only. And the rods,pistons and crank are forged pieces instead of the standard cast Fiat items.

The alloy front cover of the engine and the beautiful finned oil pan announce thatthis engine is indeed something different. It is fitted with an alloy twin-cam headwith chain-driven cams and a mechanical tensioner. A Weber carburetor, of alarger size than the one used on the 1200 engine, was installed, and the exhaustmanifold was replaced with a tubular header. This engine gave the car 90horsepower at 5800 rpm and a top speed of 105 mph.

Those numbers may not impress us today, but they don’t tell the whole story. Theengine looks, sounds and acts Italian. It is a wonderful mate to the Pininfarina-styled body.

The Fiat 1500 OSCA

With the OSCAengine, the carwas sold as theFiat 1500. In lateryears, todistinguish itfrom the Fiat-engined 1500introduced in1964, enthusiasts began to refer to the car as the Fiat 1500 OSCA.

Aside from using the same body, the 1959 Fiat 1500 OSCA wasdifferent from the standard Fiat 1200 Spider in several ways. It haddifferent drum brakes; used five-lug, 15-inch wheels in place of four-lug, 14-inch wheels; had wing windows that opened; and mostimportant, used the twin-cam OSCA engine.

The Fiat 1500 OSCA was produced until 1962, with the only mid-model change of consequence being the addition of front disc brakesin 1960. In that year, a two-carburetor variant also was introduced,called the Fiat 1500S.

Road tests of the time were favorable, citing the free-revving engine,accuracy of steering and good road holding. Also mentioned were theexcellent top mechanism and driver comfort in comparison to other

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consigned to history.

Fiat 1500 OSCA (1959-’62)

Layout: Front engine, rear drive, unit body“Engine”: 4-cyl. DOHC 1491ccBore x stroke: 78x78mmCarburetion: One twin-choke WeberHorsepower: 90 SAE/80 DIN at 5800 rpmTransmission: 4-speed gearbox, non-synchrofirst gearSuspension:Front: independent with coil springs, shockabsorbers and stabilizer barRear: semi-elliptic spring, with shock absorbers andstabilizer barWheels: 15-inch, 5-lug steel discTires: 155x15 in.Brakes: Aluminum-finned drums with steel frictionsurfaces on all four wheelsFront: Two brake cylinders on each wheel,operating one shoe eachRear: One brake cylinder on each wheel, operatingself-centering shoesEmergency brake: Strap clinching around drumon driveshaftWeight: 2040 lbs.Wheelbase: 92.1 in.Length: 158.7 in.Width: 59.8 in.Height: 51.1 in.Produced: 80-500 (est.)Price New: $3298Value Now: $7500-$15,000

excellent top mechanism and driver comfort in comparison to othercars of the period.

In 1964, perhaps because the OSCA engine was expensive to produce or couldn’tbe built in series-production quantities, Fiat introduced a 1481cc engine of its owndesign. From this point, all Fiat 1500s had the Fiat engine.

Limited quantities of the OSCA engine continued to be built, with capacityincreased to approximately 1600cc. The larger engines were installed in a smallnumber of the Spiders, designated the Fiat 1600 and 1600S. The 1600 alsosported a quad-headlamp treatment similar to the Series 2 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2.

OSCA-engined Fiats are quite rare and almost unknown in the U.S. Because Fiat’sproduction records from the period are vague, it’s not possible to determine howmany OSCA-engined Fiats were built. Estimates vary from 80 to 500. The restorersof the Camerana car, Sportscar Workshops, believe the number is around 200.Chris Obert, of C. Obert & Company, a respected source of Fiat parts in the U.S.,says enough 1500 OSCAs have survived to lead him to believe that the figure of200 may be low. What is known is that Fiat would have had to produce 500 ofthese engines to meet homologation requirements, so that’s likely the upper limit.

Restoring the Camerana 1500

From 1959, let’s jump forward 42 years toAugust 2002, when Ken Knehe andMichael Fatsi of Sportscar Workshops weregiven the daunting task of restoringCount Camerana’s 1500 OSCA.

Sportscar Workshops was actually thesecond shop asked to restore the car, as

the initial restoration had proved a bit of a disaster. While the car hadbeen given a decent paint job, and its original interior was still ingood condition, many of the exterior trim pieces—removed when thecar was stripped for painting—had gone missing.

In addition, even though the engine had been rebuilt, it wasreassembled so poorly it could not be started. This proved to be ahidden blessing. Had the original rebuilders been able to start theengine, many of its scarce parts likely would have beenirreparably damaged.

Thankfully, upon disassembly, most of the parts from the failedrebuild proved to be okay, and Knehe was able to correctly assemblethe engine. He did find, however, that the Weber carburetor was notthe right model. After months of searching, a proper one wasobtained from a collector in California. And only recently was thecorrect air cleaner located, this from another collector in California.

Parts for the brakes were also hard to find. The 1500 OSCA has four-wheel, five-lug drum brakes with a twist: The liners need to be machined in the drums to

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lug drum brakes with a twist: The liners need to be machined in the drums tomatch the angle of contact with the shoes. This is a tedious process and can takeas long to get right as locating a set of the correct drums.

Many of the missing trim pieces for the 1500—such as the grille center thatdistinguishes the 1500 OSCA from the Fiat 1200—were unavailable, new or used,and the only option was to fabricate them. (Smith’s experience drives home theimportance of working with a reputable restoration shop.)

Driving Impressions

A drive in Paul Smith’s 1500 OSCA reveals firsthand the car’sdistinctive heritage. The Nardi wheel, a standard part of the OSCA1500, is oddly at a very non-Italian, vertical angle. The shifter fallsnicely to hand, though near the dashboard like an Alfa. Theventilation controls are a bit cryptic, not clearly labeled. Theauxiliary controls are a row of unlabeled toggle switches under thedashboard, barely visible to the driver.

The windows are standard hand-crank affairs, but still better thanthe side curtains typical of British cars of the period. Similarly, incontrast to the crude and leaky British tops, raising or lowering thetop on the 1500 is a model of simplicity and great design. Likeevery other Fiat convertible top, a pair of clips secure the top oneach side of the windshield, and a central handle is provided toassist raising and lowering it.

The trunk in the car is spacious, offering plenty of luggage room fora weekend trip for two. Quality is apparent in all the details. Piecessuch as a jewel-like ashtray with a spring-loaded release lever, a cast-aluminumpassenger-side footrest and the beautifully finished cloisonné Pininfarina trim helpround out this wonderful car.

The OSCA engine easily starts with just a little bit of choke needed to get it going,and after warming up for a few minutes, sounds eager to be off. The engine is amechanical masterpiece, revving freely and eagerly to its 7500 redline and makingall the sounds associated with the best Italian engines.

The steering is light and direct with little or no slop, due in part to the center-linked steering. The ride is firm, but with plenty of suspension travel, verycomfortable. The car holds the road like the Fiat 124 Spiders, with just a bit morelean. Overall, it is a great handling car, especially compared to other cars ofthe period.

A Buyer’s Checklist

If one is interested in an Italian roadster, specialists will generally recommend theFiat 124 Spider or the Alfa Romeo Spider 2000. The Fiat 1500 or 1600, whetherwith the OSCA or the Fiat engine, should be bought only by those with an interestin history, they insist.

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It is true that the OSCA-engined cars are rare and historic, with a wonderful free-revving engine designed by a storied maker, but their rarity means they are lesswell supported than the Fiat 124 or the Alfa 2000. Body-repair parts and floor-pan patch panels are no longer being made. This means that any car with rust oraccident damage will require fabricating sheet metal to effect repairs.

As for running gear, the transmission is common among the Fiat 1100, 1200, 1500and 1600 models. However, the OSCA engine has no parts in common with anyother Fiat. Beyond bearings, parts are difficult to obtain and can get expensive.Anything that is broken, such as rods or a crankshaft, will have to be fabricated.

The same holds true for trim pieces. Grilles, emblems and other pieces are madefrom “unobtanium.” Brakes are unique to this particular model; after the 1500OSCA, all Fiat roadsters had disc brakes on the front.

Enthusiasts who really love the looks of the car and aren’t concerned about thepedigree of the engine should consider the non-OSCA-engined 1200 or 1500Cabriolets. For styling that is a bit more updated, the 1964-’67 model may be agood alternative. Parts are much more readily available for these cars.

It’s likely that the owner of a Fiat 1500 won’t encounter many others on the road,as few survive in any condition. With the OSCA engine, it is a rarity indeed.

Our thanks to Ken Knehe and Michael Fatsi of Sportscar Workshop for makingPaul Smith’s car available to us.

Like this story?

Get the magazineThis story originally appeared in the Jan. 2004 issue of ClassicMotorsports. Each issue of Classic Motorsports is full of greatstories like this one, so click here to subscribe now. If you'renot sure, request a free issue of Classic Motorsports.

Reader comments:

1. nestormoya3: — Jul 3, 2009 11:44 a.m.

Very informative writeup.

2. GlobalViperRecords: — Feb 19, 2010 8:24 p.m.

Very Nice, I also have a 1958 Fiat 1500 osca, Picked it up from a old truck stop that is now just a service center. Was gettingsomething fixed on a car i was pulling and walked around only to find one in the corner, It needs some work but body isstraight, all hub caps there, engine there most everything is there except for the two chrome strips on the side, front andrear bumbers, rear emblem, needs to be cleaned up but was surprised on how clean the body was and no damage withoriginal paint. Not sure if im going to keep her, think i will put some new tires on her, get her running, clean up the inside,maybe redo the door panels, seats and carpet, put a top on her then let someone take over with the few things she needs tocomplete her. GlobalViper@aol.com

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3. GlobalViperRecords: — Mar 4, 2010 6:32 a.m.

Have a 1959 Fiat 1200 for sale as well, missing the front bumper but rest is all there, needs restore, taking offers, week byweek will start to restore little by little. Globalviper@aol.com the 1500 i had sold a few days ago to a guy in Hungary, and itwas also a 59.

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