Re: What is an OSI?

["koobs de hartog" <koobsdehartog@domain.elided>]

Hi Guys,

Tito Anselmi's 'Carrozzeria Italiana' sais on OSI:

"O.S.I. - Officine Stampaggio Industriali S.p.A., Turin, 1960-1968
Founded by Arrigo Olivetti together with Luigi Segre, at that time
proprietor of the Ghia firm, with the aim of producing the models designed
by Ghia as well as equipment for moulding and assembling coachwork. In 1962
Osi's activities became more independent, cutting free from Ghia and
starting to produce original models designed by such as Sergio Sartorelli,
Werner Holbl, Tom Tjaarda, Giovanni Michelotti.
The last named was responsible for the Anglia Torino and the sports and
coupi versions of the Fiat 1200S, of which a fair number were produced. The
1960 Secura Quattroruote Osi on Fiat hardware was aninteresting example of
the safety car. This was followed by Sergio Sartorelli's designs for the
coupi Ford 20 M TS, the Scarabeo on Alfa 33, the City Daf, the Silver Fox,
and the Cross Country and Weekend off-road vehicles. Taken over by Ghia in
1968, Osi ceased automobile production but continued with its output of
industrial coachwork."

So, for Ghia was owned by Ford at that time already, Eric Storhok could do
some interesting research in the Ford archives on this subject ;-)

Bye,

Jack Koobs de Hartog



> Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2002 15:33:10 -0400
> From: "John Hertzman" <johnhertzman@domain.elided>
> Subject: Re: non-afla- What is an OSI? (with some Alfa)
>
> Eric Storhok asks "what is an OSI, which was reportedly made in Turino
between
> '67-'68?"
>
> Don't know about the coupe on ebay, but O.S.I. was Officina Stampaggi
> Industriale, a presswork company (one of several) which did stampings for
> relatively small runs of cars; they, and others like them, filled the gulf
> between artisanal craft shops which hand-built bodies one at a time or
> occasionally in small batches (which is what Pinin Farina, Bertone,
Touring,
> and Zagato were in the fifties) and the full industrial series-producers
which
> Pininfarina and Bertone successfully became in the end of the decade, and
> which Touring unsuccessfully tried to become in the same period. Generally
> Alfa could churn out sedans at Portello, or sedans and coupes at Arese,
and
> Fiat could do the same with its bread-and-butter cars, but production
> companies on the scale of Pininfarina or Bertone were needed to supply
Alfa
> Spiders, Fiat Barchettas, and similar low-volume cars. Few of these body
> suppliers could afford large presses, and companies like OSI and ILCA
stamped
> the parts which a company like Touring could assemble, paint, and trim.
> Touring's Alfas offer the best Alfa example; the first, second and third
> series 1900 coupes had hand-hammered aluminum skins, the fourth series
(the
> one which looked a lot like a three-window enlarged Giulietta Sprint) had
> stamped aluminum skins, and the Touring 2000/2600 Spiders had stamped
steel
> skins probably made by ILCA. Similarly Zagato: hand-beaten (and
hand-fitted)
> panels on many if not all Alfa Giulietta Sprint Zagatos, but the
replacement
> roofs, doors, fenders etc listed in the parts books had to have been
> pressings, and Zagato wouldn't have had large presses.
>
> O.S.I. (or Osi) did two Alfa projects; one was the 2600 De Luxe, a very
> elegant four-door on the 2600 sedan platform which (from what I have
heard)
> was pretty fragile); factory figures give the same weight (1140 kg) as the
> 2600 Zagato coupe, 80 kg lighter than the 2600 Spider, 140 kg lighter than
the
> 2600 Sprint, and 240 kg lighter than the standard 2600 Berlina. Beautiful
it
> was, but they built just 54 (per Fusi) in three years, although both Fusi
and
> d'Amico & Tabucchi give the serial number range as from 395001 to 395052.
The
> other Alfa OSI project was the Scarabeo, a rear engined (and transverse
> engined, and GTA engined) swoopy two-seat coupe prototype for a planned
small
> batch production which never got beyond the testing stage, although a
Scarabeo
> powertrain was later tried in the back of a Junior Z as a possible rally
car.
> The Scarabeo, like the Stradale, used large diameter frame rails as fuel
> tanks, and like the De Luxe sedan it was a lightweight, 45 kg lighter than
a
> GTA.
>
> Don't know anything about the OSI on ebay beyond what is posted there, no
> connection to Alfa, it would seem from it and the two Alfas that OSI was
> interested in extending its stamping base into niche-market car
production. I
> don't remember them being listed in the directories of such companies of a
> decade or so ago, so I assume that they, like many others, didn't make it.
>
> And if Eric will permit a nit, Turino? Turin yes, Torino yes, Torin or
Turino
> I believe less likely, even if the meaning is clear enough. (Picky,
picky -)
>
> Cheers
>
> John H.
--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided