1961 Fiat OSCA 1500S

Fiat, OSCA, Pininfarina…an interesting equation.

The Fiat 1200 was not a very quick machine, in fact, you couldn’t really call it a sports car.

Fiat wanted in on this part of the market, but didn’t want to take the time to create a new motor. They contacted the Fratelli Maserati (OSCA) to build, under license to Fiat, their 1491-cc, twin-cam power plant with twin Weber carburetors producing 75 hp. The resulting Tipo 118 was very similar to the Tipo 372 DS engine that powered the extremely successful MT4 OSCA racecar.

Fiat took over construction of the motor using a cast iron block instead of the original aluminum one.They then handed the engine and chassis over to Pininfarina who had designed a simple,elegant body for the little sports car and who would ultimately assemble the car through out its production run.

OSCA was not a large-scale manufacturer. If they turned out 30 cars a year when they started that was a great deal. Their focus was racecars, mass production and commercial success was not their goal. But the association with Fiat allowed the road car owner to have the beating heart of an OSCA racecar under the hood of their street machine. And by having Pininfarina take care of the production, it freed up Fiat to focus on other things. Despite so many individual elements, the total of the equation was very much a positive. Of the 34,211 Fiat Spiders and Coupes produced, it is estimated that 3,089 were packing twin-cam OSCA power.

If you squint your eyes just right you can see the Fiat OSCA as a smaller version of another Pinifarina designed machine—the Ferrari 250 PF cabriolet Series II. But you really have to squint.

The 1500S was Fiat’s challenger to the Triumph TR3, the Datsun Fairlady and the MGA. It was a small sports car, with a bit of Italian flair.

The little car is all business with a wood rimmed Nardi steering wheel, a muscular 4-speed shift lever and two gauges with all the relevant information contained within. The speedometer does dual-duty housing the fuel gauge, while the tachometer also has the oil pressure and water temperature. With a pair of leather bucket seats, you have a cozy space to do your navigating from.

Having recently driven several British cars of the same vintage, the Fiat OSCA has a level of refinement not found in its UK counterparts, it also possesses a much more solid feeling car. You would have to get in a Porsche 356 cabriolet to have a more formidable feeling, open car of this size. But I digress.

The Fiat OSCA is just a fun car to drive. The shift lever feels solid in your hand and shifts smoothly through the gears. That OSCA-derived engine has enough power to keep you interested, and a proper engine note to give a country road a nice soundtrack. Perhaps surprisingly, the 1500S doesn’t feel fragile, nor does it feel like it’s going to come apart around you. And even though it has a similar suspension to some of the Brits, it seems to handle bumps better.

The styling, for many, might be considered subdued or even conservative, whereas others might see it as timeless, but your basic gearhead will read the badges on the 1500S Spider and know that it’s something unique.

So, if you want to arrive at your next Cars & Coffee in something unique, that doesn’t scream, “Look at me, look at me!!”, maybe the horse for that coarse is a Fiat OSCA 1500S.

Mille grazie to Nick Soprano and Motor Classic and Competition for the time in this little gem.

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