Alfa Romeo Scarabeo by OSI
Car of the Day #241: 1966 Alfa Romeo Scarabeo by OSI – Cutting Wedge
Good or bad, things tend to come in threes.
The Scarabero? OSI made three.
Let me first address the once Ghia-owned, Italian industrial design studio Officine Stampaggi Industriali, or simply OSI. I go into more depth on OSI in my story on the twin keel Silver Fox, but the firm has a short but notable history of creating some pretty impressive concepts and limited production cars.
A niche coachbuilder, the company burned bright and burned out inside of a decade; founded in 1960, its remaining employees and facilities were absorbed into FIAT by 1968.
Three Scarabeos were made, and last I checked, two of them remain in Alfa Romeo’s care. I suppose that OSI's engineering impressed the cloverleaf bosses enough to earn a permanent spot inside its archive of cars.
Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Two words: Gillet Vertigo.
First version of the Alfa Romeo Scarabeo by OSI, as shown at the 1966 Paris Motor Show • via Alfa Romeo, coachbuild.com foruma19
There’s a key difference between this and the (much later) Belgian car’s construction concerns where its engine is placed. The more conventional Vertigo’s engine is positioned midships, behind the front wheels. Here? Midships, behind the seats. Mechanical parts come from an Alfa Romeo Giulia, albeit re-engineered and even re-cast in parts.
A Giulia 4-cylinder GTA engine was mounted behind the seats, its suspension was independent at all four corners, had inboard rear disc brakes, and to make things interesting, its gearbox and engine block were produced as one piece.
The second Alfa Romeo Scarabero made, with the passenger compartment moved up. • via Alfa Romeo
Chassis? An H-shaped steel tube structure that also housed the car's fuel tank. Here’s what Museo Alfa Romeo says:
“The engine was installed transversally to the rear, in one block with clutch and gearbox. From here, the movement was transmitted to the differential through an unusual shaft placed at a 45° angle.
“For the suspensions, Busso was inspired on the scheme used in the front of the Renault R8, with which Alfa Romeo had excellent relations, while the tubular chassis took up the ambitious solution - already seen on the 33 – of the tubular ladder frame on the sides of the cockpit, which contained the fuel tanks.”
Third Alfa Romeo Scarabero made, this time an open spyder. • via Alfa Romeo, coachbuild.com forum
Why does the driver sit so far back in this mid-engined car? According to classicdriver.com, it's because Alfa Romeo works driver Consalvo Sanesi offered that it might be easier for a driver to control the car if he was more centrally located. Seemed to work well for the Gillet Vertigo…
Alfa Romeo retains the second of the two Scarabeos made, the cream-coloured one, along with the raw, unfinished Spyder prototype that’s giving me strong Half 11 vibes.
This apparently almost made production, if you can believe it…
READ NEXT: osicar.de hosts an extensive marque history for OSI. Classic Driver on the Scarabero with additional technical details, from 2012. The official entry for the Scarabero at fcaheritage.com. Many images from the coachbuild.com forum.
michael banovsky
