Today’s Rare Ride is part Belgian, part Italian, and almost unheard of. It’s an OSI-Ford 20M TS sports coupe from 1967.
First, a short history on the short-lived auto maker that was OSI. The name was an acronym for Officine Stampaggi Industriali, which translates in English to the romantic sounding “Industrial Stamping Workshops.” The company was founded by two people with extensive experience in the auto biz: Arrigo Olivetto, who worked for automotive supplier Fergat, and Luigi Segre, who’d previously been the president of Ghia.
The brand was never intended to be a volume manufacturer, instead focusing on building special designs from Ghia. For its model basis, OSI relied on mass manufactured cars from Ford, Fiat, and Alfa Romeo. The company’s first manufacturing project was to build bodies for the Ghia-designed Innocenti 950 Spider.
OSI made four of its own models, the best-known being the 20 M TS seen here. OSI’s link to Ghia, Mr. Segre, passed away in 1963. That left OSI to find a replacement executive, so they drew once more from the pool at Fergat. Without a direct source for design work via a link to Ghia, the company’s reason to exist disappeared quite quickly. By 1966, OSI terminated 2,000 of its employees. Production ceased in 1968. That year, the few remaining people at OSI design became Fiat employees, as the entity was folded into the Italian giant.
For the 20 M, OSI turned to Ghia designer Sergio Sartorelli in 1965. He was the designer behind the Type 34 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. The source vehicle was Ford Europe’s 20M, better known as the Taunus. The final entry into the Taunus line before the name was scrapped, the 17M and 20M were produced with doors of two, three, four, and five, in various practical shapes. As the Ghia-bodied OSI 20 M entered production in 1967, it had an overall length around three inches greater than the Taunus, at 183.9 inches.
The 20M was the more powerful of the Taunus cars, featuring a 2.0-liter V6 engine. Said engine was used for 870 examples of OSI’s 20 M. OSI also used the larger 2.3-liter Cologne V6 from the Taunus’ successor, which was simply called 20M. The “2300” version was notably more rare. Only 409 cars were made with the larger engine.
Today, OSI is but a vague memory. Of the 1,279 20 Ms produced, it’s estimated around 200 exist today. This 2.0-liter example is for sale in Belgium in excellent condition for around $55,000.
[Images: seller]
That is a super cool car! Never even heard of it before.
Lovely exterior styling and seats.
Looks like some ‘after market’ switches have been added on to the bottom left of the instrument panel.And the panel itself is reminiscent of many European cars of that era. Also looks like the carpet has been moved/fallen away to the top right of the accelerator pedal. Possibly to check some wiring?
I guess the switches are for hazard flashers and the rear fog light, I remember same kinds of installations back in the day. Required equipment varied wildly in different countries.
I think that you are correct. I remember the first time I drove in the rain at night in France. The police (les Flics) after trying to explain the requirement to use the rear fog light merely got me out of the car, walked me to the back of the car, pointed out the rear fog light, then walked me back to the driver’s side, reached in and turned the light on for me. I never forgot that lesson and appreciated not being ticketed for a ‘tourist’ mistake.
That A-pillar has me a little misty-eyed.
Someone who knows: Do “real” wire wheels on a car behave differently (dynamically) than solid wheels? Possibly related:
https://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/85/the-science-behind-spokes
Gorgeous. Needs more engine, though.
I agree, like a small V8 from elsewhere at Ford Europe.
You *might* just be able to push the radiator forward enough to shoehorn in a Windsor, like a 289 or 302. And yes, I’ve heard of OSI, and I recognize the car (from photos only; never seen one in person).
The setup for the hood hinges and the strut tower braces are a tipoff for a Ford product.
Yep – that last photo almost looks like a mix of a Pinto and a Torino or some other Ford of that era.
Beautiful! That car has no bad angles, and a particularly nice tail.
Small-displacement V6 – yum.
Wow – fantastic!!
Great article about a very rare and interesting ride.
One note, however… The Karmann Ghia was first sold in 1955, so Sergio Sartorelli penned it much earlier that 1965.
Considering its rarity and good looks (inside and out), 55,000 is probably a bargain.
Poorly constructed sentence, now fixed.
The side profile reminds me of the fastback Mustang. Nice looking car! Thanks, Corey!
One of those times where I have to look up every detail, as I don’t know anything of the car in question!
Fantastic, thank you for the show & tell!