1966 Alfa Romeo Scarabeo Concept

In early 1966, after the Type 33 project created by the engineer Orazio Satta Puliga had been passed on to the Autodelta racing area, Giuseppe Busso proposed a design for another Alfa Romeo sports car with a rear engine, but this time using the GTA four-cylinder engine: the Scarabeo. The engine was mounted transversely in the rear, in a block with the clutch and gearbox, while the tubular frame adopted the ambitious solution – used on the 33 – of the large tubular spars on either side of the interior, containing the fuel tanks. The bodywork was entrusted to the OSI body shop in Borgaro Torinese: a first example, with a right-hand drive, was presented at the 1966 Paris Motor Show. A second simplified design prototype was subsequently built and a Barchetta was worked on, but not completed.

OSI – Officine Stampaggi Industriali – was founded in Turin in 1960 by Luigi Segre, the former president of Ghia, and Arrigo Olivetti. This company, despite a short period of activity lasting only eight years, left a deep influence on Italian car design. In addition to Segre and the fruitful collaboration with Ghia, OSI also collaborated with famous designers such as Tom Tjaarda, Sergio Sartorelli and Giovanni Michelotti. No less talented, although anonymous, were its skilled workers, who were later partly absorbed into the Fiat Style Center by Dante Giacosa. The OSI company closed its internal style centre in 1967, and from the following year returned to purely molding activities.

Technical specification

• Engine: rear, vertical transversal, 4 in-line cylinders, cylinder block and head in light-alloy, 2 overhead camshafts with double chain control
• Displacement:1,570 cc (78x82mm)
• Maximum power: 115 HP at 6000 rpm
• Weight: 700 kg
• Maximum speed: 200 km/h

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