In 1937 the three Maserati brothers sold their shares in their family’s automobile company and signed a ten-year contract with Adolfo Orsi to design and build a range of automobiles that were built near Bologna and marketed under the Maserati name. When the contract ended the brothers left the company, which had relocated to Modena in 1940, to found their own automobile construction business which they once again located in the region of Bologna.
The new company was titled ‘Officini Specializzate Costruzioni Automobili – Fratelli Maserati S.p.A’ but was more commonly referred to as OSCA. It was created to build competition cars to compete in the popular 1100cc category and their first model was a small two-seater with cycle wings, the MT4, which went on to record wins in the hands of Luigi Viloresi. The engines were soon enlarged and a number of chassis were clad in sleek aerodynamic bodywork, going on to win in numerous categories including an outright win at the Sebring 12-Hours in 1954.
In 1956 a new engine was created with desmodromic valves, designed to compete in Formula 2 and sports car races. The latter was referred to as the FS 372 and just five examples were built, one of which was purchased, many years later, by Sir Stirling Moss and raced by him in historic events around the world. The photograph shows Moss at the wheel of his 1491cc OSCAR FS 372 during the Madgwick Cup race at the Goodwood Revival in 2010. In 1963 the brothers sold their company to Count Domenico Agusta of MV Agusta motorcycles and they continued to design and build further engines and cars until the company closed in 1967.
