The Nostalgia of Forgotten Gods. OSCA, Italy, 1947-1967

The Maserati brothers started and ended their magnificent adventure as racing car manufacturers in Bologna, the capital of the region that to this day is a symbol of Italian motor racing. Over the course of 54 years as constructors, first under their own name, Maserati, then with the OSCA brand, they have always and deliberately insisted on making the same mistake: wanting to do things too well, and to the very highest levels of quality, subsequently incurring costs so high that they could never attain economic tranquillity.

The first brand they created, proudly represented by the Trident featured on the statue of Neptune that stands in the main square of Bologna, continues its journey today. Because of that mistake, however, they had to sell the brand and company in 1937 to the Orsi family. After the 10-year contractual period expired which required them to remain inside the company and provide design and technical guidance, they returned to Bologna to begin once again, setting up shop in the same warehouse in San Lazzaro di Savena on the outskirts of the city, where they built the Maserati brand in the pre-war period. As they couldn’t use their name, the new brand was called OSCA, an acronym of Officina Specializzato Costruzione Automobili which had the Maserati brothers as signatories.