That’s the very first time that we know of an american racing special powered by an italian engine: in the past many used to build cars with the opposite formula: american engines had more power while being cheap to buy and to be serviced and often they were mated to tiny italian bodies and frames.
This car (former car), other than being a one-off barchetta, it’s also the 1955 SCCA National Champion, so basically we have a unique car with an important racing past: they are two things that, when mated, usually fetch a lot of money when they’re on the market. The seller has put a brief but clear description of this car birth and racing history.
The seller (who often follows our blog) says also that this car, which retains still its original chassis and body (with some minor modifications made through the years) was originally pushed by a 1092 c.c. OSCA engine which is not with the car anymore: actually this car comes with a 1600 c.c. FIAT/OSCA twin cam unit. This car will not come cheap for sure but it’s a very nice piece of american racing history: find it for sale here in Huston, TX, with bidding just over $16,000 and reserve not met.
i am interested in contacting the present owner of the swartley osca special my father in law used to own it years ago and I believe I have the original brake and clutch assembly
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Hello Don, unfortunately we don’t know who’s the new owner of this car, maybe you could try asking ebay about him, For sure he would be very interested both in the parts you have and even more to know something more about the history of this car.
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Hi Don
We are the current caretakers of the OSCA Swartley. We have started the restoration and any information would be most welcome.
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