This 1962 1600 GT Zagato was one of the most documented O.S.C.A restorations in the world. For those who don't know, O.S.C.A. didn't build many race cars and very few road cars. The small company was well known for its small displacement MT-4 race car. Sadly, its 1600 GT has largely been forgotten and that's a real shame. With its four-cylinder twin-cam engine, near perfect weight distribution, it has excellent handling abilities and a beautiful Italian GT car for both the road and track.
Production was actually overseen by three of the Maserati brothers. With its Zagato-designed body, it comes complete with the Italian design firm's famous "double bubble" roof design. This particular unit, chassis number 006, was built in the fall of 1961 and sold to an Italian owner and was later raced and rallied throughout Europe. In 2008, the current owner bought and imported it to the U.S. with the goal of a complete restoration to make it road worthy once again. All told, over $50,000 was spent on the mechanical restoration alone, with an additional $10k spent for the interior work, which includes Zagato-style seats made to the original frame specs.
The engine and gearbox are original, but have been properly rebuilt by an established Ferrari restoration shop whose other customers' car have participated in the Monterey Historic and Goodwood Revival races. The brakes were also rebuilt and every hose and pressure line has been replaced. The extra money devoted to the interior paid off as it was stripped to the bare metal and a couple of minor rust spots were found and repaired. Fortunately, there wasn't any additional rust in the floor panels, foot wells, or the rear seat area. They also went ahead and sealed the interior metal.
What are not original are the heater blower unit and controls and the emergency brake caliper. The exterior paint is in good shape, although not in Concours condition as there some additional oxidation bubbles in the door seams and around the front grille. The seller is also included various spare parts that came from Italy such as a plexiglass racing windshield. New tires were also recently installed and have less than 30 miles on them. Full ownership history paperwork is also included. It was up on eBay Motors with a top bid of $146,880, but the reserve wasn't met.
More than likely, the sellers will repost it soon and we'd guess that they're hoping to get something closer to $175,000. For something as rare as this, any serious collector with the cash to spare would be thrilled to have it. Not only has it been given a solid restoration, but it's only has 19,000 miles. Not bad for a car that's 50 years old.