254 | GOODWOOD REVIVAL SALE
283
The ex-Arturo Merzario, Derek Bell, European 2-Litre Championship-winning
1972 AbArth-oS ell A S e 021 SportS prototype
Chassis no. SE 021/0020
Austrian engineer Karl (Carlo) Abarth originally moved to Italy to
work on the Cisitalia Grand Prix car, turning to the manufacture
of silencers when Cisitalia folded. An innovative concern with a
sporting pedigree second to none, Abarth branched out from
producing induction and exhaust systems into selling performance
kits for - mainly FIAT - production cars, later building a succession
of aerodynamically stylish sports prototypes and limited-series
production cars. When Abarth sold out to FIAT in 1971, becoming
the latter’s competitions department, the racing team was
purchased by Enzo Osella.
Son of a garage owner from Volpiano, near Turin, Vincenzo ‘Enzo’
Osella raced Abarths in the early 1960s and eventually joined
the company. In 1965 Osella left and set up independently, his
first prototype chassis proving highly successful in races and hill
climbs in Italy.
Following his takeover of Abarth’s racing assets, he worked with
designer Antonio Tomaini to produce the Abarth-Osella SE 021 that
won the European 2-Litre Sports Car Championship in 1972 driven
by Arturo Merzario. This was followed by the PA1 and PA2, the
latter boasting bodywork designed by Pininfarina.Osella Squadra Corse branched out into Formula 2 at the end
of 1974 with its first single-seater but without success. Osella’s
Formula 3 car proved equally un-competitive, and sports cars
continued to be the company’s main source of income. The
developing ‘PA’ sports cars continued to win at international level
into the 1980s but by this time Osella’s sights were set on Formula 1.
The team maintained a presence there as ‘also rans’ until the end
of the 1990 season when it was taken over by Gabriele Rumi and
renamed ‘Fondmetal’. Enzo Osella returned to his first love – sports
cars – continuing production of the highly successful ‘PA’ series at
a new factory in Atella and enjoying considerable success on the
Italian national scene.