Last weekend I had a chance to visit a magnificent collection that included dozens of motorcycles and a variety of beautiful Italian classic cars—including a lovely red Fiat Dino Coupe. While searching for an interesting vehicle to feature today, I found a car that’s rarer than a Dino and that I consider to be just as beautiful: a 1967 Ford OSI 20M TS.

Officine Stampaggi Industriali or OSI was a Turin-based coachbuilder founded by ex-Ghia president Luigi Segre. Bringing manufacturing knowledge to Segre’s design expertise was Arrigo Olivetti of Fergat. OSI was only active from 1960 to 1967, when it was folded into the Fiat organization in 1968. It was intended to be focused on niche design efforts and built a number of custom cars based on Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Ford models.

OSI designer Sergio Sartorelli, who penned the “razor edge” Karmann Ghia for Volkswagen, was tasked with creating a new body for the Ford Taunus Coupe, which was struggling in sales relative to its Opel competitors. The redesigned car, called the OSI 20M TS, was displayed at the Geneva Motor Show in 1966 where it received enough praise to be ordered into series production. The total number of cars built is estimated to be between 2,200-3,500, with only 200 remaining today.

This 26,000-mile OSI Ford 20M TS is currently up as a make offer listing on the online site Kickdown. Said to be fully restored while in the seller’s ownership, the exterior is painted in silver metallic with a beige interior.

The exterior appears to be in very good condition, with sharp body lines, overall straight panels and no evidence of rust. Sartorelli’s design for the OSI 20 M TS cuts a pretty similar shape to the Fiat Dino Coupe, itself a rather beautiful example of Italian style. A swooping steel body gracefully arcs back from the quad headlights to the rear Kamm tail.

Exterior features include opening rear quarter windows, vent windows, fog lights mounted on the bumper, vents on the rear quarters and V6 badging on the fenders. The bumpers show some signs of age, but the rest of the car presents nicely based on the photos.

The OSI 20M TS was offered with two engines: a 2.0-liter and 2.3-liter Ford Cologne V6 imported into West Germany. The car on offer features the smaller displacement 2-liter, which puts out around 90 horsepower compared to 108hp for the 2.3. The engine is mated to a 4-speed synchromesh gearbox.

The suspension consisted of MacPherson struts up front with an anti-roll bar and a live axle rear. The front wheels are not centered in the wheel wells, which is common to all OSI Ford 20 M TS cars. Braking was provided by discs in the front and drums in the rear.

Steel wheels are mounted on all four corners, in size 5.5j x 15 and mounted with 185 SR 15 Vredestein Sprint Classics. The 16-hole wheels were made by Fergat and a matching spare tire is located in the trunk. The undercarriage looks rather rust-free.

The interior of the car appears clean overall, but does exhibit wear on the door panels, dirt on the seats, some corrosion on the gauge surrounds and a lightly aged headliner. A wood-rimmed steering wheel with drilled spokes sits ahead of a wood dash containing speedometer, tachometer and gauges including fuel, water temp, oil pressure and a clock.

The design included maintaining seating for 4, and the rear seats appear to be in good condition, with some staining and wrinkling on some panels.

With only three days left in an auction that ends on October 6th and no bids, I suspect this car will go unsold. This is supported by the fact that this car was apparently listed on Kickdown in August and went unsold with a high bid of $65,457. In my opinion, the car should’ve sold at that price. These are rare cars, but not as desirable as the Fiat Dino with a Ferrari-derived V6 engine. Bonhams sold a very pretty green car back in 2022 for a mere $25,500 and the most recent sale was at Artcurial for $39,435. Both of those cars had uncertain mileage counts, whereas this one is said to have some documentation supporting its mileage as original.

While I rather like these OSI Fords, I think they’re a more attractive Dino alternative at a price point in the sub-$50,000 range. Do you agree? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

UPDATE 10/8/24: It would appear that the car acquired no bids and is now listed as a make offer classified on Kickdown. It’s a little confusing as to what the price of this actually is, but it would appear as though it’s listed now at €39,900. At that price, this could be a nice buy!

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