Osella PA 7/9 - Born to win
Osella: its name is enough to evoke the history and tradition that the Master Vincenzo Osella has built in the world of racing cars with dedication and effort.
Enzo, as he liked to be called, founded Osella Corse in 1965, acquiring knowledge (and components) from Abarth on the liquidation of the company in 1970. From that moment on, the Osella myth began, that of cars created with only one goal: to win.
Osella Corse immediately began the production of prototype sports cars with covered wheels for uphill and sports races, specializing mainly in Group 6 cars. Group 6, to which the two-seater racing cars were part, was one of the most competitive and fierce categories in which prototype sports cars competed between 1976 and 1982, to which this car also belongs. This Osella PA 7/9 came out of the Osella Corse plants in a cold and cloudy March 27, 1979, delivered to the pilot Marcello Maria Gallo. Built in 1979, the Osella PA 7/9 were created to compete in the Gr. 6, and only 13 examples were made, powered by BMW and with colored fiberglass body according to the customer's choice.
The engine that drives this sport prototype is in fact a 4-cylinder BMW with a displacement of 2 liters (called M12), suitably prepared to reach a total power of 300 horsepower at 9500 rpm on a total weight that does not reach the ton. The transmission is entrusted to a Hewland FG 400, a 5-speed manual gearbox also mounted on the Ford Cosworth DFV "Double Four Valve" engines (Those used in Formula 1 from 1967 to 1973).
The capabilities of the Osella PA7/9 were immediately put on track by Gallo who raced in tandem with the Gimax driver on April 22, 1979, for the "FIA World Sport Car Championship" at the 1000 Km of Monza, obtaining the second place in the category. In the following races the same year the car always finished on the podium. Also, the following year the car participated in several stages of the world championship, taking home a third place in the category at the 6 Hours of Mugello, on April 13, 1980. The most important result of this Osella PA 7/9 was achieved in 1979, the year in which the car won the Italian Sport Championship Group 6, driven by "Gimax" and the CSAI Cup Group 6 in the 2000 cc class.
After the well-deserved victories this Osella was also conducted in the race by illustrious drivers, after a few years, exactly on 15 and 16 June during the round of the "Vallecamonica Trophy". Precisely for that occasion the great Ezio Baribbi, one of the most famous Italian riders of time trials and slalom, to win the trophy leaving behind the Tuscan Mauro Nesti, another name well known to fans of uphill races. After such a glorious past it was thought that the time had come for the car to rest, but the Osella are cars created to race and above all wins. In fact, in 2007 the PA 7/9, thanks to the great experience of the pilot Daniele Grazzini, manages to defeat all the opponents, winning the second run of the "Historical Time Trial of the Spino" with an average of 130.168 km/h and with a time that is close to those of the modern Lola (For a virtual sixth place in a possible absolute ranking).
It is evident that when a car is created for a single purpose, designed by brilliant minds, and driven by fearless drivers, just like the case of this Osella PA 7/9, it manages to be competitive even 40 years after its first ignition, and that is why the Osella are and will remain the most fascinating racing prototypes in circulation.
