OTAS Collection

marinmcgreevy

Low Mileage
Hi All,

I am looking for some advice on what to do with a bunch of OTAS and Fiat 850 stuff.

I bought an OTAS around 1995. I had wanted one since I was a kid. It was complete but had been sitting in garage in the California desert since it blew a head gasket in the early 70s. I got it running, drove it to the gas station and then the car went to have the bodywork done and repainted. At this time I had just had my first child and thus the OTAS went up to my dad's our shop to sit. About 20 years later my father bought a OTAS shell from Chis Obert. No additional work was done. Thirty years later my dad got interested in finishing the car and started accumulating more parts. My father passed away recently and I am trying to figure out what to do with all of this stuff. I have no interest in any of this. I do not want to get rid of it car by car or part by part. I am looking for someone who wants it all. Looking for advice on where to look for the next custodian of all this stuff.

Here is what I have:
  • OTAS with decent 30 year old red paint. Original engine that ran 30 years ago
  • OTAS roller from Chris Obert. Rough with a transmission
  • OTAS roller that I traded a Lotus Europa body for back in the early 90s. Has a welded roll bar and was a Bay Area SCCA racer with a Radiale engine back in the 70s
  • 5 903 engines. Some were acquired recently by my father and look rebuilt. Some are "cores"
  • Abarth engine. Number AB200 00043. No Radiale head. Part of the OTAS race car roller deal. Crank and roller bearing camshaft in block. Two piece ABARTH magnesium sump. Still covered with the grease I put on in 1996. Talked to Al Cosentino about engine and unique bottom end bearings. I think the rods and pistons are in a box somewhere.
  • 1300cc pushrod 124 engine with dual weber manifold and transmission adaptor to fit to Fiat 850 trans.
  • Astech Head intended for Abarth engine. Two manifolds and Weber. Was in a H sport racer
  • PBS head with manifold and two Webers
  • New spare windshield purchased from Al Cosentino
  • Windshield and windows from rollers.
  • Spare set of Campagnolo wheels like on the red OTAS
  • 4 cylinder heads
  • 4 sumps
  • boxes and boxes of parts. brake parts, engine parts, suspension parts, body parts (OTAS)
OTAS1.JPG

Photo of the red car just after it was painted in 1996
 
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This is just painful to look at! You might try advertising on Mirafiori.com which is another popular Fiat website.
Funny, but this is the kind of sale that we used to see on early Bring a Trailer...before they got all snooty but you might try auctioning through them. Hopefully some one is having a car buying heart attack over this and will be contacting you but sadly not me.
 
If I were in a similar situation, I would likely look to BaT. If the goal is to maximize the return and sell it all at one time, I think that's the route I'd take. It's not an effortless path to take though. To have a good outcome will require cataloging all the major components and staging everything for a quality photo session. Finding someone to haul it all off on one of the forums is certainly an option, and most likely the most hassle free way to go, but I think the financial results might be disappointing. In the end, it all depends on what you are comfortable with in terms of time and effort.
 
Everything is in Northern California. I have no idea on the price. I paid $2500 for the original OTAS in 1995. Found it in an ad in the antique and collectible section of the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper. PBS 8-port cylinder head, Abarth Block & sump and the Astech head are the valuable parts. My preference is for someone to take it all. I do not want to go the Bring a Trailer route. I would like to see the red car at the Concorso Italiano in Monterey in the future. I am just not the person who is going to get it there.
 
Thanks for your input and questions. I will check out the mirafiori.com site. I dug out some photos from an old photo album and scanned them.

OTAS.jpeg


OTAS 4.jpeg

After body work done at Farmer Brothers in Cloverdale. That is my 26 year old son in the first photo!

OTAS 2.jpeg

After reinstalling the rebuilt original engine in the mid 1990's All the engine tin and the cross member was powder coated.

OTAS 1.jpeg

Interior. Seats were recovered. I did get all gauges and lights to work back then.

OTAS 3.jpeg

Front. I have multiple bumpers including a NOS black fiberglass one for the rear.
 
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