OMOLAGATI TOURISMO AUTOMOBILIA SPORTIVA

By Jonathan Ranney 1987 (age 14)

This is a story about an Italian car my family bought. I am writing about its history and how we got it.

This car is called OMOLAGATI TOURISMO AUTOMOBILIA SPORTIVA, OTAS for short.

They were made by Francis Lombardi, an Italian Aircraft maker who made some "Speciale" cars.

The OTAS was made in seven versions, all versions were made around 1968-1971, no one knows exactly.

I will list all seven versions:

Standard U.S. Version: 817cc, 90mph, 48hp
Standard European Version: 843cc, 93mph, 52hp
Lombardi GP Spider Monza: 843cc, 93mph, 52hp
Giannini OTG: 1000cc, 103mph, 65hp
Giannini Bialbero: 1000cc, 113mph, 78hp
Abarth Scorpione: 1280cc, 112mph, 75hp
Abarth SS: 1280cc, 123mph, 100hp

(All versions but Abarth have the title Lombardi Grand Prix)

Of all versions made, only a hundred to a hundred and twenty were built. There are about 50 in the U.S., ranging from number 12 to number 79. (Ours is number 15.)

One of the most noticed parts of the cars is its height. This car is only 42 inches high which is 3 feet 5 inches. This is not the car to go long distances, even though you are nearly lying down.

Another noticable part is how few cars were made, only 50 or so OTAS' were made, only half a dozen Spider Monzas, very few Abarths and the bulk were Gianninis.

We first got interested when my Dad went to New York City to see an OTAS. We finally found one for sale in San Diego, California. Now we had to get it to Richmond, VT.

The previous owner got it to Los Angeles somehow. Then we hired a trucking company to haul our OTAS home.

It wasn't that quick. It sat in a trucking terminal in New York City for almost a week while the trucking company was trying to get a license for Vermont.

Finally on the 29th of August, 1987, a five car trailer truck came driving down our tiny street with a tiny car on it. I never realized it was so small until I compared it to the Camaro on top of the truck. The OTAS was rolled off and we held up traffic on Main Street for ten minutes backing the truck out of out tiny dead end street.

We were left with a tiny white car called an OTAS. We couldn't even try it because was lacking an engine.

So now we have years of restoration to look forward to.