OSCA MT4 Spider Morelli

The OSCA MT4 Spider with coachwork by Morelli was a lightweight open competition car built within the Maserati brothers’ MT4 programme during the 1950s. Morelli of Ferrara supplied aluminium bodies for several chassis, combining a two-seat cockpit with the MT4’s tubular frame and front-mounted four-cylinder engine. The Morelli-bodied cars formed a group within the wider OSCA production, rather than a single mechanically uniform series.

Their low bodies used integrated wings, shallow sides and little exterior ornament. Hand-formed aluminium panels enclosed the competition chassis, while the broad front bodywork provided access to the engine. The open cockpit, compact tail and rounded wheel arches gave the cars their characteristic spider proportions. Individual bodies and later repairs could differ, even where the general Morelli shape was retained.

The MT4 engine developed through several capacities and specifications. The programme included twin-cam units in approximately 1.35- and 1.5-litre forms, but those figures cannot describe every Morelli-bodied car throughout its life. Gearboxes and engines could also change during competition use. A power figure attached to one MT4-2AD specification is consequently distinct from a specification for the entire Morelli body family.

Chassis 1147 is independently documented with Morelli coachwork. Chassis 1156 followed a different route: it was delivered to Giuseppe Rossi in May 1955 as a rolling chassis with a 1,100 cc MT4-2AD engine. Rossi initially constructed his own aluminium body. After Enzo Buzzetti damaged that body in the 1959 Targa Florio, Morelli supplied replacement coachwork. A larger OSCA engine was fitted around the same period, giving this car a body and mechanical chronology separate from its original delivery configuration.

The MT4s competed in Italian and international road and circuit events, including the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio. Those appearances do not establish a shared race record for all Morelli spiders. Production figures quoted for the complete MT4 programme likewise include other bodies and engine versions; a reliable total for Morelli’s contribution has not been established. In later life, chassis 1156 underwent further engine changes and restoration, returning to historic events with a 1,350 cc engine and a period ZF gearbox as described in its 2019 auction catalogue.