INSIDE OSCA

Many great photographers, including Jacqueshenri Lartigue and Tom Burnside, have been inspired by motorsport, but less well known outside Italy is Walter Breveglieri. This Bolognabased talent covered a range of subjects, from movie stars to landscapes, criminals to racing legends. With his sharp eye for composition and portraits, Breveglieri’s work has a classic style with masterful lighting. When he died in 2000, at 79, Breveglieri left an amazing archive of 200,000 images that have featured in a series of superb themed books from Italian publisher Minerva.

Among Breveglieri’s main interests was motorsport and, living close to the Osca works, he became good friends with Maserati brothers Ernesto, Ettore and Bindo. His regular visits to the old Bologna factory on Via Primodí and later the new San Lazzaro plant resulted in a remarkable record of this sports-racing marque. Breveglieri’s successful business even funded his own racing exploits with Oscas and an F1 Cooper.

As a result of his bond with the company, his subjects – whether they were famous drivers, mechanics or even Ernesto’s dog, Taki, who came to the factory every day – all appear relaxed around his camera, with splendid results.

First published in Italian, Inside Osca is now available in English thanks to Evro. Beautifully printed and stylishly designed, this 270-page book presents 225 black-and-white photographs of life at Osca. Be it in the factory or trackside, Breveglieri captures the people and the scenes behind these gorgeous junior sports cars, having often been called out at the last minute to record famous visitors or a road test of a newly finished racer. Memorable images include Monégasque ace Louis Chiron trying a Grand Prix six-cylinder on the Via Emilia in the early morning, and the archbishop of Bologna visiting the engine shop. The portraits of the founding Maserati brothers capture these characters with amazing clarity.

The book is by no means limited to life at the works and features a wealth of racing images on evocative road circuits and hillclimbs, such as Senigallia, Imola and Pescara. The shots of Mille Miglia checkpoints immaculately portray the local personalities, particularly the Scuderia Autieri d’italia personnel providing suitable refreshment for drivers during the cold, wet 1954 race.

As well as the pretty sports-racers, the book also features the coachbuilt 1600 road cars. Only two grim spreads of Osca driver Giulio Cabianca’s crash while testing a Cooper-ferrari at Modena jar with the rest of this marvellous selection.

To join the vivid imagery, the book includes the memories of long-time employees Mauro Fantuzzi, Martino Avoni and Luciano Rizzoli, as well as aces including Stirling Moss and Maria Teresa de Filippis, who both delighted in the sweet handling of the Oscas with which they won. De Filippis recalls how focused and serious the Maserati brothers were, with only Bindo having had a sense of humour.

A remarkable window into 1950s Italian motorsport and the family business of Osca. MW £95 Carlo Cavicchi, Evro Publishing. ISBN 9781910505915

‘The portraits of the founding Maserati brothers, Ernesto, Ettore and Bindo, capture these characters with amazing clarity’