Quiz Archive

Whatisit? #65 UPDATE: 1922 OM type 469)

UPDATE: "The car is a 1922 O.M. 469 N first series Spider. The Italian make O.M. (Societa Anonima Officina Meccaniche), was founded in 1899 in Milan as a fusion of two companies: Grondona Comi & Co. and Miani Silvestri & Co., both dedicated to the construction of railroad and heavy engineering products. In 1918 they took over the Zust car company to obtain a car factory. The same year, in this plant situated in Brescia was made the first O.M. car, a big four named S 305, really a Züst model with the O.M. badges. The car featured is the first edition of a type produced between 1922 and 1934. The 469 (4 cylinders, 69 mm stroke) was the longest production car from O.M. The 469 N was equipped by a 30 bhp engine, displacing 1496 cc, four speeds gearbox and four wheels brakes, mounted in a 2,8 meters long wheelbase chassis." Congratulations José A. Gómez ! (photo courtesy of the Negri Foundation: like earlier mentioned there is an exhibition of early OM photos in Brescia. See this fabulous gallery with some of the photos that will be on display.) EARLIER TEXT: It is a productshot of a 2 seater Spider of a very sporty make. This bourgeois coachwork is probably the last thing you would expect of them. Unless you are a radiator spotter by profession you will have a hard time guessing this one. We took out the obvious Makers badge but on the other hand provided you with a nice enlargement. When you are on your way to Italy, chances are low to find one of these at the starting line of the Mille Miglia also because this car was built years before the first "Mille". Anyway, to win the infamous PrewarCar T-shirt send your observations to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it before Monday 12 May. Please add # 65 to the subject line. We will judge by 1.Make , 2.Year & 3.Type.

Friday, 09 May 2003