Company origins
The original Ossa company got its start in 1924 making movie projectors for its home market in Spain.[5] The company's four-leaf clover emblem wasn't actually a four-leaf clover; it is the escapement mechanism of a film projector.[1] Before World War II, Giró was the Spanish sidecar racing national champion, along with his co-pilot, the future founder of Bultaco motorcycles, Francisco Bultó.[1] After World War II, Ossa obtained superior two-stroke engine technology from the German DKW factory as war reparations and, began mass-producing two-stroke motorcycles in 1949.[1][2] Ossa reached its highest production levels in the motorcycle boom of the 1960s, exporting large numbers of exports to other European countries, but also significantly, to North American markets. In the United States and Canada, off-road motorcycling - and particularly the newly imported sport of motocross to which the light-weight and powerful Ossa was well suited - enjoyed a surging popularity. In addition to their suitability for racing, in terms of power-to-weight, Ossa motorcycles gained a reputation for reliability on and off the race track.[5]
Motorsport competition
The Ossa firm was a strong supporter of all forms of motorcycle sport including: road racing, motocross, enduro and observed trials. Their first success came at the 1967 24 Hours of Montjuich on the streets of Barcelona. Against all the major Spanish factories, Ossa motorcycles finished a surprising first and second.[6][7] Ossa repeated their success with another victory at the 1969 24 Hours of Montjuich.[8] Inspired by this success, the factory decided to compete abroad in order to make inroads into the international market.
Monocoque Grand Prix racer
Ossa achieved early success in the 250cc class of Grand Prix motorcycle racing, competing with an innovative chassis designed by Giró's son, Eduardo that was unique for the era.[9][10] Eduardo Giró designed a motorcycle that compensated for its power deficit by following a philosophy of lightweight, a small frontal area and engine reliability combined with outstanding handling.[9][10]
The motorcycle featured a welded monocoque construction of magnesium and aluminium sheets that incorporated the fuel tank and weighed a full 20 kg less than the Japanese competition.[9][10] The monocoque's superior chassis stiffness and weight imbued it with exceptional cornering and braking abilities which, in turn allowed for faster cornering speeds than the competition.
Grand Prix success ends in tragedy
After having won the 250cc Spanish national championship in 1967 and 1968, Ossa and Herrero moved up to the world championships, where they finished seventh in the 1968 250cc world championship, including an impressive third-place finish behind the factory-backed Yamahas of Phil Read and Bill Ivy at the season-ending Nations Grand Prix held at the high speed Monza circuit.[11][12]
In 1969, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme changed its regulations in an effort to reduce spiraling costs in motorcycle racing.[13] 125cc and 250cc machines would be limited to two cylinders and 6-speed transmissions.[13] This regulation change caused the dominant Yamaha and Suzuki factories to withdraw their teams from Grand Prix racing.[14]
Off-road racing successes
Ossa also achieved some success in the AMA Grand National Championship, with rider Dick Mann helping them develop a 250cc dirt track bike on which he won the 1969 Santa Fe Grand National short track event, held on a quarter-mile dirt track oval.[15][16] After withdrawing from Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Ossa redirected their competitive efforts into the sport of Observed Trials in Europe and the United States alongside such other famous Spanish makes as Bultaco and Montesa. Ossa hired British rider Mick Andrews to help design and ride their trials bike, and they went on to capture the 1971 and 1972 European Trials Championship, the forerunner to the FIM World Championship.[17] Andrews won the grueling Scottish Six Days Trial three consecutive years between 1970 and 1972 for the Ossa factory.
Final years
Despite success in racing competitions, the firm suffered from a disorganized and sparse dealer network in the important American market. Ironically, the motorcycle boom that created a new market and allowed the European makers to reap great financial rewards, was also the seed of their own demise, and that of the numerous smaller firms, such as Ossa. With so many choices for both buyers and dealers, sales and service networks were not sustainable, and attempts to improve manufacturing by investing in new factories back home put Ossa, like virtually every other European firm, deep into the red.
In the declining years of the Franco Era, in 1975, the Spanish government steadily converted Spain's economic structure into one more closely resembling a free-market economy. The arrival of cheaper Japanese motorcycles into the local economy as well as a crippling employee strike in 1977 spurred the downfall of the Ossa company.[2][6][1] By 1984 Ossa was under the control of a labor cooperative, and the following year its name was changed to Ossamoto.[2][1]
Rebirth
In 2010, a group of Spanish businessmen purchased the rights to the Ossa trademark and began producing Ossa branded motorcycles once again.[1] The new firm produced trials and enduro models.[1] The factory team competed in the 2011 FIM Trials world championship, with factory sponsored rider Jeroni Fajardo finishing the season in fifth place.[18] In 2014 Ossa merged with the motorcycle manufacturer Gas Gas but, when Gas Gas was absorbed by the Spanish bicycle and scooter manufacturer Torrot in 2015, Ossa was not part of the deal and closed down again.[1][3] Gas Gas was bought by KTM in late 2019.[1]
