1955 Swartley OSCA Special. Tube chassis, aluminum body, OSCA MT4 engine 1100cc, now a 1600cc OSCA/FIAT motor. In 1955 Skip Swartley was the SCCA D-modified champion and finished 9th at Pebble Beach. Purchased by the Adair family from Mark Brinker as a project which is just about complete in summer 2026.
Built in 1954 for Skip Swartley and driven in 1955 at Pebble Beach, Bakersfield, Torrey Pines (first in class!), Seafair, Elkhart Lake, Watkins Glenn to claim the 1955 championship. The Swartley OSCA Special was a one off, constructed with a custom tube frame chassis with an aluminum body and an OSCA MT4 motor. It may have been the first Italian-American custom where an Italian motor was used!
Kevin Adairs says, July 2026: The MT4 engine was not 1600cc, it was 1100cc. We are currently going to use a 1600cc OSCA/FIAT motor but that was not what it originally raced with. I would probably lead with the car being the SCCA champion for D-modified and then add that it did indeed race at Pebble Beach in 1955 and placed 9th. We purchased it from Mark Brinker.
Rob Manson says in July 2026… “Note: regarding the Swartley OSCA Special. It received a rare OSCA 1100cc motor in 1954/55 when Al Coppel decided to upgrade his production OSCA to an OSCA 1342cc motor. Swartley jumped at the chance to buy the cast off and built the car around it. Car was built in Oakland California.”
https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/tb12/lots/r253-swartley-racecar
This 1955 Swartley OSCA Special race car is offered in project form, and is said to be the same car that raced at to great results in 1955 at legendary events like the Pebble Beach road races, Torrey Pines Cup, and more. Skip Swartley raced Allards previously, but decided to build his own car for ’55, and took it to a national SCCA point championship. This car has an all aluminum body that looks a bit different today from how it looked then, including the rake of the front grille. Find it here on eBay in Houston, Texas. Special thanks to BaT reader Alex F. for this submission!
The seller says that the head fairing was added, but it is only one of the significant changes in the body. The grille shape looks consistent, but the slab sides, external headlight pods, and rear fender bulges on the old car are not present on the current bodywork. To take this car to Pebble Beach, as the seller suggests, would take a complete rebody. Even so, a talented aluminum shaper should be able to construct something very close to the blue car above from the photos available.
https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/tb12/lots/r253-swartley-racecar
According to research by racingsportscars.com – J.N. “Skip” Swartley raced in 14 events over the period 1951 – 1955. He is listed in additional archives as the winner of the 1955 SCCA National Sports Car Championship in the G Modified class driving the “Osca Special.”
This car first appeared in light blue livery in 1955; the design and construction was originally executed by Jim Troy of Burbank, California. According to Jim’s son, Rick, Mr. Troy was a precision machinist that always loved racing and had a “great natural feel for all things mechanical.” Rick Troy recalls his father doing the initial design work in their home and the beginnings of the tubular space-frame chassis being laid-out in chalk on the floor of the garage. He was ordered to stay out of the garage while the exacting fabrication of the chassis was being completed. He conveyed that the car was always called “the Osca” by his dad. When the car raced during the 1955 season, it was named the “Osca Special”, due to its use of a 1100-cc Osca engine in this specially constructed racecar. Rick Troy also relates that he recalls that bodywork changes began to take place with the car as early as 1956-57, and it evolved further, as the majority of racecars from this era are prone to do. Through these exterior bodywork changes, Rick Troy is able to identify certain characteristics in the cars presentation that leave him confident that this is “the Osca” that his dad built for “Skip” Swartley, and was successfully campaigned nearly 60 years ago. It now has a 1500-cc Osca engine, and it is awaiting restoration to the vintage status that this machine is deserving of.
See also https://bringatrailer.com/2014/04/13/torrey-and-pebble-1955-swartly-osca-special-racer-project/