A rare example of an unusual Italian-built Ford coupe from the late 1960s is set to appear at auction, highlighting one of the more obscure collaborations in European automotive history.
The vehicle is a 1968 OSI 20M TS, a low-volume grand touring coupe that combined Italian styling with mechanical components from Ford’s European lineup. Designed in Italy and built on the platform of the Ford Taunus 20M, the car represented an effort to offer buyers a more exotic-looking alternative while retaining the practicality of Ford engineering.
The OSI 20M TS was styled by Sergio Sartorelli, an influential Italian designer known for his work on several notable European vehicles. His design gave the coupe an elegant silhouette that flowed from its quad headlights to a sleek rear end, creating a distinctly Italian appearance despite its Ford underpinnings.
The project originated in 1965 when Ford’s European headquarters in Cologne commissioned the Italian company Officine Stampaggi Industriali, or OSI, to develop a luxurious four-seat coupe. The car was intended to serve as a halo model for the Taunus lineup, offering a stylish flagship while relying heavily on existing Ford components.
A prototype debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in 1966 and received enough positive attention to move forward with production. Manufacturing became a cross-border process. Ford shipped chassis components and mechanical parts from Germany to Turin, where OSI assembled the vehicles with handcrafted steel bodies and interiors before returning them to Ford for distribution through its dealer network.
Mechanically, the 20M TS closely mirrored the Taunus. It used a steel unibody structure with MacPherson strut front suspension and a live rear axle supported by leaf springs. Braking came from front disc brakes paired with rear drums. Power came from Ford’s Cologne V6 engine, initially in 2.0-liter form and later upgraded to a 2.3-liter version paired with a four-speed manual transmission.
By the standards of the time, performance was respectable. The more powerful 2.3-liter engine allowed the coupe to reach 60 mph in roughly 10 seconds and achieve a top speed of about 113 mph.
Despite early interest, the project faced mounting challenges. Competition from Ford’s own performance models and declining business for OSI eventually led to the company’s collapse in early 1968. Production of the 20M TS ended shortly afterward.
Estimates suggest between roughly 2,200 and 3,500 cars were produced, though far fewer remain today. Fewer than 200 examples are believed to survive worldwide.
The 1968 example heading to auction has been part of a private collection since 2014 and has been upgraded with a more powerful 2.8-liter Cologne V6 engine built by Burton Power. While the car shows signs of rust and water ingress around the rear window, it could become a rewarding restoration project.
The coupe is scheduled to cross the block with H&H Auctions on March 18 with an estimated value between £24,000 and £28,000, or approximately $32,000 to $37,000.
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