Brief Brilliance – 1929 OM 6C 2300

Societa Anonima Officine Meccaniche (OM) was born in 1918 with the merger of A. Grondona Conic & Co. and Miani Silvestri & Co., who manufactured steam- and petrol-driven railroad locomotives and equipment, airplane parts and war materials. The new company quickly took over the manufacturing plant of Brixia-Züst, a car manufacturer in Brescia, Italy. The first OM car, the Tipo S305 was produced that same year, but was not much more than a reworked Züst. In 1923, they introduced a new model, the Tipo 665 “Superba,” a 2-liter six-cylinder, which was produced until 1930. This model began OM’s rise to prominence in racing.

OM cars were hand built and often altered to the customer’s specifications. The alterations could include sporting modifications such as cam grinds and compression ratios, or changes to suit the driver’s physique such as steering column height. In Italy, bodies might come from Castagna, Zagato or, in the case of one particular racecar, Carrozeria Sport. The cars were very representative of most cars of the era. They had lines very similar to Alfa Romeos and Maseratis—canted grille, bicycle fenders, long hoods and short tails. In England, L.C. Rawlence & Company, Ltd. was the concessionaire for OM. The company also built bespoke cars for its customers. Bodies, for example, were installed on OM chassis by Cadogan, Corsica, Freestone and Webb, Carlton Carriage and Mulliner. A supercharged 2.2-liter OM in England was priced at £925 with an additional £250-373 for the coachwork. Few cars were exactly alike, and they were not inexpensive. Still, in the years between the wars, 350-370 OM automobiles were imported to England, of which about 30 survive.