You can make the right choice when buying a car, satisfy your hobby, strategize your company, or simply expand your horizons only if you have complete and detailed information about each car brand, its history, and its products. This is facilitated by resources that allow you to collect, find, and verify such information. Considering that the history of the automobile dates back more than a century and a half, it is not superfluous to preserve information that long. Even today, we increasingly realize that much information about those who stood at the origins of the automobile industry has been lost, surviving only in scraps of memory, old newspapers, photographs, and postcards.
What car brands begin with the letter O?
On the page listing car brands that begin with the letter “O,” you can notice that it is quite small compared to other lists. And this is not only because car manufacturers were not very fond of this letter. Nevertheless, you can find more than a dozen names, including both brands from the beginning of the last century and modern ones. The world-famous Opel and the representative of the Brazilian car industry, Obvio!, Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili, OM Carrelli Elevatori S.p.A., and many others.
Collecting and systematizing the information you find benefits those interested in it and helps preserve the car’s history for future generations. Knowing your car’s past, which is closely linked to the history of mankind, helps you better understand your present and more accurately predict the future.
Opel
Since 1862, as a manufacturer of sewing machines, the German car brand of the future, Opel Automobile GmbH, headquartered in Rüsselsheim, Germany, traces its history. In 1886, bicycle production began. The first Opel-Lutzmann automobile came out in 1899. In 1900, a contract was signed with Automobiles Darracq S.A. in France to produce Opel-Darracq until 1907. In 1902, the car was developed. In 1929, it was acquired by General Motors. In 1940, the millionth car was produced. In 2017, PSA (Stellantis) acquired the brand.
Orca Engineering
In 2003, in Ebenholz (Vaduz, Liechtenstein), René and Ralph Beck founded their company to produce sports cars. They designed and built the Orca 113 platform and the Beck LM800 prototype. The Orca 113 was produced in three variants. Seven cars were produced – 3 C113 coupes, 2 R113S – a concept version of the C113 roadster, and 2 SC7s (an exclusive model). Its production was discontinued in 2007. Until 2012, the Beck LM 800 was the only car created by the brand. It used the Audi Twin Turbo V8 engine.
ORECA
ORECA (Organisation Exploitation Compétition Automobiles) is a French racing team founded in 1973 by Hugues de Chaunac. Since 2007, the brand has been used as a sports car manufacturer. Courage Compétition prototypes were created on this basis. The brand’s first car was the Oreca 01, an LMP1 model. In 2009, the FLM09 model was developed for Formula Le Mans. In 2015 and 2017, the Oreca 05 and Oreca 07 were released, respectively. A modification of the latter, the Acura ARX-05, raced in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
OSCA
The Italian company OSCA (abbreviation for Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili) was founded in 1947 in San Lazzaro di Savena in Emilia-Romagna. The brand’s history began ten years before its official registration when, in 1937, the Maserati brothers sold the factory to Adolfo and Omar Orsi. It was not until 1948 that the company began manufacturing moving machinery. The first racing model, the MT4, was produced. Based on the racing chassis 1600 GT and 1600 GT2, the company created elegant two-seat coupes by Frua, Michelotti, Zagato, Fissore, and Vignale. In 1967, following the 1964 sale of MV Agusta, the brand was closed.
Osella Engineering
Osella Engineering was an Italian racing team founded by Vincenzo “Enzo” Osella. It began racing in the 1960s with Abarth in Italy. In 1975, the brand assembled its Osella FA2 chassis development in its workshops and sold it a year later. The next development, the Osella FA3, intended for sale, was unsuccessful. This was the end of the sports team’s production direction. The team regained its leadership position and was not recalled until 1980-1990.
Oakland Motor Car Company
The Oakland Motor Car Company was an American company founded in 1907 in Pontiac, Michigan, USA. In 1909, General Motors acquired it to sell luxury, expensive car models and create competition in this segment with the leading brand, Pontiac. The brand’s main achievement was offering affordable prices on expensive cars to survive in a competitive market. The brand’s most popular models were the 1909 Oakland Model 40, the 1916 Model 50 V8, the 1928 Model 212 All-American Sport Cabriolet, and the Model 212 All-American Landaulette Sedan. In 1931, unable to withstand the competition, the brand was closed.
Obvio!
In 2001, a low-cost microcar company was established in Brazil. It developed two models, the Obvio! 828 and Obvio! 01. The American market played a major role in their distribution through ZAP. But the designer’s death, whose name played an important role in the deal, made it impossible to realize the grand plan. In 2019, the company closed, and its businesses were sold or taken over by the government.
Ogle Design
Ogle Design was a small British design company that worked in automotive design. It was founded by David Ogle in 1954 in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, to produce industrial and domestic equipment that consumers well received. In 1959, the company began designing automobiles. Its facilities began producing light-duty trucks and cars. After the founder of the SX1000 model died in 1962, the new manager discontinued passenger-car production.
Ohta Jidosha
In 1922, Hiro Ohta founded one of the oldest Japanese automobile manufacturers in Tokyo, Japan – Ohta Jidosha Seizosho Co. The Ohta Model OS prototype was built and produced at the time of the company’s founding. Mass production of cars began only in 1934. In 1935, the brand was renamed Kosoku Kikan Kogyo Co., Ltd. In 1936, the Ohta Model OC was released. In 1937, the Ohta Model OD was released. In 1947, the company became known as Ohta Jidosha Kogyo Co., Ltd. After the war, the company released the PA model, which became known as Tokyo Taxi. Models OE, VK-2, and PK-1 were also produced. In 1957, the brand was closed.
OKA Motor Company
The Australian automotive brand OKA Motor Company, based in Bibra Lake (Western Australia), was founded in 1986 and is known for its comfortable cabs and bodies mounted on all-terrain vehicle chassis. The company created updated four-wheel drive trucks and touring buses. It created three basic models, XT, LT, and NT, based on which different variants of bodies, single-, double-cab, and multi-cab- were produced for buses. The designer of such a prefabricated vehicle was Alan William Baker. In 2011, the company ceased to exist.
OM
The Italian automobile manufacturing company OM Carrelli Elevatori S.p.A. dates back to 1917 and is based in Milan, Italy. It produces automobiles under the OM Pimespo brand. Until 1933, it was an independent company. The brand’s first car was the 1918 Tipo S305, based on the Italian Zust. In 1923, the legendary OM 665 Superba was produced. In 1968, the company was acquired by FIAT and became known as FIAT Carrelli Elevatori. In 2002, the company left the FIAT structure and reoriented to producing high-quality lifting and transportation equipment.
OSI
Since 1960, the company OSI (Officine Stampaggi Industriali) from Turin, Italy, has been producing bodies designed by Luigi Segre and Arrigo Olivetti as a design division of Ghia. During its short existence, the brand, which, after Luigi Segre died in 1963, could not stay afloat and was completely liquidated in 1968, managed to create several custom models using products from Alfa Romeo, Fiat, and Ford. Among the company’s first products was the 1960 Innocenti 950 Spider body. A Ford modification of the Anglia Torino model was widely recognized.
ÖAF
ÖAF, or Österreichische Automobil-Fabrik, was founded in 1907 as Österreichische Austro-Fiat in Floridsdorf (Austria) to produce cars and trucks. Today, this brand is a subsidiary of MAN SE. The brand became famous with a 4-ton truck produced in 1911. The brand was named Österreichische Automobil-Fabrik in 1925, and immediately began selling the Italian Fiat. The last private car of the brand was Type 1001. One thousand nine hundred twenty-five light trucks AFN were produced in 1928 – AF2. In 1929, the Austro-Fiat 1001 bus was introduced, and passenger car production began. After privatization in 1970, the company was acquired by MAN. In 2001, the brand was renamed MAN Sonderfahrzeuge AG.
Otomo
Junya Toyokawa founded the Otomo automobile company in 1924, which produced experimental cars and power plants at the Hakuyosha Ironworks Ltd. factory. Ales cars with sedan or van bodies and two and four-seaters were produced under this brand. Mass production of Otomo models provided for the formation of cabins. The models had a wooden frame lined with sheet iron. In 1927, the company became part of Gorham, which was another Japanese automaker. American aircraft designer William Gorham financed the new company.
Overland Automobile Company
Overland Automobile Company was an American automobile company founded in 1903 by Claude Cox in Terre Haute, Indiana. After moving to Indianapolis, Indiana, the founder sold his company in 1908 to John North Willis, who renamed the company Willys-Overland in 1912. In 1910, the company created its iconic Overland 42 model, which Milton Reeves based on his eight-wheeled Reeves Octo-Auto. Overlands were produced until 1926 when the Willys Whippet replaced them.
Oldsmobile
ODA
Österreichische Austro-Fiat
