Author: Richard Heseltine
Photography: OSI
The 1960s witnessed its fair share of small concept cars; the sort of stuff that promised to foretell what urbanites would be driving decades down the line. The OSI City-Daf was one such contraption. 1966 saw the short-lived Ghia offshoot at its most prolific, the Turin-based concern having launched its handsome Ford Taunus-based 20M TS coupé in March, while its daring Alfa Romeo Scarabeo show stopper broke cover a few months later at the Paris Salon. Rather less flashy was the City-Daf which emerged at November’s Turin Motor Show where it was unveiled alongside the equally new and obscurity-bound OSI-Fiat Cross Country off-roader.
Based on an abbreviated Daf Daffodil chassis with a 197.5cm wheelbase, this boxy device retained the 746cc two-cylinder unit and ‘rubber band’ Variomatic transmission complete with V-belts and variable diameter pulleys. The car’s body was styled under studio chief Sergio Sartorelli, the signature feature being its unusual door arrangement. On the left-hand (driver’s) side, there was a single sliding door that employed using a rail-and-ball system similar to those used on commercial vehicles. The reasoning behind this was simple: at a busy roadside, you would, according to the PR bumf, have to wait for there to be break in traffic before you could open a conventional door safely.
On the right-hand side, however, was a normal passenger door and rear ‘suicide’ door. This set-up was in place to improve access and ingress for passengers entering the car from the pavement. The rear hatchback, meanwhile, was hinged in the roof panel. (Itals) Style Auto (end itals) magazine reported in leftfield fashion: ‘The interior echoes more or less that of the original Daf Daffodil, but the finish is more luxurious… The rear bench seat can be folded down so that the City-Daf has a noteworthy amount of room for goods. All the side glasses are sliding and various cubby holes are arranged in the doors and dashboard. The car has reversing lights and the wraparound bumpers are covered with a band of rubber which is very useful in small bumps incurred when parking…
“The City-Daf is 301.5m long. In other words, [it is] halfway between the Fiat 500 and the BMC Mini. Its height is 147cm, which is most unusual for a modern car where one’s hat is rarely taken into consideration.’ Quite. Following a few further show outings, the City-Daf disappeared into the ether. If nothing else, it was later immortalised in 1:36th scale by Corgi Toys as part of the famous Whizzwheels range. There were further Italo-Dutch collaborations, too, with Michelotti producing the oddly-proportioned Siluro coupé in 1968, while Moretti built a bizarre saloon car with Rolls-Royce-style grille in the early ’70s which was similarly based on Daf 55 running gear.
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