The Strangest Car At Villa d’Este Was Built To Win Le Mans And Never Got The Chance

Every once in a while, a car shows up at Villa d’Este that makes you stop mid-sentence, mid-sip of espresso, and just stare. Not because it’s the fastest or the most expensive, but because it’s wonderfully weird. This year, that honor went to a strange silver wedge from the '60s. It’s called the OSI Silver Fox, and if you’ve never heard of it, you’re not alone.

Back in the late 1960s, a small Italian design and coachbuilding firm called OSI decided to take a swing at endurance racing. These were the same folks who usually worked behind the curtain, building short-run models for big-name brands. But for once, they wanted to step into the spotlight. So they cooked up a car that barely looked like a car at all.

The OSI Silver Fox was unlike anything else from its era. Think of two narrow fuselages joined together by a trio of fins. On one side, the engine. On the other, the driver. The whole thing looked more like a Cold War spy drone than something meant to chase Ferraris around Le Mans. However, the goal was dead serious: build something radical enough to win.

Power came from a tiny 1.0-liter engine borrowed from Renault’s Alpine division. Nothing earth-shattering, but thanks to its slippery shape and light weight, the Silver Fox was reportedly capable of reaching some surprisingly high speeds. It didn’t need brute force—it was all about aero. Efficiency. Lateral thinking.

Unfortunately, it was also a bit too ahead of its time, or maybe just too weird for the real world. OSI shut its doors not long after, and the OSI Silver Fox never got its shot on the track. No Le Mans, no trophies, no glory. Just one single car, built for a race it never entered.

Fast-forward to last weekend, and there it was, looking just as bizarre and brilliant as ever. This long-forgotten OSI Silver Fox prototype drew the kind of attention you can’t fake. People didn’t just glance at it—they circled it, puzzled over it, and took photos like they were trying to prove it actually existed.

Because that’s the thing about the Silver Fox: it’s not famous, it’s not fast by today’s standards, and it’s not even remotely conventional. But it dares to be different. This wasn’t just a car. It was a question mark on wheels. And 57 years later, it's still got people asking.