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dimarts, 3 de desembre de 2024

Ossa: the return of a legendary motorcycle

> TR 280i: the new Ossa

> A brand with a lot of history behind it

> A country with a motorcycling tradition

dimarts, 16 de febrer de 2010

Ossa motorcycles, one of the oldest and most legendary Catalan motorcycle brands, are to be produced again this year (2010), 25 years after production stopped.

A group of Catalan businesspeople, who have invested more than €6 million, are behind Ossa's re-launch. The new company will be called Ossa Factory and will, naturally, use the traditional clover logo.

The first model off the production line will be the TR 280i, which will be made in Girona, the company's new headquarters, rather than the previous location of Sant Feliu de Guíxols (Baix Empordà). The company will produce 1,200 motorcycles between August and November this year, followed by 3,000 next year. Within three years, it hopes to have a 35% share of the trials bike market.

Besides motorcycles, Ossa Factory will also have a fashion division. The plan is to launch two collections a year (spring-summer and autumn-winter), with vintage-style clothing (for men, to start with) inspired by 1960s and 1970s motorcycle racing.

The company will create a total of 100 jobs in Catalonia.

TR 280i: the new Ossa

+ The new TR 280i.

Ossa Factory has already sold (to distributors worldwide) the 1,200 TR 280i motorcycles it is to produce in 2010. With an innovative design, the 272.2cc, six-speed trial bike weighs 67 kilograms. Former trials rider Marc Colomer (five-times Spanish champion and world champion in 1996) is in charge of testing and developing the bike.

A brand with a lot of history behind it

+ Ossa 125 (1949-1952).

Founded by the Giró family in the late 1920s, the company did not make motorcycles to begin with, but rather cinema and textile machinery. In the 1940s, it turned its attention to the motorcycle industry, selling its first bike, a 125cc motorcycle, in 1951. The company's heyday was in the 1960s and 1970s, when it became very famous internationally, particularly in Europe and the United States. Its best-known motorcycles include the Ossa 250 monocoque, the Mick Andrews Replica, the Ossa Yankee and the Ossa Phantom.

A country with a motorcycling tradition

+ Trials rider Toni Bou is the reigning world champion.

There is a great tradition of making motorcycles in the Catalan Countries. Besides Ossa, other legendary names include Bultaco, Montesa and Derbi; the latter of which is still operational. This has gone hand in hand with a great passion for motorcycling, with Catalans winning championships in a number of different disciplines. In motorcycle trials, the names of Jordi Tarrès, Marc Colomer, Adam Raga and Toni Bou (the reigning world champion in both the indoor and outdoor categories) stand out.

MATERIALS

Ossa Factory
Format:Web
Pàgina oficial d'aquesta marca de motocicletes, just acabada de refundar.
Ossa (empresa)
Format:Web
Viquipèdia.
Motor
Format:Web
Automobilisme i motociclisme al portal esportiu de Televisió de Catalunya i Catalunya Ràdio, Elsesports.cat.
Motocicleta
Format:Web
Motocicleta i motociclisme a l'Enciclopèdia Catalana.
Federació Catalana de Motociclisme
Format:Web
Pàgina oficial.

QUE HO SABIES?

The history of Ossa is associated with two legendary riders: Santi Herrero and Mick Andrews.
The first company to produce motorcycles in the Catalan Countries was Derbi, founded in 1922 at Mollet del Vallès (Vallès Or.).