Ossa

Ossa was a Spanish motorcycle manufacturer which was active from 1924 to 1982 and from 2010 to 2015. Founded by Manuel Giró, an industrialist from Barcelona, Ossa was best known for lightweight, two-stroke-engined bikes used in observed trials, motocross and enduro. The company was known originally as Orpheo Sincronic Sociedad Anónima (O.S.S.A.) and was later renamed Maquinaria Cinematográfica, S.A.. The Ossa brand was reborn in 2010 when the trademark was purchased by an investment group and produced motorcycles until 2014 when, the company merged with the Spanish motorcycle manufacturer Gas Gas. However, when Gas Gas was absorbed by the Torrot Group in 2015, Ossa was not part of the deal and closed down again. History Company origins The original Ossa company got its start in 1924 making movie projectors for its home market in Spain. The company's four-leaf clover emblem wasn't actually a four-leaf clover; it is the escapement mechanism of a film projector. Before World War II, Giró was the Spanish sidecar racing national champion, along with his co-pilot, the future founder of Bultaco motorcycles, Francisco Bultó. After World War II, Ossa obtained superior two-stroke engine technology from the German DKW factory as war reparations and, began mass-producing two-stroke motorcycles in 1949. Ossa reached its highest production levels in the motorcycle boom of the 1960s, exporting large numbers of exports to other European countries, but also significantly, to North American markets. In the United States and Canada, off-road motorcycling - and particularly the newly imported sport of motocross to which the light-weight and powerful Ossa was well suited - enjoyed a surging popularity. In addition to their suitability for racing, in terms of power-to-weight, Ossa motorcycles gained a reputation for reliability on and off the race track.