A Brief History of the Italian Marque
The long-established firm of OCMA Fiorano al Serio specialized in precision machining and was active before WWII, with close contacts with Ansaldo for whom they produced gearbox components, as they did for Fiat.
On cessation of hostilities OCMA resumed manufacture of gears, and in 1953 launched its first motorcycles with the brand name Devil.
Production included the Raid 160 2T, the 160 Sport Lusso and the Devilino moped, shown at the 1954 Salone di Milano.
The Turismo and Sport versions were designed by Boninsegna and featured a linked braking system to front and rear brakes from the handlebar brake lever.
In 1956 the engineer William Soncini designed a 125 and a 175 SOHC, and a DOHC 175cc engine with a claimed 15 hp at 7,800 rpm.
A competition version of this motorcycle was equipped with dual ignition and two parallel vertical shafts, with claimed power output of 20 bhp at 11,000 rpm.
With full fairing the machine's speed is estimated at 180 km/h.
The catalogue also lists a motofurgoncini 250cc two-stroke.
The 160cc two-stroke engine was very similar to the MV 150, and the 175 four-stroke closely resembled the standard Parilla 175.
This resulted in lawsuits from both of those companies, which OCMA lost at considerable cost. This led to the the A. Martinelli - Devil firm's demise.
In liquidation proceedings some two thousand examples of 160 two-stroke motorcycles, still on hold with the General Stores in Bergamo, were put up for sale. These motorcycles were purchased at favorable prices by Rumi for export to Argentina, rebadged as their own.
Sources: Moto di Lombardia, Tragatsch p114.
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