Autocostruzioni SpA, Milan, Italy 1962 - 1967

In 1958 Ferrari made an advanced double overhead camshaft 4 cylinder engine of 850cc to compete with the likes of Abarth. In 1961 a chassis was designed by Giotto Bizzarini with tubular members similar to a Ferrari and bodied by Bertone from a design by Giugiaro which looked like a scaled down GTO. The front suspension was by transverse wish bones and coil springs the rear featured a live axlewith coil springs and was located by radius arms.

The car was presented at the 1961 Turin Motor Show, receiving very favourable reviews from the motoring press, but was not featured as a Ferrari even though it was meant to be called "Ferrari Mille",

Enzo Ferrari's idea of producing a small car was not realised in the end, but the design went to ASA (Autocostruzioni Societa per Azioni) a company owned by the De Nova - electro chemical conglomerate.

Production cars became available in 1965 as the ASA 1000 GT with coupe or cabriolet options and disc brakes on all four wheels (unusually advanced for the time) and vacuum servo. The wheels were pierced discs attached on centre lock knock-off hubs. The 4 cylinder engine had been increased to 1,032cc and was based on the Ferrari V-12 with twin overhead camshafts, twin Weber 40 DCOE carburettors, a compression ratio of 9.1:1 and giving 97 bhp at 7,100 rpm. It was mated to a 4 speed synchromesh gearbox with double overdrive. This gave a very respectable top speed of 115 mph but the power curve was peaky.

Unfortunately the ASA 1000 GT never made profits for it's owners and only managed to be homologated for GT racing after two years when production had reached 100. By this time it was outclassed as a racing car although it was quite successful. As a road car it had excellent handling and performance to match. It was a scaled down Ferrari in every respect and deserved to carry the name, but the price was too high and it was not a Ferrari after all!

After two years the ASA 1000 GT was replaced by the rather strangely named Rollbar GT Spyder with a 1.3 litre 6 cylinder version of the engine and a cheaper fibreglass body. An export model was also available with a 1,745cc engine giving 140 bhp. Both models retained the 4 speed and double overdrive transmission.

Only about 50 cars were produced before the project was abandoned in 1967.

Bibliography :

"La Ferrarina", by Lowell Paddock, Automobile Quarterly, Vol. 21,No.3

ASA 1000GT
Even though the Ferrari sold the rights for this fine car to ASA, it did help in setting up the production facilities.  The car received very favourable reviews from motoring journalists and was described as being a small Ferrari.  It was meant to be one of the best small GT cars in the world.  Unfortunately, ASA 1000 GT never brought profits to its owners and only got homologated for GT class of racing after two years, when the number of units produced reached 100.