ascari

Ascari Cars Ltd.

Type	Private
Founded	1995
Headquarters	Banbury, Oxfordshire,England, United Kingdom
Key people	Geoff Finlay ceo
Industry	Automotive
Products	Automobiles
Owner	Klaas Zwart
Website	www.ascari.net

Ascari Cars Ltd. is a British automobile manufacturer based in Banbury, United Kingdom. The company was named after Alberto Ascari (1918 - 1955) who was the first double world Formula 1 champion. Besides manufacturing cars, Ascari also manages a racetrack, Race Resort Ascari.

History

Ascari Cars was established in Dorset, England in 1995. Its first limited-edition car, the Ascari Ecosse, was launched in 1998. After the release of the Ecosse, Dutch businessman Klaas Zwart purchased the company.

In 2000 Ascari built a new facility in Banbury in northern Oxfordshire, England. Ascari's second car, the Ascari KZ1, was developed at Banbury, which also housed Team Ascari's racing assets.

Also in 2000, Ascari also began developing a racetrack near Ronda, in southern Spain. The track was accompanied by a resort, with several road and racing cars available to visitors to test, including former Formula One machinery.

In series 10, episode 10 of Top Gear the test track was used to test the BMW M3, the Audi RS4 and the Mercedes C Class 63AMG.

[edit]Road cars

An Ascari KZ1 (foreground) and Ecosse on display.

• Ascari FGT (1995) - Initial concept car
• Ascari Ecosse (1998) - Production version of the FGT
• Ascari KZ1 (2003)
• Ascari A10 (2006) - Uprated version of the KZ1

[edit]Race cars

• Ascari FGT (1995) - Racing version of the FGT concept, run in the British GT Championship
• Ascari A410 (2000) - Le Mans Prototype
• Ascari KZR-1 (2003) - Upgraded version of the A410
• Ascari KZ1R GT3 (2005) - Racing version of the KZ1, running in the FIA GT3 class

[edit]