Ascari Cars Ltd. History
 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Headquarters | Banbury, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom |
| Products | Automobiles |
Ascari Cars Ltd. is a British automobile manufacturer that is based in Banbury, United Kingdom founded by Dutch millionaire Klaas Zwart. The company is named after Alberto Ascari (1918–1955) who was the first double world Formula One champion. Ascari also manages a racetrack, Race Resort Ascari, which continues to operate.
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. The premises are now occupied by Marussia F1.
Road cars
| Year | Model | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Ascari FGT | Initial concept car created for racing |
| 1998 | Ascari Ecosse | Production version of the FGT |
| 2003 | Ascari KZ1 | |
| 2006 | Ascari A10 | Upgraded version of the KZ1 |
| 2008 | Ascari KZ1-R | Road-going version of the KZ1-R GT3 race car |
Race cars
| Year | Model | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Ascari FGT | Racing version of the FGT concept, run in the British GT Championship |
| 2000 | Ascari A410 | Le Mans Prototype |
| 2003 | Ascari KZR-1 | Upgraded version of the A410 |
| 2005 | Ascari KZ1R GT3 | Racing version of the KZ1, running in the FIA GT3 class |
Ascari Race Resort
In 2000, Ascari began developing a racetrack near Ronda, in southern Spain. The track includes recreations of famous corners from other tracks around the world, and may be set up as one long track, three separate short tracks, or some combination in between. The full track is approximately 5.5 km in length. By 2002 the three part track was finished and accompanied by a high-end resort, with several road and racing cars available to members to test, including former Formula One machinery. The resort operates a membership based system. Members are able to make use of pits and storage garages for their cars at the resort. The resort does also operate a few weekend open days to the public, including visits of the facilities and track experience days in Lotus Elises, BMW 325i and Radicals.
The A10 appeared in a Top Gear episode, where it was compared to a Daihatsu Materia. The Dahaitsu won, but Jeremy Clarkson still said he would rather own the Ascari.
