ASA 1000GT: Maranello in miniature

Ferrari was irritatingly vague about its plans for the unit, but a glance at the specifications proved it was no flippant engineering indulgence.

The diminutive all-alloy four-pot boasted a single-overhead-cam design with hemispherical combustion chambers and inclined valves – all good for 75bhp.

From 850cc. That was heady stuff for the late 1950s, when your average A-series engine back in Blighty was battling to break the 40bhp mark.

‘Quite simply, this was a baby Ferrari in all but name, although Maranello made little effort to capitalise on that perception’

Rumours soon spread that Enzo was conceiving a baby Ferrari, although quite why remained a mystery.

Was this an affordable model aimed at spreading the Maranello magic to the masses, or was Enzo just out to profit from his engineering capability by selling the design?

History isn’t clear, but fast-forward a few years and the ASA 1000GT you see here was the outcome.

ASA is a name you’ve perhaps never before heard.

It stands for Autocostruzioni Societa per Azioni and is the company that bought the rights to produce a pretty, Bertone-styled GT that featured a Ferrari-designed chassis and a 1032cc version of that 854 engine.

It was first shown at the Turin Salon in late 1961, when it was badged as the Bertone Mille.

Under its bonnet lay Enzo’s fabulous little four-cylinder jewel (by then in 985cc guise), which was bolted to a sophisticated tubular chassis by the brilliant Giotto Bizzarrini.

Quite simply this was – to those in the automotive sphere – a baby Ferrari in all but name, although Modena made little effort to capitalise on that perception.

The ASA 1000GT’s engine is a petite, screaming slice of a Ferrari V12

The world had actually got wind of a potential ‘Ferrarina’ just months after Enzo dropped his diversionary bombshell to the press, when a pretty, Pininfarina-styled prototype slipped out of the factory gates on a test run.

The coupé resembled a scaled-down Ferrari 250GT and was based on a Fiat 1200 chassis, but with the 854 motor.

It was evidently an impressive little performer, particularly when in the hands of Enzo himself, as Innes Ireland recalled in his book, All Arms and Elbows.

The racer described being a ‘terror-stricken passenger’ on a blast through the back-streets of Maranello in an ‘extremely fast little machine with something like a 1500cc engine’.

Its speed also impressed 1960s Ferrari F1 driver Richie Ginther, who recalled, in Franco Varisco’s book ASA Lʼepopea della “Ferrarina”, frequently covering the 100-mile trip from Maranello to Milan in under an hour in one.

Its true performance was revealed, however, when Autosport broke the magic ton with it in late 1960, commenting that: ʻVery high cruising speeds are possible in great comfort, despite the size of the Ferrarina.ʼ

By all accounts the prototype was thoroughly sorted, apart from its name.

In place of the famous Prancing Horse on the front grille was a machine-gun symbol, a rather bizarre choice believed to have been an attempt to sweeten a sale to weapons manufacturer Armi Beretta.

The ASA 1000GT’s stylish cooling vents

There was also talk of the car being produced by BMC in England in a tie-up that could have scuppered the British corporationʼs eventual relationship with Cooper.

Certainly Enzo was a fan of small cars – he famously cherished a Mini that was gifted to him by designer Alec Issigonis – and was rumoured to be looking for a manufacturer that could build around 3000 cars a year, something BMC would have done with ease.

Whatever the target, it appears that Enzo was a bit too ruthless in his negotiations, and the ʻFerrarinaʼ remained an entertaining enigma for impressing Il Commendatoreʼs visitors until the Bertone Mille appeared.

By then it looked radically different, with a fastback steel-and-aluminium body clothing an all-new tubular chassis.

The styling was the work of a young Giorgetto Giugiaro, who was inspired by the Ferrari 156 ʻsharknoseʼ for the pretty new coupéʼs frontal treatment.

That distinctive front end bore a simple ʻ1000ʼ moniker over Italian colours, and it would be another year before the car – basically unchanged apart from the switch to coil springs in the rear suspension and a revised headlight assembly – reappeared at the same show, sporting the unusual ASA shield.

This was the emblem for the marque set up by the wealthy de Nora family, which used its large industrial chemical interests to finance commercial production of the Bertone Mille.

The carʼs development might have been delayed and far from secret, but the little ASA 1000GT still made a huge impact in terms of both looks and numbers.

‘The ASA 1000GT’s steering is light but deliciously precise, the ride is compliant and the chassis is tremendously taut and communicative’

The 1032cc square-capacity engine (bore and stroke were equal at 69mm) sported twin Weber sidedraught carburettors and was good for a stonking 96bhp – and an impressive 113mph, as Autocar tester Bernard Cahier discovered when he became the first journalist to get behind the wheel in November 1962.

He was seriously impressed, commenting: ʻIts performance is remarkable for a 1-litre.ʼ

He was equally complimentary about the seating position, the excellent brakes and the engine, which sounded ʻmore like that of a racing car than a true GTʼ.

The mechanical specification sounded good, too: all-round Dunlop disc brakes, rack-and-pinion steering and a four-speed gearbox with overdrive.

It was no surprise, then, that both showgoers and readers were intrigued, but it would be a while before any of them could experience the ʻFerrarinaʼ for themselves.

ASA didnʼt have a factory, let alone a production date, yet it carried on with product evolution and six months later the coupé was joined by a glassfibre-bodied Spider version at the ʼ63 Geneva Salon, billed as a ʻpure-blood Italian car’.

For the Turin show ASA was back, but still without a mention of delivery dates.

Potential customers were rattled and Auto Italiana ran an article littered with letters from exasperated readers voicing their dismay.

The ASA 1000GT’s lovely dashboard is inlaid with a long line of Jaeger instruments and Ferrari-style switchgear

It would be mid-’64 before production finally trickled out at five cars per week, each with a price-tag of 2.76 million lire and a string of options for those with even deeper pockets: metallic paint was an extra 98,000 lire, while another 70,000 lire got you electric windows.

That was serious money for a 1-litre car in the mid-’60s, even one boasting Ferrari DNA.

Today that Maranello pedigree is instantly evident: the ASA’s distinctive headlight pods and wide grille hint at the Ferrari 250GT Lusso, while the pretty fastback lines and petite tail treatment have a touch of the hunched, ready-to-pounce stance of a SWB berlinetta.

Inside, you are overwhelmed by Ferrari touches, from the thin-rimmed Nardi wheel to the row of chrome-ringed Jaeger instruments and adjustable, floor-hinged pedals.

The indicator stalks are pure 250, while the gearlever stands tall and slightly canted, just a handspan away from the wheel.

The driving position is very Ferrari – arms outstretched, legs bent – and only the absence of quilted leather on the transmission tunnel and a polished aluminium gearknob give the visual game away.

That and the noise on start-up.

The four-pot engine emits a high-pitched staccato that’s a long way off the bellow of a Ferrari V12, but it’s still an addictive soundtrack that will have you blipping the throttle for fun.

The ASA 1000GT wears handsome centre-lock wheels with spinners

At idle, the Webers’ trumpet tubes let out a deliciously rich slurp, accompanied by the occasional hiccup as the highly tuned unit reminds you that it is happiest when working at full chat.

Itʼs on the move that this coupé really makes its mark.

The steering is light but deliciously precise, the ride is compliant and the chassis is tremendously taut and communicative.

The roadholding is particularly tenacious, considering its orthodox live rear axle, and you can hurl the ASA into corners with impunity.

The brakes are superb, too, thanks to disc diameters that are just shy of those of the 145mph 250GT.

But the engineʼs character – along with its buzzy sound – is the biggest thrill.

It seems to rev to eternity, with no hint of strain as you pass 6000 then 7000rpm, offering long lunges of urge between swapping cogs.

In straight-line speed you do become aware of the mediocre 0-60mph time of 13 secs, thanks in part to the ASAʼs 1719lb weight.

Yet still the acceleration feels strong, and the carʼs slippery shape means you get surprising pace.

Electric windows were a 70,000-lire option for the ASA 1000GT

That aspect wasnʼt lost on the racing fraternity, and it was in competition that the 1000GT really excelled in some of the bigger sports-car races.

In 1965, ASAs finished 17th and 22nd overall in the Targa Florio, with a respective third and fourth place in the 1000-1600cc class.

Encouraged by such results, ASA head Nicolo de Nora ordered the development of the alloy-bodied 411 Berlinetta lightweight version, with Plexiglas windows, faired-in headlights and Le Mans fuel filler.

Only a handful were sold, with one successfully completing both the 1967 Daytona 24 Hours and the Sebring 12 Hours in the hands of an all-female American team.

The 411 was followed by the radical 613RB, a six-cylinder targa-style coupé (known as the Roll Bar) similar to a Chevrolet Corvette in styling.

Just three were made, but that didnʼt stop ASA considering a possible 2-litre two-plus-two priced at 3.5 million lire. The price was always going to be the marqueʼs undoing, though.

Delays in setting up production meant that it rose steadily, and the de Noras battled to recoup costs in the face of the factoryʼs meagre output.

The ASA 1000GT was Enzo’s four-cylinder ‘Ferrarina’ in production form

By 1965, the 1000GTʼs price-tag was nudging $6000 – well into Jaguar E-type money, and more than youʼd fork out for a range-topping ʼVette across the pond where ASA desperately needed sales.

Two years later demand dried up and ASA quietly closed its doors, leaving American importer Luigi Chinetti to sell the final few cars.

Would buyers have been more numerous if their cheques were made out to Ferrari?

Quite possibly, but why wasnʼt Enzo – so clearly impressed by his prototype – keen to have it built under licence with his badge?

Maybe he felt his prestige as a maker of supremely fast sports cars would be undermined, or perhaps he was content with proving that the master of V12 engines could make small four-pots that were equally scintillating to drive.

Whatever the reason, itʼs clear that the idea of a baby Ferrari remained throughout the ASAʼs protracted gestation, with one letter from Nuccio Bertone referencing the Ferrarina ʻDinoʼ when discussing its colours and trim.

A decade on and Maranello might have had the brand strength to support an affordable Prancing Horse, and the pretty Dino 246 we so covet today may never have had the chance to be Enzoʼs baby.

Images: Tony Baker

This was first in our January 2008 magazine; all information was correct at the date of original publication

Factfile

ASA 1000GT

• Sold/number built 1964-’67/c95 (plus 11 Spiders)
• Construction tubular steel chassis, steel and aluminium panels
• Engine all-alloy, sohc 1032cc ‘four’, two Weber 40DCOE carburettors
• Max power 96bhp @ 7000rpm
• Max torque 75lb ft @ 6000rpm
• Transmission all-synchro four-speed manual with overdrive on third and top, RWD
• Suspension: front independent, by wishbones rear live axle, anti-roll bar; coil springs, telescopic dampers f/r
• Steering rack and pinion
• Brakes discs, with servo
• Length 12ft 9½in (3900mm)
• Width 5ft (1550mm)
• Height 4ft 2½in (1280mm)
• Wheelbase 7ft 2½in (2200mm)
• Weight 1719lb (780kg)
• Mpg 26
• 0-60mph 13 secs
• Top speed 118mph
• Price new Lire 2.76m

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Graeme Hurst