Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Type Private
Industry Automotive
Founded 1995
Banbury, Oxfordshire, England,
Headquarters
United Kingdom
Key people Geoff Finlay CEO
Products Automobiles
Owner(s) Klaas Zwart
Website Ascari.net
Ascari Cars Ltd. is a British automobile manufacturer that is based in Banbury, United
Kingdom founded by Dutch millionaire Klaas Zwart.[1] 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 Virgin Racing.
Road cars
An Ascari KZ1 (foreground) and Ecosse on display.
Race cars
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.
In series 10, episode 10 of Top Gear the test track was used to test the BMW M3, the Audi
RS4 and the Mercedes C63 AMG.
Jeremy Clarkson also filmed most of his DVDs, Supercar Showdown and Duel at the track.
The A10 also appeared in another Top Gear episode, where it was compared to a Daihatsu
Materia. The Dahaitsu won, but Clarkson still said he would rather own the Ascari.
References
1. ^ "Ascari Cars, Beautiful beast". The Manufacturer. April 2006.
http://www.themanufacturer.com/uk/profile/6479/Ascari_Cars. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
External links
The Ascari Race Resort Website
Ascari Race Resort review(Spanish)