The ATS 2500 GT is a sports car made by Italian company

Automobili Turismo e Sport ATS (Automobili Turismo e Sport) is an Italian automotive constructor. It once had a racing team that operated between 1963 and 1965, formed after the famous "Palace Revolution" at Ferrari. Production history The company was formed by Carlo Ch ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

. It was the first Italian and one of the first GT or sports car in the world to have a mid-engine layout. The group behind the ATS project consisted mainly of Ferrari defectors: family troubles had created an uncomfortable working atmosphere for the personnel. ATS, intent on beating Ferrari on all fronts, also produced a Formula One car for 1963, "a ghastly mess, one of the most inept racing cars ever, and its appalling performances did not help the road car."A to Z of Sports Cars, p.38 Even noted driver

Phil Hill Philip Toll Hill Jr. (April 20, 1927 – August 28, 2008) was an American automobile racing driver. He was one of two American drivers to win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, and the only one who was born in the United States ( ...

was unable to provide ATS with any results on track.

History

The space frame 2500 GT was introduced in 1963 at the

Paris Motor Show The Paris Motor Show (french: Mondial de l'Automobile) is a biennial auto show in Paris. Held during October, it is one of the most important auto shows, often with many new production automobile and concept car debuts. The show presently take ...

. Designed by

Franco Scaglione __NOTOC__ Franco Scaglione (26 September 1916 – 19 June 1993) was an Italian automobile coachwork designer. Biography Franco Scaglione was born in Florence to Vittorio Scaglione, a chief army doctor, and to Giovanna Fabbri, captain of the ...

and engineered by

Carlo Chiti Carlo Chiti (19 December 1924 – 7 July 1994) was an Italian racing car and engine designer best known for his long association with Alfa Romeo's racing department. He also worked for Ferrari and was involved in the design of the Ferrari 156 Shar ...

and

Giotto Bizzarrini Giotto Bizzarrini (born 6 June 1926 in Quercianella, Livorno Province, Italy) is an Italian automobile engineer who was active from the 1950s through the 1970s. After graduating in 1953, Bizzarrini eventually joined Alfa Romeo as a test driver. ...

, the car was built only in limited numbers before investors withdrew financial support and the project collapsed. The car's drawings were later used for Count Volpi's (an early backer) failed

Serenissima aSerenissima ( heMost Serene) may refer to: Certain countries * , a name for the Republic of Venice * , the official Latin name of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Art, entertainment, and media * La Serenissima (musical ensemble), a British ...

sportcars project. A Moreno Baldi attempted another revival of the ATS concept in 1970, and failed even more disastrously. With its (210 bhp according to some) and of torque it was claimed to be capable of a top speed. A competition version (ATS 2500 GTS) produced but never amounted to much. The coachwork was by Allemano, and the 5-speed transmission by Colotti.

Revival effort

In 2012, there was an attempt to re-establish ATS. Digital images of a newly designed 2500 GT were shown, with a 2.5 L turbocharged flat-four engine (a

Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream automotive industrie ...

-tuned Subaru flat-four claimed to produce 500 hp). The car never entered production. in 2017, ATS announced another model, a spiritual successor to the original 2500 GT called the ATS GT. The new GT is based on the

McLaren 12C The McLaren MP4-12C, later known simply as the McLaren 12C, is a sports car that was designed and manufactured by McLaren Automotive. It was the first ever production car wholly designed and built by McLaren, and their first production road ...

and ATS had hopes to enter production in 2019.

References

Sources

* {{cite book , title = A to Z of Sports Cars , author = Mike Lawrence , publisher = Bay View Books , location = Bideford, Devon , pages = 38 , year = 1991 , isbn = 1-870979-81-8 Cars of Italy Cars introduced in 1963 Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicles Sports cars