Ascari Cars Ltd. was a British

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

manufacturer based in

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...

, England, and founded by Klaas Zwart. Zwart was the former chairman and majority owner of oil and gas company Petroline, which designed and manufactured its own downhole technology. Petroline was purchased by Weatherford in 1999. The company was named after

Alberto Ascari Alberto Ascari (; 13 July 1918 – 26 May 1955) was an Italian racing driver and a two time Formula One World Champion. He was a multitalented racer who competed in motorcycle racing before switching to cars. Ascari won consecutive world titles ...

(1918–1955), the first double winner of the

World Championship of Drivers Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2010. Ascari’s official site was also shut down, and it hasn’t been updated since 2009.

History

Ascari Cars was established in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

in 1994. Its first limited-edition car, the

Ascari Ecosse The Ascari Ecosse is a mid-engined sports car produced by Ascari Cars from 1998 to 1999. It was the first production car released by the company and is essentially the production version of the Ascari FGT concept race car. FGT In 1995 Ascari ...

, was launched in 1998. In 2000 Ascari Cars built a new facility in Banbury in northern Oxfordshire. Ascari Car's second car, the

Ascari KZ1 The Ascari KZ1 is a sports car made by Ascari Cars. The car is named from the initials of Ascari's owner Klaas Zwart, a wealthy Dutch businessman. The KZ1 made its worldwide debut at the 2005 Autosport International with a price tag of £235,0 ...

, was developed at Banbury, which also housed Team Ascari's racing assets. The premises are now occupied by

Haas F1 Team Haas Formula LLC, competing as Haas F1 Team, is an American-licensed Formula One racing team established by NASCAR Cup Series team co-owner Gene Haas in April 2014. The team originally intended to make its debut at the start of the season b ...

. Due to declining sales of the Ascari KZ1 and a large amount of money to produce cars, Ascari suffered heavy financial losses before making the difficult decision to file for bankruptcy in 2010.

Road cars

Race cars

References

{{Automotive industry Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United Kingdom Sports car manufacturers Companies based in Banbury Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1994 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 2010 Car brands 2010 disestablishments in England 1994 establishments in England British companies established in 1994 British racecar constructors

History

Road cars

Race cars

See also

References