Base Italy Constructors'
Championships 0 Races competed 5 Fastest lap 0 Race victories 0 | Races entered 5 Founder Carlo Chiti Drivers' championships 0 Pole position 0 | |
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Full name Automobili Turismo e Sport S.p.A. Noted drivers Phil Hill
Giancarlo Baghetti First entry 1963 Belgian Grand Prix | ||
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.
Contents
Production history
The company was formed by Carlo Chiti and Giotto Bizzarrini, among others – intending for it to be a direct competitor to Ferrari both on the race track and on the street. Chiti and Bizzarrini built, with sponsorship from the Scuderia Serenissima's Count Giovanni Volpi, a road-going sports car and a Formula One racing car.
The sports car was the ATS 2500 GT, a small coupé developed by Chiti and Bizzarrini with a Franco Scaglione-designed bodywork built by Allemano. The engine was a mid-mounted 2.5 L V8 engineered by Chiti, capable of achieving 245 hp (180 kW) and accelerating to 257 km/h (160 mph). Only 12 cars were reportedly built, and few exist today. Apart from being one of the first mid-engine sports cars (the René-Bonnet Djet in France is said to have beaten it to the market by a few months), 2500 GT never gained fame or popularity, but its 90 degree DOHC V8 with a flatplane crankshaft was later developed into Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 engine in 2 L, 2.5 L and 3 L formats by Carlo Chiti at Autodelta.
Racing history
The F1 car was the Tipo 100, a 1.5 L V8 engine powering a chassis that was a virtual copy of the outdated Ferrari 156. Drivers Phil Hill and Giancarlo Baghetti, also fleeing from Ferrari during a period of political turmoil, were signed to drive the new car, but a dismal 1963 Formula One season forced Chiti to close the door on the racing team. The ATS would later be used in the Derrington-Francis project spearheaded by the Rob Walker Racing Team's former chief mechanic, Alf Francis.
Count Volpi subsequently backed the Serenissima marque which used much technology similar to ATS. Bruce McLaren used a Serenissima engine for a few Grands Prix in 1966.
Post-bankruptcy
After the demise of ATS, Bizzarrini moved to Lamborghini before building his own cars as Bizzarrini, while Chiti founded Autodelta together with fellow ex-Ferrari engineer Lodovico Chizzola, which would work closely with Alfa Romeo for the following decades.
In 2012, 50 years later, ATS began to build two new cars: the ATS Sport and the ATS 2500 GT.
In 2013, the new ATS Leggera, a 2-seater spider with retro style, was announced.
Complete Formula One World Championship results
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