ATS teases new GT supercar to rival Ferrari
Revived historic Italian brand says new twin-turbo V8 supercar will be inspired by original ATS 2500ATS (Automobili Turismo e Sport) has announced it will reveal its latest supercar concept on August 31 at the Salon Prive Concours event held near Oxford in the UK.
Following on from the 2015 Wild Twelve concept and the 2500 GT that was shown a few months earlier, the new GT has already been confirmed for production with a limited run of just 12 cars.
Said to have been inspired by the original car-maker's one and only production road car -- the original 2500 GT from 1963 -- it's thought the new GT will adopt a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive layout.
Based on a lightweight carbon-fibre monocoque, the latest GT gets a twin-turbo petrol V8 combined with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.
Cutting weight to maximise performance, the GT will also benefit from a body made of carbon-fibre reinforced composites.
ATS hasn't released any performance figures but the new GT could become a natural rival for Ferrari's 488 GTB -- which would be appropriate seeing as the 1963 2500 GT and the new ATS itself was formed by jaded ex-Ferrari employees to steal sales from their former employer.
Unfortunately, ATS never came close to achieving its aim. Just 12 of the 180kW 2.5-litre V8 2500 GTs were sold.
Worse still, the Italian car-maker's attempt to enter Formula 1 was nothing short of a disaster. Of the five races it entered, the ATS F1 car retired from four of them and could only manage an 11th place, at the hands of Phil Hill, in the only race it finished.
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