How about a people's Ferrari?
01/31/2021
It was in 1959 when the rumor was passed around that there would soon be a small Ferrari. And it soon seemed certain, as journalists were personally chauffeured around in a four-cylinder coupé by Enzo Ferrari. And they were obviously thrilled by what they saw. They called the little car the Ferrarina and wrote eagerly about it.
The displacement of 850 cm3 was enough to produce 75 hp at 6800 rpm. These had an easy time with the 709 kg that the two-seater weighed. Even more impressive for Jean Bernardet, who was allowed to sit next to Enzo Ferrari, were the brakes, which brought the car to a standstill after just 39 meters from 100 km/h.
The body is said to have been designed by Pininfarina and built by Scaglietti on a Fiat 1100/1200 chassis. The rear was reminiscent of the Ferrari 250 GT.
The sales price was to be around DM 11,000, but only if 3,000 units could be produced. Enzo Ferrari did not want to do this, but in the end Oronzio de Nora found a daring man who began to produce the follow-up model with a single-liter engine as the ASA 1000 GT from 1964.
With the exception of the further developed engine, the ASA had little in common with the Ferrarina in terms of appearance and concept, and it was not successful either, as only 95 cars were produced, as we reported in another article some time ago .
Due to its price, which was almost at 911 level, the ASA was not for the people and since then there has never been another attempt to market a truly popular Ferrari. The Dino 206/246 GT came closest to this goal.
