The Ascari Ecosse is a mid-engine

Mid-engine design

A mid-engine layout describes the placement of an automobile engine between the rear and front axles. Another term for this is mid-ship.-Benefits:The mid-engine layout is typically chosen for its relatively favorable weight distribution...

 sports car

Sports car

A sports car is a small, usually two seat, two door automobile designed for high speed driving and maneuverability....

 produced by Ascari Cars from 1998 to 1999. It was the second production car released by the company and is based on the Ascari FGT.

FGT

In 1995 Ascari introduced the FGT at various European motor shows, with a design by Lee Noble

Lee Noble

Lee Noble is a British entrepreneur, car designer and engineer. He is the founder of the sports car companies Noble Automotive Ltd in 1999 and Fenix Automotive in 2009. He is also the designer of some low-volume sports cars, including the Ultima Mk1, Ultima Mk2, Ultima Mk3, Midtec Spyder, and...

. It featured a Chevrolet

Chevrolet

Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...

 six litre fuel injected V8 engine

V8 engine

A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....

 placed midship behind the driver.

At the same time as the launch of the car, Klaas Zwart of the Netherlands chose to enter the FGT in racing, running a Ford

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

 V8 engine and entering into the British GT Championship

British GT Championship

The Avon Tyres British GT Championship is a sports car racing series currently based in the United Kingdom, although they have had select races outside of Britain in the past few years. The series was created by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993 and for its first two seasons was called the...

. With the one concept car meeting the homologation

Homologation

Homologation is a technical term, derived from the Greek homologeo for "to agree", which is generally used in English to signify the granting of approval by an official authority...

 requirements, Zwart managed to win an event at Silverstone Circuit

Silverstone Circuit

Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...

 in the car's debut season of 1995. The car would also attempt to qualify for the 24 Hours of Le Mans

24 Hours of Le Mans

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...

, but would not be fast enough to pass prequalifying. The car continued to maintain pace with newcomers to British GT in 1996, before Zwart would partner with William Hewland, owner of Hewland

Hewland

Founded by Mike Hewland in 1957, Hewland is a British engineering company specialising in racing-car gearboxes. Hewland was the first company to manufacture a bespoke racing-car gearbox....

 engineering, for a partial season in 1997 with only a best finish of fourth at Donington Park

Donington Park

Donington Park is a motorsport circuit near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England.Originally part of the Donington Hall estate, it was created as a racing circuit during the pre-war period when the German Silver Arrows were battling for the European Championship...

.

Following the 1997 season, Ascari would turn to mass-producing the FGT, making less than 10. Klaas Zwart purchased the company from Lee Noble

Lee Noble

Lee Noble is a British entrepreneur, car designer and engineer. He is the founder of the sports car companies Noble Automotive Ltd in 1999 and Fenix Automotive in 2009. He is also the designer of some low-volume sports cars, including the Ultima Mk1, Ultima Mk2, Ultima Mk3, Midtec Spyder, and...

Ecosse

The production version of the Ecosse was given a BMW

BMW

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...

 V8 powerplant in place of the Chevrolet and Ford units, although this was further tuned by Hartge

Hartge

Hartge is a third party car tuning company specializing in BMW, MINI and Range Rover vehicles. Founded in 1971 in Merzig, Germany, the company moved to its current location in Beckingen in 1974...

. The 4.4 liter engine produced around 300 hp, while later larger 4.7 liter units produced around 400 hp.

The last three cars were produced with the Hartge 5.0 L V8 engine, around 420 hp and 520 nm. The last one was built at Blandford in 2000 with a sequential gearbox and is still in the possession of Ascari. (source Ascari)

The spaceframe chassis and wishbone suspension carried a lightweight fibre glass body, weighing in at just 1250 kg (2,756 lb). The Ecosse, with the larger 4.7 liter engine, was capable of going from zero-to-sixty mph in 4.1 seconds while top speed was achieved at 200 mph (322 km/h). Only 17 examples are known to have been produced, however only nine of these remain today as the other eight have all been destroyed.

The Ecosse would eventually be replaced by the Ascari KZ1

Ascari KZ1

-Modifications:The Ascari KZ1 has been adapted for racing, primarily being featured in the new FIA GT3 European Championship as well as other smaller national series which run a similar formula. These cars, known as the KZ1-R,are similar to the KZ1, but vastly improved. The most obvious...

in 2003.

External links

• Diseno Art - Ascari Ecosse