Any ASA's in the states that have been seen or attended meets?
There was a silver ASA Spider (cabriolet?) at the Amelia Island concours the other week. Had only seen coupes previously. I know of one red driver-condition coupe that resides in the Monterey Bay area. It is occasionally shown at the Palo Alto Concours and is often driving around during the Monterey week.
This one was in the Chicago area: https://www.facebook.com/tom.tanner.357/media_set?set=a.893739097344077.1073741855.100001239855064&type=3
I had a chance to buy one about ten years ago in Oakland CA all original for 15K what was I thinking? Friend kept telling me how rare the engines were... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I have owned two of these babies for more than 20 years now in Melbourne, Australia. One needs a big restoration and the other is a 30,000km original car. It doesn't get out these days as often as it used to but it is one of the best cars I have ever driven... including by comparison a number of V-12s. These cars don't have a lot of acceleration from a standing start, but once moving they have very willing performance and great handling. Many years ago we were on a Ferrari Club run through some winding hills east of Melbourne. There was nowhere to pull over and nowhere to pass. When we arrived at the lunch stop there were a few V8s and V 12s behind and I said "sorry guys if we have been holding you up". "We were going as hard as we could to keep up" was the response. Another memory was a request from a magazine to have a photo of the instruments at 100mph at night. I had my son behind me and we went out on one of the freeways to give it a try. The little car would do it, but it was working pretty hard and many of the photos came out blurred. These days I have about 40 Italian cars and people often ask which is the favourite. I can say the ASA is one I would be very reluctant to let go. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks for responding to this thread, great to hear about what it's like to drive one of these. I've lusted after ASAs for years, but finally bought a '66 Fiat 850 Coupe until my budget expands! Despite the Fiat being rear-engined, the exterior styling is remarkably similar to the ASA.
I believe Bizzarrini did build a racing version with the engine pushed farther back called the ASA1000 GTC it was bodied by Drogo. This was done as the second project at Autostar his consulting company, so it would be the A2C A1 being the Lamborghini V12 engine A3C being the Iso Grifo competition model what evolved into the 5300 strada He may even have made a mid engined version ASA Image Unavailable, Please Login
There's one in the Toronto area, apparently a one owner car and from what I recall, it was purchased at Leny's Garage in Toronto (new). The owner is well known in the local racing community. The last time I saw it, it had a Fiat twin cam engine in it (with an alternator from a Honda, pretty trick mount for it) - but he did have the original motor in his shop. Car looked like it was in good shape. I saw it around 1999, so I don't know if it's still around. I can't remember the color (it was a dark color IIRC).
There might be an ASA in Victoria, BC, Canada. About four years ago, while waiting in a ferry line up, I saw a small red car with a number of Ferrari badges and stickers, but which was clearly not a Ferrari. I spoke with the owner, who was returning home to Victoria, asking him what it was. He acknowledged that it was not a Ferrari but that it was associated with Ferrari and asked me to guess. I guessed ASA which he said was correct. It did not look like the fastback coupe's typically seen in pictures. Covered-in headlights, as I recall. Front engine. Small cargo space in rear under sloping hatch. It did not look home-built or a replica. The owner told me he had imported it from Europe, possibly Germany, although that might have only been the point of embarkation. The Ferrari badges and stickers were a distraction from a very attractive car. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to find out more or take a photo.