Little-known Italian car maker ATS Automobili has unveiled a model called the RR Turbo, developed in-house specifically for racing.
ATS stood out as one of the first companies to release a street-legal mid-engined car, the Scaglione-designed 2500 GT of 1963, but it looked elsewhere for inspiration when it started designing the RR Turbo.
The coupé has the typical proportions of a modern mid-engined supercar, but ATS went to great lengths to make the RR Turbo as light and as quick as possible.
Lightweight materials such as aluminium and carbonfibre help keep the dry weight down to 780kg, a figure that makes the even the Alpine A110 (1098kg) look big-boned. That number is even more impressive when you consider that the list of standard features includes a built-in roll cage, an integrated fire extinguisher and suspension that's fully adjustable via a touchscreen mounted on the dashboard.
The RR Turbo's engine is a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol unit sourced from Honda and modified by ATS to deliver 592bhp and 390lb ft of torque. It spins the rear wheels through a six-speed paddle-shifted sequential gearbox and a limited-slip differential. Full performance specifications remain under wraps, but the power-to-weight ratio hints at jaw-dropping acceleration times. Carbon-ceramic brakes are available.
ATS was founded by a team of Ferrari defectors in 1961 to compete directly against the Maranello marque, but lasted only until the end of 1964, having built just 12 road cars. The brand was revived in 2014 and the new company revealed its limited-edition, McLaren-based GT supercar in 2017.
ATS developed the RR Turbo for buyers who want to go racing. It says the car is eligible to race in a majority of the FIA-sanctioned events held in Europe, including GT Cup championships and hillclimbs.
It's on sale now, priced from €110,000 (currently £97,525). There's no word yet on whether the coupé will spawn a roadgoing model, although it will inevitably need to gain some weight if it's to be eligible to wear numberplates.
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Why oh why...
....can’t Autocar do something to stop all these sodding adverts for dodgy businesses appearing all over these comments pages?
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Cool paint job.
Cool paint job.