ATS dares to challenge Ferrari. What the heck is ATS?

Ficarra goes super deep geek with the story of ATS, aka Automobili Turismo e Sport. Who?! Back in 1961 there was the Palace Revolt at Ferrari. Top engineers like the legendary Bizzarini and Chiti were fired and soon formed a company of their own to challenge the might of Ferrari. That company was ATS who went on to build the stunning 2500GT road car and a highly questionable F1 car. It's David vs Goliath, but who wins?
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#ferrari #f1 #ats

[@craigstricklin]

Like a text with paper and a pen. Priceless.

[@michaellindquist31]

John is a great story teller. I really look forward to these types of videos from him. He could make describing the drying of paint interesting. Watching Ford Vs Ferrari has me more interested in the history of racing and John makes it that much more enjoyable to learn.

[@RogerAlan]

"If we're going to understand the drying of paint we really have to go way back in time to when the idea of evaporation was barely understood." John Ficarra, probably

[@JohnSmith-mk5jt]

​@@RogerAlanJohn is the only guy that could make a 45 minute video about the different flavors of crayons and have me invested for every second of it.

[@C.I...]

@@JohnSmith-mk5jt Flavours?

[@JohnSmith-mk5jt]

@@C.I... I know what I said

[@threadtapwhisperer5136]

​@@RogerAlanhahahaahah! Perfect!

[@stuffhappens5681]

I knew the broad strokes but Ficarra does a great job filling the gaps. His enthusiasm is infectious and love for cars and racing is unquestionable. Great job! Looking forward to the next video.

[@mechanicvance2480]

John, I’m not a car guy but came across your videos and enjoy listening to you talk passionately about old cars. Thanks for taking the time to make them.

[@CrackedCandy]

He got his start on Vinwiki. Lots of stories over there. My favorite is the "this can be red" story.

[@Calikatoom]

I love your history stories John. Please give us "one a month"! That is all we ask.😀

[@thundercricket4634]

Every time I learn more about Enzo I'm increasingly mystified that anyone who behaved that way could get anyone to stand him for more than 5 minutes.

[@jmaudsley6544]

I hung on every word John, and my suggestion is that you start a University so that we can all attend and listen to lectures all day. I am already impatient for what you are going to teach me next. Thank you for your dedication and hard work.

[@MemesOfProduction69]

Today is going to be a nice Sunday afternoon! Coffee and a new Ficarra Classic to watch

[@KayJblue]

I know my fair share of automotive history, especially for Ferrari. But this is quite the news to me.

[@shawa666]

I knew of the F1 car, but didn't know about the sports car.

[@AlexWeiss94]

I swear, this man makes the best content ever created

[@thinking6307]

@11:28 "He had great mechanical sympathy with cars..." (John speaking of driver Phil Hill). Brilliant, John!...you just articulated a concept or 'relationship' that I've consciously and subconsciously mulled over for decades..but never put into words!

[@danielsadler4435]

I wish i had 10% of your story telling skills John. I love your deep dives into cars/motorsport history.

[@jedgarsquink]

This really is an Italian Porsche 904. The ATS arguably made it to production earlier, if we can call 12(?) examples production, but really the two cars are contemporary with each other. Design work on both had to have been proceeding simultaneously. Both were introduced in late 1963, but the ATS made its first appearance at the Paris Auto Show in October, whereas the 904 appeared first as factory race cars about the same time and was not offered for sale until early 1964. So we can say the ATS was marketed first, but we couldn't say the Porsche was a derivative design, especially since Porsche (not to mention Lotus, Cooper, and others) had been building mid-engine 2-seaters for racing for some years. None of this is to disparage either car. Both are great designs. Both can be considered seminal, in that they both appeared either before other mid-engine road cars were designed, or while design work on them was still in progress.

[@dongrandmaster3787]

The ATS 250 GTS is such an amazing and beautiful car... very beautiful and is the grandfather for many cars that came later. Also, ATS pushed Enzo to create great cars and not stop at the 250 GT/GTO front-engine models, the 250 LM was Enzo's Response to the 250 GTS (and later many mid-engine Racing Ferrari) Great video

[@jensenhealey907efi]

Are you going to discuss the ASA 1000 at some point? I briefly owned one of these many years ago and it was a pretty interesting little car that also had an unusual back story related to Ferrari.

[@FicarraClassic]

Another Bizzarrini creation. How cool to have owned one!

[@jensenhealey907efi]

@@FicarraClassic I owned it in the mid 1980's before the internet and it was SUPER difficult to get ANY parts for it. I was able to rebuild the front calipers with parts ordered from a Peugeot dealer but I couldn't find rebuild parts for the rear calipers so I just crimped the rear brake line off. I think I bought it for $3500 and I sold it to someone who was supposed to ship it to a friend in Japan. I got $6500 and I thought I had done a great deal. But then a few years later after Enzo died they were going for around $40K and probably more now. I think they only made around 70 - 100 of them.

[@ollesandberg1143]

The ATS was truly a gorgeous GT! I remember it well!❤

[@sonicstep]

😵

[@peterdevreter]

Aaah, the vinwiki storytellermaster has his own channel. Count me in!!!

[@Suhspencce]

I love what John goes deep....in the history

[@onixfieroandscalemodelworks]

This was a great story of automotive history. It's a time that will never be repeated again. The days of the individual deciding to go racing is over. Even if this story didn't have a hollywood ending,its still a good story. If you are looking for suggestions for a interesting car with an even more interesting story behind it of an underdog who fought till the end no matter how much corperate mismanagement tried to get in the way and how the racing effort was held together by bartered parts and behind the scenes haggling just to get the car built you should check out the story of the pontiac fiero road car and racing team. It was doomed from the start because gm would never give them the support needed to build the car they wanted or field the racing effort they had planned because they had to protect their precious corvette. The infighting at gm between pontiac and their corperate parents is a story worthy of a movie .

[@Tracersport]

One of the best KZbin videos I've ever seen, John. Your calm, direct presentation style and coherent explanation of a vastly complex subject is remarkable. You tied up countless loose ends in my understanding of automotive and racing history. Thanks for not using the words "iconic" or "insane", even once.

[@tomficarra6619]

What a great piece of history. I like hearing how the F1 and the street car industry tie into each other. Job well done yet again. :)

[@ignacioentrocasso8171]

There is another story in this story... and that is how you became an car historian. How you became from a tinkerer boy... into a preservant of tales. Excellent Ficarra. Congrants.

[@TheQuestionableGarage]

Good thing you didn’t take us titan deep! Love listing to the stories on the road trip days.

[@sebastiangoseke6321]

So so interesting!! Can’t wait for the next one!👍

[@user-sp8tr2ti1e]

The ATS was truly a gorgeous GT! I remember it well!. You're a great storyteller, John. This was wonderful..

[@sonicstep]

😵

[@dforgash]

Prof Ficarra's class is in session

[@Bimmer_MD]

Great story thanks for taking the time to put it together to share with us

[@johnburch6927]

Love the effort and research. Awesome work.

[@bikergobrrr]

I love these stories John. Please keep them coming as often as you can. You tell them amazingly.

[@tcruzer]

Fantastic story telling. Keep them coming sir. Really enjoy all of these.

[@paulatwood4603]

A great storyteller with a great story to tell, thank you John.

[@jonfreeman7486]

Great . Informative video. Thank you.

[@bretthatfield2516]

I always learn so much from John! Thank you for these wonderful stories!

[@usarms149]

Another outstanding video, John. Keep it up!

[@stravoxylo3678]

Fantastic!!! I enjoyed that immensely. The stories are great, the story telling engaging. It's fascinating to hear the backstories to otherwise known racing events. The little tidbits about personalities and egos give great depth to these stories. I would be overjoyed and greatful at one of these stories a month.

[@ttystikkrocks1042]

This was very well researched and brilliantly told history that really pulls together the various pieces to explain why the heck all these amazing Italian supercars happened. Enzo Ferrari was in many ways his own worst enemy and in fact he created staggering amounts of competition for himself.

[@Dialed-In-RC]

Always love and look forward to these CarNerd history videos, just absolutely fantastic!

[@DestryAlecto]

An absolutely epic video and history John.. Thanks so much for this!!!

[@j.franklin4999]

Another great vid! 😉

[@vaughanlancellas495]

Fantastic, even if they take 2 months to complete your vids are worth the wait. Brilliant story telling and with such passion for the automobile and it's rich and colorful history. Keep them coming.

[@kevintdickson]

I knew a guy who had a GT in Littleton Colorado. He was rebuilding the engine in the living room, his wife must have loved that

[@sammasse4016]

these histories are amazing, it's great seeing the passion for these cars come out in these stories

[@TJonMaxx1]

That was really cool! Beautiful cars that I have never heard of and fascinating history. I look forward to hearing more of these types of stories! Great work!

[@michaeldevoe9235]

Learned something new…love the story and the post directions everyone took, the impact to the automotive world, through these collaborative teams…and their eventual individual historic paths, amazing to hear where they began. Thank you!

[@jelehan88]

Dude excellent work including the editing

[@MrJvind]

Please Please Please continue to make these historic videos! They are awesome!

[@SachiGortchi]

the design of the car #26 is BOMBASTIC !

[@StewartBremner]

Can't get enough of your car stories. The passion and the details! Oh man. One a month would be wonderful.

[@kwozniaktube]

Love these videos, please keep them coming! You and Jason Camissa may be the best auto-enthusiast journalist storytellers out there!!

[@bfulks2001]

Great automotive history. I enjoyed every minute of it. Thanks John.

[@RedneckSwede]

I'm pretty sure that I have seen their street cars at some point in the past at some car shows. However, this is the first time I've ever heard about ATS as a car company. The GT and GTS are absolutely stunning to look at. Thank you for the history lesson. I really enjoyed it.

[@kevdog9408]

Keep up the good content love these little history lessons

[@TonyLasagna]

an excellent story and as always, masterfully told! 👏🏻 really enjoyed this one. thanks for sharing, john.

[@4pevans]

Fantastic John Thank you!

[@batmayn]

great story, thanks for sharing, John!

[@ste_zace]

thank you for the work that you put into these, as an f1 fan i love to here about the early years of it

[@rvsteve583]

wow, did not think I would stay till the end. great story telling here!

[@dockwalk6260]

I love your story’s John! So much history…, keep it up!

[@franks4103]

What a lovely story, thanks for sharing this bit of history!!

[@jarrocabanes5226]

Love the other content, but this type of video content from this channel has to be the best! Keep them coming! 🍻

[@Jakesinmotion]

Really enjoying the surge of independent content man, you always have excellent nuggets of niche car knowledge I can't help but get sucked into.

[@SB-kw6oo]

Great story and video, thanks John ❤

[@sriomsangeettripathy4681]

Sir please keep making these videos, we love them.....

[@discountfeces]

Just started the video and omg I have to say the design of that car is the exact sort of styling and proportions I love. It should be better known!

[@MoldyCinnamon]

Yes!! A slow day at work and a glorious upload from John Ficarra, what perfect timing!

[@tony66au]

Incredible story John, Captivating :-)

[@paskajaakko3965]

These kind of racing/car history videos are exactly what i have been looking for. There's surprisingly little

[@Jasontyo]

Ficarra makes cars from the 60s interesting for me

[@988danyx]

John, my man, you are a such a great storyteller, on winwiki, or yourself. You go often go to deatails that anybody who ever work just a little bit under the car understands. Thank you, and greetings from Croatia

[@tacomatose1334]

once again great work! i always look foward to your videos. top 5 best on all of youtube. thank you for sharing your knowledge. US's very own chris harris. again, love these, keep it up!

[@pgrens]

Thoroughly enjoyed this video, John! I had heard of the ATS name some time ago, but had no idea of the history or the story of how it came about and ended. Fascinating! And wow, what beautiful road cars they designed. Please keep doing these types of videos. Thanks again and cheers from Chicago!

[@PiotrekSzostak]

Came here lured by your videos made for VinWiki and the racing stories of the past I always found the most fascinating. I watched the one about 917 three times because I like hearing it so much, like a 4 year old asking to hear the exact same story again ;) Really hope to hear more about the olden days of racing, especially Le Mans. It's a delight

[@drewparcel1727]

John’s stories on Vinwiki are some of my favorite on that channel. Little did I know he had his own channel. You have my attention sir!

[@Brock_Corb]

Always an entertaining and worthwhile click when I see John Ficcara vid.. thank you for the eloquent whisperings of all the interesting Automotive past history.

[@Billyspacerocket]

Love your channel John 👍👍

[@beamdriver5]

You're a great storyteller, John. This was wonderful.

[@davidmccrory5604]

Amazing i thought i knew a thing or two your videos are fantastic you are articulate your passion and depth of knowledge blows me away enjoying myself so much well done sir 👍

[@3.2.1.adventure4]

Love listening to john talk about the old school racing that most people never knew. Thank you john.

[@MrJamesknot]

Thank you John, love the history!

[@joelspaulding5964]

Apologies for taking so long to sub. Always my favorite guest on Car Trek... Guest? John gets top billing on IMDB! Well deserved.

[@Flybyracing94]

There’s a lot of car history videos that I have seen, and there was one on particular that always pop up and I ignored it. Until one day I came from work opened up KZbin and that same video pop up again. So I watched the video and it got me so hooked on how you can tell racing stories. Thank you Ficarra. I love motor sports

[@christopherrempel8168]

Great story about a company I’ve never heard of. Please keep them coming!

[@tomasjones3755]

Excellent history lesson. I knew small bits, of the story. Thanks for providing the other 90%.

[@mikecook2788]

What a perfect Sunday afternoon relaxing, and listening to an @FicarraClassic story! 😁😁😁

[@jonnyspa27]

How I see this wonderful story is, all of this talent was riding the Ferrari storyline, came together to this very special nodal point with ATS and their brilliant talents went fractal in the automotive universe. Thanks for putting this together and sharing another amazing story John! Had pasta and red wine while I listened to this on a beautiful summer evening! GRAZIE! 😎🏁🎩

[@woodyholland9865]

Thanks for a great history lesson. I appreciate your knowledge and perspective on Italian automotive history.

[@milusocal5325]

John, you are truly a story teller! Thank You Sir for taking the time and share!

[@dylenharbison7632]

john we need more of these ASAP

[@WaywardWhiteWalker]

I loved it! Thanks

[@Cleveritalian]

Loved it. Please, more history.

[@CrackedCandy]

I regret that I waited so long to watch this. Never again! Love you John.

[@bicyclist2]

I've seen these ATS cars in several car magazine's over the years. Unfortunately I knew nothing about them. This is such a interesting history. I had no idea that they had a F1 team. Or that these famous drivers drove for them. I eagerly anticipate the next video. Thank you.

[@Fritz4209]

More stories like this please ❤

[@AlexH151]

This is a terrific story that I had never heard before - Thank you! My first exposure to European motor sports came from reading Henry N. Manney III in Road & Track magazine starting in 1965. One of the races & venues that truly captured my imagination was the Targa Florio of the mid to late 60's and I would love to see you do a video on those historic events.

[@michaelbaker9918]

Great to see you evolve from vinwiki story telling. Your portrayal of the driver waiting in the wings was hilarious😂. Look forward to the next!

[@gerhardjakits6331]

Very interesting, great presentation.

[@bgshdouf]

Great video as always John! I got to see both versions of the ATS 2500s and an Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale this past October at the Audrain Concours in Newport, RI. They were absolutely stunning!

[@hypocycloidiaspora]

Great story, John, thank you for telling it!

[@johnnyg9804]

Very well told John, thank you! And the photos were absolute eye candy.❤

[@JamesGood]

I learned stuff! Great story, thanks John.