The engine was designated 854.
That's the number I'm after. Point for you.
And now, here's some information I gathered about this car (translated from French, so the sentence structure is not so good):
FERRARI THE ORPHAN ...
Abandoned at birth by his father, the Ferrari 854 prototype or "Ferrarini" will not fate would have it within the family of the Prancing Horse. Not powerful enough, too expensive ... she sees herself disowned by its creator and entrusted the fate of a new host family. Thus altered, it becomes ASA 1000 GT ...
The history of the ASA 1000 GT began in 1958, well before the creation of the brand ASA. At that time, Ferrari is working on a new small-displacement engine, the Tipo 854, a 850 cm3 four-cylinder designed by Franco Rocchi and developed by Luigi Bazzi. The block and cylinder head are aluminum valve 60 ° incline, something quite unusual for its time. The power of this tiny motor (45 cm high!) Is far from ridiculous: 75 hp at 6800 r / min, which represents a very high specific power. The motor is then mounted in a body of 1200 Fiat Coupe Pinin Farina shortened the wheelbase 20 cm (
photo given for this puzzle). Enzo Ferrari entrusted the project to Giotto Bizzarini , then Head of "experimental" Ferrari and the car begins its road tests in 1959, Enzo himself having to take the wheel. During a press conference in December 1959, Ferrari presents its new motor 850 cm3, without a raise production. He said that Ferrari planned to sell the license to produce Fiat engine to find a new source of funding for his company. No agreement was reached on the subject, the prototype 854 - also known as "Ferrarini" well qu'affûblé a logo insignificant star-shaped and not the famous prancing horse - eventually falls into oblivion.
GENESIS
It was not until 1961 that Ferrari plans to build a small car to compete with Alfa Romeo and Abarth, based on the small engine capacity was increased to 973 and then successively to 1032 cm3. The specification states that the low engine power will be offset by a study aerodynamic thrust and weight as light as possible. Enzo says the project to some of his best engineers with Giotto Bizzarrini who is developing a tubular chassis similar to the Ferrari 250. The prototype was bodied at Bertone, after a drawing of the young Giugiaro, and completed in 1961, presentation to the Turin Motor Show Bertone booth. In this prototype the body is steel with a chest and an aluminum hood. The lines are typically Italian, with a front end and a rear fleeing with small round lights. On the program of the exhibition, the organizers have called the car "Ferrari Dino 1000" and rumors are rife about the arrival of a Ferrari in Maranello as modest. Ferrari until suddenly changes his mind and denied by a press release a few days before the show, involvement in this project ... Do not ultimately want to invest in mass production of a popular small car that could harm the image of its GT V12 engine, Enzo Ferrari began seeking a buyer for this project. In 1962, he eventually sold the manufacturing rights to Oronzo Nora, an industrial chemical, which entrusts his son Niccolo responsibility of a new company responsible for producing and marketing the car. Niccolo became president of ASA, a company Societa per Autocostruzioni Azione in April 1962.
