Evaluation: Cool, cute and rare “Ferrarina.” One of about 100 built and just 17 factory spiders. Restored in Italy in 2016. Tired bumper chrome. Good paint aside from a scuff behind the passenger’s door, a handful of touch ups, and a shallow dent on the trunk lid. Uneven panel fit. Very good interior. Not quite restored to Ferrari standards, but it’s not quite a Ferrari, is it?
Bottom Line: In 1959 Ferrari introduced a small four-cylinder engine, essentially a scaled-down version of the Colombo 250 V-12. But rather than put the engine in a Ferrari, Enzo sold the production rights to the De Nora Group, which in turn established a company called ASA (Autocostruzioni Società per Azioni) in Milan to build a small car around that engine, with a tubular chassis developed by Giotto Bizzarrini and a body penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Bertone. As so often happens with upstart sports car companies, though, the ASA was too expensive to be competitive, never sold in large quantities, and remains somewhat obscure despite all the big names attached to it. But not obscure to the bidders at the Portola, who afforded it a spot-on price for the condition and the extra-rare status of a drop-top ASA.
