ATS gives up on De Tomaso, moves to Canary Islands [UPDATE]

UPDATE: ATS appears to be going through a management dispute between its two owners - one party supporting the course of action described below and the other working to stop it and keep ATS in Italy. We'll be watching to see how it develops.

Those truly schooled in the history of Italian sports cars will recognize the letters ATS. They belong to Automobili Turismo e Sport, an outfit formed after the great "Palace Revolution" at Ferrari in the early 1960s. ATS folded a few years after that, but recently resurfaced some 50 years later under new caretakers. And now it's changing hands again.

In correspondence with Autoblog, ATS chief Gianluca Gregis revealed a number of changes in store for the resurgent niche automaker. For one thing, it has new investors, which means new money for new projects. For another, it's leaving Italy – shifting from its current base of operations in Borgomanero to a new facility in the Canary Islands. The move to the Spanish archipelago off the coast of Morocco means easier shipping to locations around the world (including North America) and certain tax incentives as well.

In the process, however, ATS is jettisoning some dead weight. It was set to take over De Tomaso after Gian Mario Rossignolo failed to make a go of it, but has now withdrawn its bid. It's also sold its most recent Leggera roadster program to another automaker, yet to be identified. From its new base of operations, ATS intends to focus primarily on track cars like the recently upgraded LMP-style ATS Sport (pictured above). Meanwhile development of the proposed ATS 2500 GT, we're told, moves apace.