Ascari persuades voters it's the ideal film star

The Ascari won the audition for a role in "The Persuaders".

British supercar company Ascari is the favourite in a poll to find the star car for the Hollywood adaptation of the 1970s crime caper The Persuaders.

The film's producers, Brass Hat Films, asked British motorists to choose from a list that included Lamborghini, Ferrari and Aston Martin.

Ascari stole the vote, run with the aid of Car magazine.

Now the hand-built KZ1 is readying itself for its big-screen appearance alongside some of tinseltown's biggest stars.

Ben Stiller, Steve Coogan, Hugh Grant and George Clooney are just some of the names tipped to fill the legendry shoes of Tony Curtis and Roger Moore, the stars of the original TV series.

Playing two millionaire playboys in the fight against crime, the heroes will pick up where Curtis and Moore left off, with stylish clothes, exotic locations, beautiful women and fast cars.

Filming is expected to start in a year.

The Ascari KZ1 has a body-shell made of carbon fibre and weighs 1250kg.

It is powered by a 5-litre V8 engine developing 370kW (500bhp) mated to a six-speed sequential gearbox.

Ascari says that the KZ1 - the same name as New Zealand's America's Cup yacht of 1988 - sprints from zero to 100km/h in 3.7 seconds and reaches a top speed of 325km/h (200mph).

The company is limiting production of the $650,000 KZ1 to 50 cars.

Ascari sales director Chris Burton says: "To have the KZ1 immortalised in celluloid, particularly in a movie with such strong British heritage, is a huge honour for Ascari. The premiere can't come soon enough."