De Tomaso

(Italy) I959 to date.

Ex-racing driver Alessandro de Tomaso, born in Argentina, and his wife, American ex-racing driver Isabell Haskell, moved to Italy in the late 1950s.

In 1959 Alejandro De Tomaso established De Tomaso Automobili at Modena, concerned with the construction of racing cars. Having been born and brought up in Argentina, he had left (supposedly for political reasons), married an American lady and moved to Italy. The racing cars used his own chassis and were powered first by OSCA engines and then Ford units.

Road cars came later, starting with the mid-engined Vallelunga (powered by a 1.5-litre Cortina engine) in 1963, then the Mangusta, and then the classic Pantera. At a similar time the Deauville saloon and Longchamp 2+2 coupe were developed. All the cars used big Ford V8 engines and had bodies designed and built by Ghia, a coachbuilder purchased by De Tomaso (jointly with Ford) in 1967. Vignale was also acquired and used for production, as was a later relationship with Maggiora.

The Pantera got off to a good start with the blessing (and marketing) of Ford, a deal which, for the few years it lasted, saw high sales. After the oil crisis and the poor quality of the cars scuppered the deal with Ford, De Tomaso returned to the realms of low volume manufacturers where they continued until 1991 with a revised Pantera before introducing a new model, the Guara. Outside investment saw the Bigua shown in 1996, but the relationship turned sour and the resulting company, Qvale, split off. Rumours persist about a new Pantera.

here De Tomaso built various prototypes including racing cars. During an association with Ford came his first production car, the Mangusta, with a 4728cc V8 Ford engine and a Ghia coupe body.

Later, in 1970, the 5796cc V8 Pantera appeared. It was a sports coupe with a top speed of 160 mph. The same year, the Mangusta acquired a bigger, 4949cc V8 engine and there was now also the 5796cc Deauville, which had luxurious limousine bodywork. New in l972 was the "Longchamp", a luxurious coupe. Built in small numbers, these expensive cars are under steady development.

By 1979 the range included the 300 bhp mid-engined Pantera L, the 330bhp Pantera GTS, and the 300bhp Longchamp and Deauville.

(Cars from Italy, Vintage European Automobiles)