The De Tomaso story...
Born: 1959 Nationality: Italian
One of the "supercar" icons of the second half of the 20th century began with the fascination with cars of Alejandro De Tomaso, son of an Argentinian minister for agriculture. In the early 1950s he abandoned his studies to follow his dream to Modena.
After a period of racing for Maserati and Osca, the racing car constructor established by the Maserati brothers, De Tomaso set up his own factory in Modena in 1959 and began with an F1 and Formula Junior car. Power was from an 8-cylinder engine designed by the famous engineer Massimino.
In 1962, two sport barchetta models were produced, powered by 1100cc and 2-litre engines provided by Osca. The following year saw the first De Tomaso produced for real "public consumption", the Vallelunga spider, launched at the Turin motor show. The car's central backbone chassis design that was to typify all future De Tomasos.
A P-70 prototype introduced at Turin in 1965 was powered by a Ford 5-litre V8, but never went into production although it was later raced. A 2-litre 8-cylinder barchetta presented at Geneva in 1966 was particularly notable because it was designed by a young stylist at Ghia, Giorgetto Giugiaro. A year later, De Tomaso bought the Ghia studio.
Giugiaro's next commission for De Tomaso was to be the first of the company's nameplates to register with the motoring public, the Mangusta revealed in 1966. The 5-litre version later sold in the US, though less powerful than the 4.7-litre European-market car, was unexpectedly successful, leading Ford to take 80 per cent of De Tomaso shares.
Ford, seeking a sporty competitor for the Chevrolet Corvette, commissioned the Pantera from American designer Tom Tjaarda. It came with a 3-litre or 5.7-litre engines, and De Tomaso became the biggest selling of the Modena supercar makers.
Racing activities were always a part of the De Tomaso ethos, not least because the sport provided testing grounds for its engineering. In 1970 the death of driver Piers Courage, racing for the company in the F1 series, discouraged future involvement. In 1972, though, successes at Imola and Hockenheim helped to bring the brand to second place in the Grand Turismo championship.
In 1973 De Tomaso regained full control of his marque, with Ghia and the Vignale production facility being taken over by Ford. The Deauville and Longchamps Grand Tour sport saloons also came about at this time. In 1975 De Tomaso completed a circle by acquiring Maserati. He also bought engineering company Moto Guzzi. A year later the company took over Innocenti, which built a Bertone-styled version of the Mini for the Italian market.
In the early 1980s, the Italian carmaker was producing a special sport version of the Daihatsu Charade for sale only in Japan. The Maserati division had developed a 4-door sedan based on the 1981 Bitrubo, and in the middle of the decade a commission from Chrysler's Lee Iacocca led to the Chrysler-Maserati TC convertible-coupé.
De Tomaso sold half his interest in Maserati to Fiat in 1990, and in 1992 the last De Tomaso Pantera was delivered - more than 7,200 had been built over 21 years. A year later came the De Tomaso Guara, named after an Argentinian hunting dog. Illness and need for capital forced the company's founder to sell his interest in Maserati.
At the end of the 20th century, De Tomaso was the only Italian exotic carmaker still independent. Its 4.6-litre V8 Guara models are built in coupé and barchetta form. Alejandro De Tomaso died last year.
Best car: The Pantera (pictuired), for establishing the marque as an icon
Worst car: The one Elvis Presley is reputed to have shot when it wouldn't start. There are still bullet holes in the steering wheel.
Weirdest car: Nope.
... - Brian Byrne