Tag Archives: de tomaso

Mini de Tomaso

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1978 Innocenti Mini de Tomaso

Offered by Oldtimer Galerie | Toffen, Switzerland | October 14, 2023

Photo – Oldtimer Galerie

Innocenti was founded in 1947 and is most famous for producing the Lambretta scooter. Beginning in the 1960s, they started manufacturing cars before they were taken over by Alejandro de Tomaso in 1976. Fiat gained control in 1990 and phased the marque out by 1996.

Innocenti actually sold Minis under license in the 1960s and ’70s. In 1974, they sort of continued, but sold Minis that had been redesigned by Bertone. They were branded “Innocenti Mini” and looked quite different than the ones coming out of England. The Mini de Tomaso was shown at the 1976 Turin Motor Show featuring a sportier appearance than the stock cars.

Power was up too, with the 1.3-liter inline-four outputting 78 horsepower by 1978. Outside of the Cooper S, this was the most “hot hatch” the original Mini ever was. The estimate is $20,000-$24,000. More info can be found here.

Qvale Mangusta

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2001 Qvale Mangusta

Offered by Mecum | Glendale, California | March 30, 2023

Photo – Mecum

The De Tomaso Bigua was a concept car that debuted in 1996 in conjunction with Qvale, which was started by Kjell Qvale, who was the West Coast distributor for Jaguar. His son Bruce started the car company to partner with De Tomaso.

But De Tomaso and Qvale broke off the partnership right before deliveries of the car were set to begin. By this point they had acquired the name De Tomaso Mangusta, but at the last second the cars were rebranded as the Qvale Mangusta.

Just 284 were produced between 2000 and 2002. They are powered by a 4.6-liter Ford V8 rated at 320 horsepower. They feature resin body panels styled by Marcello Gandini, four seats, and a retractable hardtop. You can read more about this one here.

Update: Withdrawn from auction.

De Tomaso Guara Barchetta

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1995 De Tomaso Guara Barchetta

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | December 2022

Photo – Bring a Trailer Auctions

Alejandro de Tomaso had been designing and producing sports cars under his name since the 1960s. And the last car he put into production was the Guara in 1994. When production ceased 10 years later, only about 50 had been made across three body styles that included a coupe, spyder, and this, the barchetta.

The Barchetta had no windshield and no top. It looked eerily similar to the Maserati Barchetta race car of the early 90s. This isn’t all that surprising considering De Tomaso owned Maserati until 1993 and just repurposed the design for an exotic road car.

The Guara is powered by a 4.0-liter BMW V8 that made 279 horsepower. Later cars got supercharged Ford V8s (although not a shocking bump in power). This particular one looks to be still pretty much in the wrapper and is one of 10 barchettas built. You’re probably gonna want a full-face helmet to drive it – if you drive it. It doesn’t appear that any of its owners have thus far. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $230,000.

De Tomaso Sport 5000

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1965 De Tomaso Sport 5000

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 7-17, 2021

Photo – Mecum

We’ve previously detailed the long and complicated history of the car that became the De Tomaso P70 aka the Ghia De Tomaso aka some race car that Carroll Shelby, Pete Brock, Medardo Fantuzzi, and Alejandro de Tomaso all had a hand in creating.

After Shelby bailed on the project to go run the GT40 program, Pete Brock sort of lingered around and talked de Tomaso into becoming his North American distributor for the P70 race car, 50 of which were supposed to be built. De Tomaso modified the design of the P70 slightly and built a second car, this one, and called it the Sport 5000.

It’s powered by a 4.7-liter (289) Ford V8 rated at 475 horsepower thanks to aluminum cylinder heads and four Weber carburetors. The car never got its competition career off the ground, only competing in a single race: the 1966 Mugello Grand Prix round of the World Sportscar Championship. But it broke on the first lap with driver Roberto Bussinello behind the wheel.

After that, de Tomaso put this car in storage, where it remained until his passing in 2003. It remains pretty much as-raced (except for whatever broke in 1966). You can read more about it here and see more from Mecum. In Florida. During a pandemic. Here. Good luck.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $600,000.

Update: Not sold, RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2022.

De Tomaso P70

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1965 De Tomaso P70

Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 16, 2019

Photo – Bonhams

There were a lot of cooks in the kitchen when it came to getting this car built. And that’s probably a big part of the reason only an example or two were ever completed. Let’s start with the backstory: Carroll Shelby was killing it with his Cobras, including the legendary Daytona Coupes. But there were rumblings that McLaren was about to drop a huge 7.0-liter monster on the Cam-Am and USRRC circuits.

To hedge his bets while he waiting to find out if he would be taking over Ford’s GT40 program, Shelby teamed up with Alejandro de Tomaso to one-up McLaren before they got too far ahead. The car was engineered by de Tomaso and the body was designed by Peter Brock, who had also designed the Daytona Coupe. The body was then constructed by Fantuzzi in Italy.

Already featuring adjustable aerodynamics, Ol’ Shel wanted a lightweight powerplant. But it never got that far. Shelby got the GT40 gig and bolted from this project, and De Tomaso ended up showing the car at the 1965 Turin Auto Show as the “Ghia de Tomaso.”

Then it went into storage, staying put long after de Tomaso was gone. In 2004, the car’s body panels were discovered, and a very rough version of the car won awards at the 2005 Quail Motorsports Gathering. It was then restored and is now fitted with a 350 horsepower, 4.7-liter Gurney-Weslake V8. It’s expected to fetch between $2,000,000-$3,000,000 – which is a lot for a historic racing car with no racing heritage to speak of. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Pantera Si

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1990 De Tomaso Pantera Si

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 15-17, 2019

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Pantera was in production by De Tomaso for what seemed like a lifetime. Introduced in 1971, the cars carried wedge-shaped styling by Tom Tjaarda at Ghia. Ford powerplants were standard, and the styling was updated in the 1980s to make it boxier and, well, more “80s.”

By the time 1990 rolled around, the car was extremely long in the tooth. Marcello Gandini was brought in to freshen the design up, and here is what he came up with. The car also received a partial chassis redesign and a new suspension setup. The old Ford 351 was replaced by a 302ci, 5.0-liter V8.

Only 41 were built – 38 of which were sold to the public – before De Tomaso shifted gears and moved on to the Guara after 1992. I’ve never seen one of these offered for public sale – not in the last 10 years anyway. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $240,800.

De Tomaso Longchamp Spyder

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1984 De Tomaso Longchamp GTS/E Spyder

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Stoneleigh Park, U.K. | February 23, 2019

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

The Longchamp is far from De Tomaso‘s most famous model, as it is neither a Pantera nor a Mangusta. And the convertible (or Spyder) variant is so rare that most people who have heard of the Longchamp might not even realize a drop-top was ever offered.

The Series II Longchamp went on sale in 1980, and the GTS variant debuted that year as well. It is set off from lesser cars with wheel arches and Pantera-like Campagnolo wheels. The top version, the GTS/E, went on sale in the mid-1980s and featured some styling changes (which are supposed to include round headlights, which this car does not have). Power is from a 5.8-liter Ford V8.

Only 409 examples of all types were built between 1972 and 1989, with the coupe/convertible breakdown being 395 to 14, respectively. Very few were built in the last few years, and only a few GTS models were also Spyders. In fact, of the 14 convertibles, only three are GTS/E models. This is one of them, and it should sell for between $115,000-$140,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

De Tomaso Guara Spyder

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1998 De Tomaso Guara Spyder

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | London, U.K. | September 5, 2018

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

De Tomaso is best remembered for the Pantera, which was available from 1971 through 1993 (or, “an eternity”). But they produced other models as well, including the mighty Mangusta and exotic Vallelunga. When the Pantera went out of production in 1993, it was pretty out-of-date, technology-wise.

So when Alejandro De Tomaso introduced this, the Guara, at the 1993 Geneva Auto Show, it should’ve taken people by surprise that this small Italian company was entering the modern era with something that looked… well, modern.

It sits on a Maserati chassis and uses a modified 4.0-liter BMW V8 that made 279 horsepower. The body is made of fiberglass, Kevlar, and other composites, keeping it relatively light. De Tomaso is no more, but they managed to build 50 Guaras, and only four of those were Spyders. This one-owner example in an awesome shade of purple should sell at RM Sotheby’s in London. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

The New Pantera

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1999 De Tomaso Nuovo Pantera 2000 Concept

For Sale at Maranello Purosangue | Maranello, Italy

Photo – Maranello Purosangue

The Pantera is the car that Alejandro De Tomaso will always be remembered for. Styled by Ghia and powered by a series of big Ford V-8s, it was a raw combination of American muscle and Italian flair. It was an exotic you could buy at your local Lincoln-Mercury dealer in the U.S.

The car went out of production in 1992 after undergoing a slight restyle from Marcello Gandini, founder of Bertone. Gandini is responsible for great supercars like the Lamborghini Miura, Countach, Diablo, Bugatti EB110, and the Lancia Stratos. After the death of the Pantera, De Tomaso only managed to produce small batches of cars for the next decade and De Tomaso himself passed away in 2003.

But the aura of the Pantera always lingered. So it was in 1999 that De Tomaso teamed up with Gandini to produce a new Pantera for the new millennium. The car was to celebrate 40 years of De Tomaso and it was presented near the end of 1999. It was a design study and is pure concept car. There’s no running gear or interior, but if you’re a collector that wants a piece of “automotive art” as the showpiece of your collection, look no further. This is currently for sale in Italy, and here’s a video of its exterior.

On an interesting note, here is what the car looked like before it was rescued:

Photo – Maranello Purosangue

Update: Sold, RM Sotheby’s, London 2017, $25,348.

De Tomaso Vallelunga

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1968 De Tomaso Vallelunga Coupe

Offered by Bonhams | Monaco | May 13, 2016

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Alejandro De Tomaso’s little car company – that lasted an impressive 40+ years – built a number of cars over the years, most famously the Pantera. But a decade before the Pantera debuted, De Tomaso introduced their first road car, the Vallelunga (named after a race track near Rome).

Built between 1964 and 1968, the Vallelunga is powered by a rear-mid-mounted Ford 1.5-liter straight-four making 104 horsepower. The body, built by Ghia, is fiberglass and the whole car only weighs 1,600 lbs.

This particular car had an extensive restoration that was completed prior to the 2004 show season. 50 road cars were built (along with three prototypes and five racing cars). It’s quite rare and should bring between $360,000-$410,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams in Monaco.

Update: Not sold.