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De TomasoDe Tomaso Modena SpA is an Italian car-manufacturing company. It was founded by the Argentinian-born Alejandro de Tomaso (1928–2003) in Modena in 1959. The company went into liquidation in 2004; despite this, new cars were still being made by De Tomaso as of 2005.
Originally, De Tomaso produced various prototypes and racing cars, including a Formula 1 car for Frank Williams's team in 1970.
Alejandro De Tomaso was born in Buenos Aires on 10th July 1928. His father was an eminent politician, who had been appointed minister of agriculture in the thirties; his *** belonged to one of the oldest Hispanic families originally controlled Argentinian agriculture.
According to the founder's narration, the symbol of De Tomaso stands for the iron tool used to brand horses in his 'estancia', while its colours are those of Argentinian flag. When Alejandro interrupted his studies, he already foresaw his destiny: he would have devoted his life to automobiles. At the age of 27 he arrived in Modena, the right place for racing a Maserati car in 1955/56 and for the famous constructor Osca in the three following seasons.
However, he felt he needed a change, so in 1959 Alejandro De Tomaso founded his own automobile company. The assembly facilities were built in Albareto, a suburb of Modena, just a few miles from the present plant.
Followed by a project for Indianapolis, among the first cars manufactured we find a Formula Junior and a F1car, powered by a flat counterposed 8 cylinders, designed by Engineer Massimino. After they had given their factory 'Officine Alfieri Maserati' to Orsi family, Maserati Bros founded their new activity for racing cars called Osca, which Mr. De Tomaso was very set. As a consequence of this business relationship, in 1962 Osca supplied De Tomaso with two engines, a 1100 cc and a 2000 cc with two camshaft, that were used for sport 'Barchetta' models.
In October 1963 De Tomaso became well-known to the public rolling out at Turin Motorshow the spider 'Vallelunga', equipped with a central backbone chassis, which is the same peculiarity we can find in other DeTomaso products, such as 'Mangusta', 'Guarà', and in Lotus Elan and Alpine A110 as well. 56 'Vallelunga' were built, many of them took part in races, thus obtaining remarkable successes.
Anyway, central chassis remains an important goal in De Tomaso history, and somehow it seems to be the real brand of this 'estancia' in Modena. Equpped with a Ford 5000 cc-V8 engine, 'P-70' was introduced at Turin Motorshow in 1965. However, this sport prototype was more an exercise of style than a pure racing car, and it participated in a few races. In 1966 De Tomaso presented in Geneva an 8 cylinder-2000 cc barchetta, penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro, who in 1965 started working at Ghia. Ghia became a De Tomaso possession in 1967.
Thanks to the fruitful cooperation between De Tomaso and Giugiaro in 1966, people could admire the aggressive styling of the first 'Mangusta' at Turin Motorshow. Two models of 'Mangusta' were sold: on the one hand, the European version with 4728 cc-306 Hp, and on the other, the version for America (4949 cc-230 Hp), where 280 manufactured vehicles were delivered. It was an unforeseen success, that led Ford to take over 80 per cent of De Tomaso S.p.A. shares.
Designed by the American stylist Tom Tjaarda, the new sedan 'Pantera', ordered by Ford, could boast many versions: 3000 cc called '290', 5700 cc GT4, and also 350 Hp GTS. Up to that moment, nobody reached the same amount of cars produced in Modena. In 1972 De Tomaso was second at Gran Turismo championship, thanks to Mike Parkers and Clay Regazzoni's racesses in Imola and Hockenheim respectively. Races have always been of primary importance for De Tomaso company, not only to win, but also to test how good its ideas and, cars were.
However, the participation in Formula 1 in 1970 was an exception. De Tomaso took part with only one vehicle, a red racing car with typical De Tomaso colours on the top. At that time, Project Leader was Giampaolo Dallara, the same man who today is in charge of the production of 80 per cent of vehicles that race in Indianapolis and of many other categories, while Frank Williams played the role of Team Manager and owner. But unfortunately, during the fourth race the 28 year-old English driver, Piers Courage, had an accident and died in Zanvoord on June 21st. Because of this tragedy, Alejandro seemed not to be attracted by Formula 1 project and races in general any longer.
In 1972 Ford acquired even Ghia and Vignale, where Panteras were manufactured, and the whole shares were took over again. In the meanwhile, De Tomaso built Deauville and Longchamp, and purchased Benelli. Just three years later, Alejandro succeeded in acquiring Maserati. The following year together with Gepi he took over Innocenti, which built the new model of English Mini, designed by the famous stylist Bertone. On 10th July 1981 De Tomaso concluded an agreement with Daihatsu for 100.000 engines, thus giving birth to a very important relationship, which led to the production of 120.000 vehicles.
In 1972 Ford acquired even Ghia and Vignale, where Panteras were manufactured, and the whole shares were took over again. In the meanwhile, De Tomaso built Deauville and Longchamp, and purchased Benelli. Just three years later, Alejandro succeeded in acquiring Maserati. The following year together with Gepi he took over Innocenti, which built the new model of English Mini, designed by the famous stylist Bertone. On 10th July 1981 De Tomaso concluded an agreement with Daihatsu for 100.000 engines, thus giving birth to a very important relationship, which led to the production of 120.000 vehicles.
The Firm Today
The agreement between De Tomaso Modena SpA and Jsc 'UAZ' which was first signed on May, 1999 becomes totally operative thanks to the production, which starts next autumn, of the off road vehicle born from the cooperation between the two firms.
The characteristics of the new vehicle put it at the top of the international market as far as performances are concerned, in its category. The off road vehicle will be equipped with a new engine IVECO, common rail, 116 Hp, 85 Kw, 270 Nm.
The vehicle obtained the european homologation, passing all the 36 directives.
During the fifth year, with a normal working schedule, 20.000 units will be produced, with a turn over accounting for 350 million Euro. The off road vehicle will be sold having a competitive price, in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Greece. In these countries the possible dealears have been already determined. The cooperation between De Tomaso Modena SpA and Jsc 'UAZ' will be furtherly developed thanks to the building of a new plant for the production of vehicles through the establishment of a pole or car district in the crisis area of Crotone province, Cutro municipality. This plant, for the project will be supported by Eni Sud (ENI group). UAZ, historical group of 4X4 vehicles in Russia, is now part of the group Severstal, one of the top companies for the metallurgy.
The importance of this agreement is stressed by the fact that this is the first industrial european operation, concerning off road vehicles, after the Berlin Wall fall.
After fourty years, nowadays De Tomaso factory is still the place where Alejandro's ideas are carried out. While the car industry is continuously changing, in Viale Virgilio plant automobiles are really dream objects, since the thrill of high speed has always been charming. That is the reason why De Tomaso is regarded as the oldest remaining independent exotic carmaker in Italy. Without any doubt, De Tomaso stood and goes on standing tall in the idea department. 'Guarà' is an authentic De Tomaso vehicle, and the only limit to its style, technique and speed is determined by history. As a matter of fact, the future is stricly related to the present, that in its turn, is the product of the past.
The agreement between De Tomaso and UAZ is the real great project. Aiming at producing and selling 'Simbir' SUV all over Europe, today Mr. Alejandro De Tomaso has found a new business partner, whose name has to be added to that of Maserati, Guzzi and many others.
'New Pantera' and 'New Vallelunga' can be seen as the expressions of De Tomaso's will. They are two ambitious plans that are able to fulfil fans' expectations when they are at the wheel, and, at the same time, to provide the competition with a contender who commands respect. As in a horse race, there are many obstacles to be got over, nevertheless, all of them can be easily crossed, thanks to the jockey's love for his own horse.
The Symbol
Argentina is the real protagonist of De Tomaso symbol. The flag in the background catches the eye and it has got its own tradition. The strips of the flag symbolize the iron tool used to brand horses in Alejandro's grand-mother 'estancia'.
Ceballos family owned more than 100.000 hectare estate in the province of San Luis, at the foot of the Andes in the center of Argentina.
The trademark is strongly connected with the name of the family, owner of the estate and it determines the cattle marked with this symbol.
Alejandro De Tomaso began racing in his native Argentina in 1951. Soon after he started racing, De Tomaso moved to Italy becoming a driver for Maserati. Most of his success was with O.S.C.A. (Officine Speciallizatate Constrruzioni Automobili), a company founded by the Maserati brothers after they sold Maserati. By 1959, after years of racing, De Tomaso finally decided to put his experience toward building his own racing cars and formed De Tomaso Automobili in Modena Italy.
His first cars were based off the Oscas he had been racing, but later turned to Ford as a source for engines. Thus beginning the long association with Ford Motor Company. De Tomaso Automobili went on to have an extensive racing history, competing in both Formula 1 and Formula 2 during the 1960's and 1970's in vehicles powered by Ford-Cosworth and Alfa Romeo engines.
De Tomaso's first commercial vehicle came in 1965 in the form of the Vallelunga, a mid-engined coupe powered by Ford. The Vallelunga has been heralded as one of the most ideally proportioned mid-engined cars ever made. Unfortunately the Fissore and later Ghia-bodied car was only built in small numbers, eventually making way for the Mangusta in 1967.
The Mangusta was De Tomaso's first attempt in establishing himself as a full-fledged carmaker. Giorgetto Giugiaro designed the car while with the Ghia design studio. A company that De Tomaso eventually purchased and later sold to Ford. The car was (and continues to be) an incredible design success, with automotive enthusiasts taking instant notice. Power came from the Ford 289 V8 in Europe and 302 V8 for U.S. spec cars. A company owned by Kjell Qvale called British Motor Car Distributors handled distribution in the U.S. This began a relationship that would eventually find Qvale and De Tomaso together again in the 1980's when Alejandro owned Maserati with Kjell again having distribution rights in the U.S.
The Mangusta was phased out of production in 1970 with less than 500 produced. The end of the Mangusta paved the way for De Tomaso's most celebrated car to date, the Pantera. As with the Mangusta, the Pantera was designed at Ghia, this time by Tom Tjaarda. Its sleek design combined with incredible power (Ford 351small block tuned to 330hp) lead Ford Motor Company to seek an arrangement with De Tomaso whereby the car was distributed through select Lincoln-Mercury dealerships in the U.S.
The market for high performance sports cars dwindled considerably in the early to mid 1970's for all exotic carmakers because of the Energy Crisis, and De Tomaso was no exception. This lead to the eventual parting of ways between Ford and De Tomaso. A relationship that saw just under 5,300 units sold in the U.S. De Tomaso continued sales of the Pantera GTS in Europe.
In addition to the high performance Panteras of the 1970's De Tomaso also designed and produced two luxury oriented cars, the Deauville and Longchamp. The Deauville as a four door, competed against other performance luxury vehicles like Jaguar's XJ. The two door Longchamp targeted the likes of the Mercedes 450 SLC. Both vehicles combined amounted to no more than 700 units by their discontinuation in the early 1980's. In 1991 a next generation Pantera was introduced followed several years later by the Guara.
Plans are now set for a new chapter in the almost 40-year history of De Tomaso. On March 3, 1998 an announcement was made that De Tomaso Modena S.p.A. had signed an agreement with British Motor Car Distributers, Ltd. establishing the San Francisco-based importer as the manufacturer of all future products under license for De Tomaso. De Tomaso Automobiles Ltd. has been formed by British Motors to undertake this responsibility.
The pact signified the continuation of a 30-year relationship between Alejandro De Tomaso and British Motors founder Kjell Qvale, an importer and manufacturer of European sports and luxury cars for 51 years. It also sets the stage for a wealth of opportunities for the creation of new vehicles by the two entities.
Based in San Francisco and Modena, Italy (D.A.L. Srl), the newly formed company handles the development, production and eventual distribution of the new De Tomaso Mangusta. Showcased at the 1996 Geneva Auto Show, the then-named Bigua incorporates the designs of Marcello Gandini, designer of the Lamborghini Countach and Diablo.
Production of the Mangusta is planned for March of 1999.
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