De Tomaso Automobili  is an Italian car-manufacturing company. It was founded by the Argentine-born Alejandro de Tomaso (1928–2003) in Modena in 1959. It originally produced various prototypes and racing cars, including a Formula One car for Frank Williams's team in 1970. Most of the funding for the automaker came from de Tomaso's brother-in-law, Amory Haskell Jr, Rowan Industries. In 1971, Ford acquired an 84% stake in De Tomaso from Rowan with Alejandro de Tomaso himself holding the balance.  Ford would sell back their stake in the automaker in 1974 to Alejandro. The De Tomaso brand was acquired in 2014 by Hong-Kong based Ideal Team Ventures and in 2019, the newly formed company presented their first product, a retro-styled sports car called the P72.

The blue and white stripes of the logo's background are the colors of the national flag of Argentina. The symbol in the foreground that looks like a letter "T" is the cattle branding symbol of the Ceballos estate where Alejandro grew up.

The company went on to develop and produce both sports cars and luxury vehicles, most notably the Ford-powered Italian-bodied Mangusta and Pantera grand tourers. From 1976 to 1993 De Tomaso owned Italian sports car maker Maserati, and was responsible for producing cars including the Biturbo, the Kyalami, Quattroporte III, Karif, and the Chrysler TC. De Tomaso also owned motorcycle company Moto Guzzi from 1973 to 1993.

De Tomaso went into liquidation in 2004, although production of new cars continued after this date.  By 2008 a buyer was being sought for the De Tomaso factory and trademarks, per the court-appointed liquidators.  In 2009 Gian Mario Rossignolo bought the De Tomaso trademark and founded a new company named De Tomaso Automobili SpA. Rossignolo planned to assemble chassis and bodies in one of Delphi Automotive's old production facilities in Livorno and to fit bodywork, paint and finish its cars in the former Pininfarina factory in Grugliasco.

In May 2012, De Tomaso was again for sale after their business plan failed to gather sufficient financial backing. In July 2012, Rossignolo was arrested following allegations that he misused €7,500,000 worth of government funds. In September 2012, speculation emerged that BMW might be interested in the brand factory to produce new BMW models.

In 2014 the original workshop in Modena was in abandonment.

In April 2015, an Italian bankruptcy court approved the sale of the company to Hong-Kong based Consolidated Ideal Team Ventures.  Per that sale report "A lawyer for the buyer announced that Ideal Team Venture plans to produce cars in China bearing the De Tomaso name."

Moto Guzzi is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer and the oldest European manufacturer in continuous motorcycle production.

Established in 1921 in Mandello del Lario, Italy, the company is noted for its historic role in Italy's motorcycling manufacture, its prominence worldwide in motorcycle racing, and industry innovations—including the first motorcycle centre stand, wind tunnel and eight-cylinder engine.

Since 2004, Moto Guzzi has been an unico azionista, a wholly owned subsidiary, and one of seven brands owned by Piaggio & C. SpA, Europe's largest motorcycle manufacturer and the world's fourth largest motorcycle manufacturer by unit sales.

The company's motorcycles are noted for their air-cooled 90° V-twin engines with a longitudinal crankshaft orientation where the engines' transverse cylinder heads project prominently on either side of the motorcycle.

After experiencing financial difficulties in the late 1960s, De Tomaso Industries Inc. (D.T.I. Group or DTI), manufacturer of the De Tomaso sports and luxury cars, owned by Argentinian industrialist Alejandro de Tomaso, purchased SEIMM (and thereby Moto Guzzi) along with Benelli and Maserati in 1973. Under Tomaso's stewardship, Moto Guzzi returned to profitability, though other reports suggest a period of limited investment in Moto Guzzi followed attributed to DTI using Moto Guzzi financially prioritizing their automotive ventures.

With the assistance of the Italian government, De Tomaso took over Maserati in 1976 after its owner, Citroën, declared that it would no longer support the loss-making company. The first Maserati De Tomaso introduced, the Kyalami, was a Longchamp redesigned by Frua, with the Ford engine replaced by Maserati's own 4.2-litre V8. The Kyalami remained in production until 1983, when it was superseded by the Biturbo, introduced two years earlier. Other cars Introduced under the De Tomaso ownership included the Quattroporte III/Royale and IV, the Barchetta, the Ghibli and the Shamal. All of the latter cars other than the Quattroporte III were based on the Biturbo while the Quattroporte was based on the Kyalami platform. De Tomaso introduced this concept of platform sharing to save development costs on new models. In 1993, De Tomaso sold Maserati to Fiat S.p.A. due to slumping sales and low profitability.

vallelunga

De Tomaso's first road-going production model was the Vallelunga (named after the racing circuit) introduced in 1963. The car is produced from 1964 until 1967. It was the first road going automobile manufactured by the company.  Alejandro de Tomaso hoped to sell the design to another company, but when there were no takers he commissioned Carrozzeria Fissore to design and build an aluminum body on his rolling chassis. This mid-engine sports car had a 104 hp  4 cylinder engine shared with the Ford Cortina, and was able to attain a top speed of 215 km/h. It had a fabricated steel backbone chassis, which was to become a common feature of De Tomaso cars. The aluminium coupé body was designed and several built by Fissore before production was moved to Ghia in 1965 where they were assembled with fibreglass bodies. In all, approximately 60 were produced.

The Vallelunga was replaced by the Mangusta which used the concept of the Vallelunga chassis significantly re-engineered to take a Ford 302 engine, all packaged with a body by Giorgetto Giugiaro.

sport 5000

The De Tomaso Sport 5000 (also known as the Ghia DeTomaso, the De Tomaso 70P or the De Tomaso P70) was a short-lived sports racing car built by De Tomaso in 1965. Fitted with a 4,736 cc Ford V8 engine, the Sport 5000 was initially designed to be used as a Grand Tourer; however, only one car was ever built of the planned 50, meaning that it competed solely as a sports prototype in just one race, the 1966 World Sportscar Championship Mugello 500 km.

Towards the end of 1965, Alejandro de Tomaso, the owner of De Tomaso, decided to respond to criticism about the firm's Vallelunga lacking power. Carroll Shelby sourced a 4,736 cc Ford V8 engine (tuned to provide around 475 hp, and also commissioned Pete Brock to design the car's open-top aluminium bodywork. Using the unique backbone chassis of the Vallelunga, with only a few modifications, the Sport 5000 was built in Italy, by local metalworkers. However, Shelby was unhappy with the resulting bodywork, and sent Brock to work alongside Medardo Fantuzzi to redevelop it; the resulting car, which featured a moveable rear wing and full doors, was christened as the De Tomaso 70P, or De Tomaso P70. However, before the end of 1965, Shelby withdrew from the project, instead turning his attention to the struggling Ford GT40 project. As a result, De Tomaso turned to Ghia, and the car became known as the Ghia DeTomaso. The car made its first public appearance at the Turin Motor Show in November 1965, with striking red bodywork. The car would appear again at the Modena Racing Car Show in February 1966.

Due in part to the withdrawal of Shelby, only one P70 was built; however, Brock had stayed on as part of the project, and was intended to be the car's American distributor. Prior to the car's racing debut, De Tomaso modified the design and built a 2nd car to be used in European races under the name of Sport 5000. The car was raced in a hillclimb alongside a Ferrari 250LM, but was unable to finish the race.

mangusta

The Mangusta replaced the Vallelunga model, on which its chassis was based. The word "mangusta" is Italian for "mongoose", an animal that can kill cobras. It was rumored that the car was so named in retaliation to a failed deal between De Tomaso and Carroll Shelby. 401 cars in total were built, about 150 were made for Europe, while the remainder were made for North America. The initial cars are claimed to have a more powerful Ford HiPo 289 engine; the later cars all had Ford 302 engines. The Mangusta was imported into the United States via a federal waiver which applied to the car due to its small production numbers. 

The Mangusta was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, whose main highlight is a center-hinged, two-section hood that opened akin to gullwing doors. The European version was fitted with a mid-mounted 306 hp Ford 289 V8 engine, driven through a 5-speed ZF transaxle; in North America a 230 hp  Ford 302 V8 was used. The Ford 289 engine was later replaced by the Ford 302 engine in the European version as well. All round disc brakes and independent suspension, rack and pinion steering, air conditioning, and power windows were fitted, ahead of other manufacturers at the time. Journalist Paul Frère claimed he achieved a top speed of 250 km/h  in the Mangusta. The Mangusta was relatively inexpensive for the time, but with a 44/56 front/rear weight distribution and a less than solid chassis suffered from stability problems and poor handling. The car's cabin was also cramped and it had extremely low ground clearance.

zonda

The De Tomaso Zonda was a sports car made by the Italian car manufacturer de Tomaso , which was presented as a prototype in 1971. It was a proposal for a sports coupe located above the De Tomaso Pantera , which de Tomaso hoped to market with the support of the US company Ford . Series production did not materialize. The first designs for the body went back to the Milanese fashion designer Giulia Moselli , who was friends with Alejandro de Tomaso ; however, she only provided superficial sketches. Tom Tjaarda, who at the time was Head of Design at Carrozzeria Ghia, was responsible for the detailed design. 

The hatchback coupe was named Zonda , which referred to a strong wind in the Argentine Andes. Ford and De Tomaso did not agree on series production in the period that followed; Ford refused to import it into the US because the projected sales price did not suggest profitable sales. De Tomaso was not able to develop the Zonda to series production on his own. Therefore the project was not pursued any further. The whereabouts of the prototype is unclear.

deauville

The De Tomaso Deauville is a luxury four-door saloon first exhibited at the 1970 Turin Motor Show. The Deauville was powered by the same 5,763 cc Ford Cleveland V8 as the De Tomaso Pantera, rated at 330 hp. The car has a top speed of 230 km/h and featured styling similar to that of the Jaguar XJ.

The Deauville has an independent rear suspension very similar to that used by Jaguar, and ventilated discs front and aft. It shares its chassis with the Maserati Quattroporte III. A shorter version of its chassis underpinned the Maserati Kyalami and De Tomaso Longchamp grand tourers.

A total of 244 cars were produced. There were three Deauville variants:  the early series 1: 1970–1974, late series 1: 1975–1977,  series 2: 1978–1985.

One Deauville station wagon was made for Mr. De Tomaso's wife. There were also two armoured Deauvilles produced, one for the Belgian Royal Family and the other for the Italian government. The latter is on display in the Museo delle Auto della Polizia di Stato in Rome.

longchamp

The De Tomaso Longchamp is a grand tourer which was produced by the Italian automaker De Tomaso from 1972 to 1989.

The Longchamp was derived from the De Tomaso Deauville four-door saloon, using a shorter wheelbase chassis with the same suspension, engine and transmission. The same platform underpinned the Maserati Kyalami grand tourer and the Maserati Quattroporte III saloon as Maserati was owned by De Tomaso at the time. The Deauville and the Longchamp were the only front engine production cars produced by De Tomaso. The Longchamp was first exhibited in 1972  and was initially offered only as a 2-door 2+2 coupé. It was designed by Tom Tjaarda of Ghia and was influenced by his previous Lancia Marica prototype. The taillights were the same units as were used for the Alfa Romeo 1750/2000 saloon. The headlights and front indicators are from the Ford Consul/Granada. The name Longchamp is likely a reference to the Longchamp Racecourse in Paris and/or Longchamps, Buenos Aires, a city near de Tomaso company founder Alejandro de Tomaso's birthplace.

The longchamps was fitted with a 5,769 cc Ford Cleveland V8 and was a popular and very potent engine in early 1970s Ford muscle cars. It was the same unit as used in the Pantera. It was rated at a power output of 335 PS  and gave the Longchamp an official top speed of 240 km/h.

A total of 409 cars were built (395 coupés and 14 spyders) between 1972 and 1989, with only a couple of cars per year built during the last years. The vast majority are of Series 1 specifications. Some claim that production actually came to an end in 1986, with later cars being sold from stock. The Maserati Kyalami and Maserati Quattroporte III, which were also developed from the chassis, and conceived just as Alejandro de Tomaso took over Maserati, was very similar i.e. mechanically virtually identical to the Longchamp. The Narrative derivatives however used a Maserati V8, rather than the Ford unit favoured by De Tomaso.

The 1971-74 DeTomaso Pantera combined Italian exotic sports car styling and a reliable, potent  Ford V-8. The Pantera cost about half as much as an Italian exotic Ferrari or Maserati sports car. In fact, it was the first affordable mid-engine exotic.
The Pantera was the result of a collaboration between Ford Motor and fiery, erratic, modestly successful sports car builder and former auto racer Alejandro DeTomaso. He had moved to Italy from Argentina with his wealthy American wife, Isabelle Haskell, who backed his business ventures.
DeTomaso convinced top Ford Motor executive Lee Iacocca to have Ford back and sell the Pantera in America, with DeTomaso handling distribution elsewhere. The Ford-powered Cobra sports car was gone, and Ford Motor wanted a sports car such as the Pantera to maintain its high-performance image in the early 1970s.
Such a car also would be a sexy addition to Ford Motor's staid Lincoln-Mercury division car line. And chairman Henry Ford II had wanted a sexy Italian auto to go with his new Italian wife since Ford Motor failed to buy the Ferrari auto company in 1963.
The Pantera was based on DeTomaso's sleek but notoriously unreliable 1967-71 low-volume Ford-engine Mangusta sports car, which should have served as a warning to Iacocca that the Pantera might be troublesome.
With Ford's major support, the Pantera's final assembly was done at the DeTomaso factory in Modena, Italy. The Pantera was flat-out sensational in the early 1970s. The only rival U.S. sports car was the Chevrolet Corvette, which had over-the-top styling and the same front-engine layout as the original1953 'Vette.

Lincoln-Mercury said it sold 6,091 Panteras, but most sources said the figure was 5,629 cars.

pantera

The Mangusta was succeeded by the Pantera. It appeared in 1971 with a 351 Cleveland Ford V8 and a low, wedge-shaped body designed by Ghia's Tom Tjaarda. Through an agreement with Ford, De Tomaso sold Panteras in the USA through Ford's Lincoln and Mercury dealers. Between 1971 and 1973, 6,128 Panteras were produced in Modena, the largest number of cars De Tomaso produced. The 1973 oil crisis and other factors compelled Ford to pull out of the Pantera deal at the end of 1973, a few months after buying all De Tomaso's shares and getting control of the entire production process in the three factories that shared the workload in northern Italy.

But De Tomaso retained from Ford the right to produce the car for the "rest of the world" market, so he continued Pantera production at a greatly reduced scale of less than 100 cars per year during the 1970s and 1980s. From then on, the cars were largely hand-built, even more than before.

Incorporating a Marcello Gandini facelift, suspension redesign, partial chassis redesign and a new, smaller Ford engine, the Pantera 90 Si model (the i standing for iniezione - Italian for fuel injection) was introduced in 1990. There were 41 90 Si models manufactured with 2 crash tested, 38 sold, and 1 example going directly into a museum before the Pantera was finally phased out in 1993 to make way for the radical, carbon-fibre-bodied Guarà.

pantera 90 si

In 1990, DeTomaso unveiled the completely re-engineered Pantera 90 Si, which featured updated Marcello Gandini styling. Substantially revised in all respects, the 90 Si benefited from a new tube-frame chassis and reworked suspension, creating a lighter, more-rigid platform. The updated Pantera also featured a fuel-injected Ford 302 5L engine, which gave the car a top speed of 240 km/h. Stopping power was improved by the addition of four-wheel ventilated and drilled disc brakes with Brembo calipers that were shared with the Ferrari F40.

Only 41 90 Si models were made before the Pantera was finally phased out in 1993 to make way for the radical Guarà. Out of the 41 cars made, two were used for crash testing, and one was reserved for the De Tomaso museum. As such, only 38 were sold to the public, of which four were converted to Targas by Pavesi. In the UK, the model was sold as Pantera 90.

guarà

The De Tomaso Guarà is a sports car and the last project the founder and owner Alejandro de Tomaso put into the market. Presented at the 1993 Geneva Motor Show, the Guarà was initially available in coupé body-style. Later a roadster and an open-top barchetta bodystyle became available. The latter corresponds to the coupé but without roof and proper windscreen; a small air deflector protects the passenger and the driver from the passing wind and the car had to be driven while wearing a helmet.

The Guarà is based on the Maserati Barchetta Stradale prototype from 1991 which was meant to be the street-legal variant of the track-only car. A take-over of Maserati by Fiat prevented Alejandro de Tomaso from realising such a variant of the Barchetta manufactured by Maserati as Maserati ceased production of the Barchetta under its new owner. The car was thus manufactured by De Tomaso and was named Guarà. The Guarà was designed by Carlo Gaino of "Synthesis Design" who also designed the Maserati Barchetta.

Though sources vary, approximately fifty two cars in total were built. Ten were the open top barchettas, four were the convertible spiders, and 38 cars were coupés. The Spyders were built by Carrozzeria AutoSport S.r.L.

Early variants of the Guará used the 4.0-litre BMW M60 V8 engine.  This was due to Ford's inability to supply engines for the car. The engine was modified by De Tomaso and had different timing belt routing. The engine has a power output of 283 PS.  Later variants switched to a 4.6-litre supercharged Ford  V8 engine with a power output of 320 PS.

biguà

In the early 2000s two other cars were planned by De Tomaso, but both proved abortive. A two-seat Gandini-styled convertible, the Biguà, was developed from a 1996 Geneva concept in partnership with Qvale, an American firm which had long imported European sports cars into the USA. But as production of the Biguà—renamed the Mangusta—began, the relationship between De Tomaso and Qvale soured; Qvale took over the car and rebadged it as the Qvale Mangusta. Production was short-lived, and Qvale's Italian factory was bought in 2003 by MG Rover and the Mangusta's mechanicals were then used as the basis of the MG XPower SV. In April 2002, De Tomaso began a project to build off-road vehicles in a new factory in Calabria in partnership with the Russian company UAZ, but this too floundered. The deal projected a production rate of 10,000 cars a year by 2006: however, no cars were built and De Tomaso went into voluntary liquidation in June 2004 after the death of Alejandro de Tomaso in 2003. The Guarà remained available in some markets in 2005 and 2006, but it appears that no cars were built after 2004.

deauville

At the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, a newly resurrected De Tomaso marque presented a new model, reviving the use of the name Deauville. The new Deauville is a five-door crossover vehicle with all-wheel drive, which in the detail of its styling quotes models from BMW and Mercedes-Benz, and was designed by Pininfarina.

The range included two gasoline engines rated at 300 PS  (2.8-litre V6 Opel engine ) and 500 PS  as well as a diesel engine from VM Motori and 250 PS. A sports car and a limousine were soon to follow after the debut of the crossover. The new Deauville never reached production due to arrest of the company chairman on the charges of misappropriation of funds.

mangusta legacy concept

The Mangusta Legacy project is a study of a modern interpretation of the 1965 De Tomaso Mangusta supercar. It was created by designer and illustrator Maxime de Keiser. Maxime de Keiser is a design graduate who decided to recreate a sportscar inspired by his favorite model of the past, the De Tomaso Mangusta, produced from 1965 to 1971 in just 401 units. The design of the original Mangusta was penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro, who at the time was working at Turin-based coachbuilder Ghia.

The car had a distinctive silhouette with a height of just 1,100 mm, and featured a very large windscreen, gullwing doors, and an essential interior. Fascinated by this icon, Maxime decided to create a modern reinterpretation of the car, adapting its character to the modern technologies and design trends. The result is the Mangusta Legacy Concept, an extreme, low sportscar which maintains the main design elements and character of the original.

2009 acquisition

In 2009 the De Tomaso trademark was bought by Former Fiat executive Gian Mario Rossignolo who founded a new company named De Tomaso Automobili SpA. A new business plan for the company called for producing three models for a total of 8,000 vehicles: 3,000 crossovers, 3,000 limousines, and 2,000 two-seater sports cars. The new company never started production and the company chairman, Rossignolo, was arrested in 2012 on account of misappropriation of funds taken from the Italian government to revive the De Tomaso brand.

2014 acquisition

The rights to the De Tomaso brand were acquired by Norman Choi of Ideal Team Ventures in 2014. The new management under Choi's leadership undertook the task of reviving the brand. Five years later, the company unveiled its first product, the P72 retro-styled sports car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, at the time of 60th anniversary of the De Tomaso brand. The car had been in development under the code name of "Project P". The new car is based on the Apollo Intensa Emozione's monocoque chassis, a car manufactured by De Tomaso's sister company Apollo Automobil and 72 units of the car will be sold.

p72

2020

The P72 is a retro-styled sports car introduced at the 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed under the newly reformed DeTomaso brand. Designed by Jowyn Wong, the car is a homage to the P70, a race car built by Carroll Shelby and styled by Peter Brock for De Tomaso, introduced in the late 1960s. The design of the car is meant to be hailing back to the LeMans race cars of the 1960s. The interior of the car is meant to have a modern outlook with opulent instrumentation. The chassis built to LMP1 standards is shared with the sister company Apollo Automobil's Intensa Emozione.

In October 2019, De Tomaso revealed that the P72 will be powered by a 5.0 litre supercharged Ford  V8 engine featuring a roots type supercharger manufactured by American tuning company Roush. The engine is a result of a technical collaboration between both companies. The engine is mated to a 6-speed manual transmission. Power output figures were not disclosed as the engine is still in development stage. The P72 will have a top speed of 355 km/h and will sprint from 0-100 km/h in about 2 seconds. De Tomaso is hoping for the car to have an RPM of 7500.

72 units of the P72 are planned to be produced. This move was made to ensure the exclusivity of the car. The car will go under homologation but De Tomaso have assured that the car will remain the same as the pre-production model shown at Goodwood.

De Tomaso made a handful of Formula One appearances from 1961 to 1963, with their own chassis and a mix of engines. During 1962 the De Tomaso 801 appeared, with an original 135-degree 1498 cc V8 with a claimed 200 CV  at 9500 rpm, and a six-speed De Tomaso transmission (although presumably developed by Valerio Colotti). The stubby and somewhat unaerodynamic design of the car raised some questions among period writers, as did the claimed max power. The De Tomaso 801 was entered in a number of races but only appeared once, at the 1962 Italian Grand Prix, where it failed to qualify.

De Tomaso then built a Formula One chassis (designed by Gian Paolo Dallara) for Frank Williams Racing Cars to use in the 1970 Formula One season. The car was uncompetitive, failing to finish the first four races of the year. In the fifth, the Dutch Grand Prix, the De Tomaso 505/38 flipped and caught fire, killing driver Piers Courage. The team persevered, first with Brian Redman, then Tim Schenken. However, with no results, the partnership was dissolved at the end of the season.

The De Tomaso 505/38 is a Formula One racing car model, designed by Gian Paolo Dallara for Italian car-manufacturer De Tomaso and raced during the 1970 Formula One season by Frank Williams Racing Cars.

The car was uncompetitive on debut, failing to finish or be classified the first four races of the year. Disaster struck at the following Dutch Grand Prix. Driver Piers Courage was killed in an accident that saw his De Tomaso 505 flip and catch fire. The loss deeply upset Williams; the distance the team principal now places between himself and his drivers has been attributed to this event.

The car never managed to be classified in a World Championship race, finishing only twice, in Monaco and Canada, twelve and eleven laps behind the winner respectively.