Comparison between the front end of the De Tomaso Longchamp (top) and Maserati Kyalami (bottom).
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 at the 1972 Turin Motor Show[2] and was initially offered only as a 2-door 2+2coupé. 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.[3] 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 Longchamp featured a long and wide hood to accommodate the American power train, i.e. the 351cubic inch (5,769cc) Ford Cleveland V8.[4] The 351 Cleveland, a popular and very potent engine in early 1970s Ford muscle cars, was the same unit used in the Pantera. It was rated at a power output of 335PS (246kW; 330hp) and gave the Longchamp an official top speed of 240km/h (149mph). After Ford stopped manufacturing the 351 Cleveland V8 in the US, De Tomaso sourced the engines from Ford Australia. The standard gearbox was a three-speed Ford C-6 Cruise-o-Maticautomatic transmission,[5] however around 17 cars were equipped with a five-speed ZFmanual transmission. The suspension was independent front and rear wishbone unit equipped with coil springs. Steering was power assisted rack and pinion and the car came with vented disc brakes all around with the rear brake discs being positioned inboard. The interior of the car was quite luxurious and it was almost fully upholstered in leather, although the use of Ford sourced parts (steering wheel, gear shift) took away somewhat of the luxurious impression.[6]
Development
Production of the Series 1 began in 1973. For the 1980 model year, the modernised Series 2 was introduced, with slight modifications occurring later as well.
A sporty GTS variant was introduced at the 1980 Turin Motor Show, featuring wider wheels and flared wheel arches.[2] and minor suspension setting differences to better utilise the wider Campagnolo wheels with Pirelli P7 tyres. A Longchamp cabriolet variant ("Spyder") was also introduced alongside the GTS.[7] It was made by Carrozerria Pavesi of Milan, and a small number of cars were built to GTS specifications.[8] Pavesi also converted a number of older coupés to Spyders.
After supplies of American-built 351 V8s dried up, De Tomaso began sourcing their engines from Australia, to where the production line had been transferred. The engines were tuned in Switzerland before being installed, and were available with power outputs of 270, 300, or 330PS (199, 221, or 243kW).[9] In the eighties another version also appeared, the GTS/E. This was the top-of-the-line version, fitted with twin round headlights and extra spoilers, skirts, and a rear wing.[9]
A total of 409 cars were built (395 coupés and 14 spyders) between 1972 and 1989,[7] 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.[8] 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.
Gallery
De Tomaso Longchamp
De Tomaso Longchamp (1975)
rear view of series 1 car (1979)
Longchamp Spyder (1983)
1988 GTS coupé
Interior of 1974 Longchamp, with Ford steering wheel and gearshift hardware clearly visible
Notes
↑ Graham Robson, A-Z of Cars of the 1970s, Haymarket Publishing Ltd, 1990, page 51
Maserati is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by FIAT Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and FCA's Italian predecessor FIAT S.p.A. since 1993. Maserati was initially associated with Ferrari. In May 2014, due to ambitious plans and product launches, Maserati sold a record of over 3,000 cars in one month. This caused them to increase production of the Quattroporte and Ghibli models. In addition to the Ghibli and Quattroporte, Maserati offers the Maserati GranTurismo, the GranTurismo Convertible, the Maserati Levante. Maserati has placed a production output cap at 75,000 vehicles globally.
The Maserati Bora is a mid-engine two-seat coupe manufactured by Maserati from 1971 to 1978. In common with other Maserati cars of the era, it is named after a wind, Bora being the wind of Trieste. The Bora ended Maserati's reputation for producing fast but technologically out of date cars, being the first Maserati with four wheel independent suspension. In contrast, competitor Lamborghini had used independent suspension in 1964.
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.
A transaxle is a single mechanical device which combines the functions of an automobile's transmission, axle, and differential into one integrated assembly. It can be produced in both manual and automatic versions.
A mid-engine layout describes the placement of an automobile engine between the rear and front axles and generally behind the passenger compartment.
The Maserati Quattroporte is a four-door full-size luxury sports saloon produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati. The name translated from Italian means "four doors". The car is currently in its sixth generation, with the first generation introduced in 1963.
The Maserati Coupé and Spyder are a series of grand tourers produced by Italian automaker Maserati from 2001 to 2007. The two nameplates refer to the four-seater coupé and two-seater convertible models, respectively. The design of both models was based on the preceding 3200 GT, which was not sold in the US. Due to the confusing nature of the names "Maserati Coupé" and "Maserati Spyder" the Coupé and Spyder are both commonly referred to as the 4200 GT, which is an evolution of the prior model name and a reference to the increase in engine displacement from 3.2 L (3,217 cc) to 4.2 L (4,244 cc).
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 Maserati Shamal is a two-door grand touring coupé produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati from 1990 to 1996. In keeping with an established Maserati tradition, it is named after a wind: shamal, a hot summer wind that blows in large areas of Mesopotamia, particularly in the large plain between the Tigris and Euphrates.
The De Tomaso Pantera is a mid-engine sports car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer De Tomaso from 1971 to 1993. Italian for "Panther", the Pantera was the automaker's most popular model, with over 7,000 manufactured over its twenty-year production run.
The Maserati Merak is a mid-engined 2+2 sports car produced by Maserati between 1972 and 1983. The Merak was closely related to the Maserati Bora, sharing part of its structure and body panels, but was powered by a 3.0 L V6 in place of the latter's 4.7 L V8. The extra cabin space gained by fitting a smaller and more compact powertrain was used to carve out a second row of seats—suitable for children or very small adults—making the Merak not just a less expensive alternative to the Bora but also a 2+2.
The Maserati Khamsin is a grand tourer produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati between 1974 and 1982. The Khamsin was sold alongside the DeTomaso-based Maserati Kyalami — also a V8 2+2 GT car - between 1976 and 1982.
The Maserati Kyalami is a four-seat GT coupé produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati from 1976 to 1983. The car was named after the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in South Africa where a Maserati-powered Cooper T81 had won the 1967 South African Grand Prix.
The Maserati Biturbo was a family of executive grand tourers produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati between 1981 and 1994. The original Biturbo was a two-door, four-seater notchback coupé featuring, as the name implies, a two-litre V6 engine with two turbochargers and a luxurious interior.
The Maserati Karif is a luxury coupé produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati between 1988 and 1991. It was designed to be luxurious, but also sporty and agile to allow the driver to "feel like a racing driver again or for the first time". At the car's unveiling, Alejandro de Tomaso declared a very limited production run of 250 examples. In the end, only 221 units were sold over the time the car was built. Production dates are not entirely clear, but the last cars were sold late in the summer of 1992, long after they had been built.
The Maserati GranTurismo and GranCabrio are a series of a grand tourers produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati from 2007 to 2019. They succeeded the 2-door V8 grand tourers offered by the company, the Maserati Coupé, and Spyder. The model was initially equipped with a 4.2-litre V8 engine developed in conjunction with Ferrari. The GranTurismo platform was derived from Maserati M139 platform of Maserati Quattroporte V, with double-wishbone front and rear suspension. The grand tourer emphasizes comfort in harmony with speed and driver-enjoyment.
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 351 in³ (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 (143 mph) and featured styling similar to that of the Jaguar XJ.
The Turin Motor Show was an auto show held annually in Turin, Italy. The first official show took place between 21 and 24 April 1900, at the Castle of Valentino, becoming a permanent fixture in Turin from 1938 having shared it with Milan and Rome until that time. From 1972, the show was held biannually and in 1984, it moved into Fiat's shuttered Lingotto factory.
Alejandro de Tomaso was a racing driver and businessman from Argentina. His name is sometimes seen in an Italianised form as Alessandro de Tomaso. He participated in two Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 13 January 1957. He scored no championship points. He later founded the Italian sports car company De Tomaso Automobili in 1959.
The Maserati Ghibli (M157) is an executive car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati since 2013. The car was unveiled to the public at the 2013 Shanghai Motor Show.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
