De Tomaso Vallelunga

Last updated
De Tomaso Vallelunga
De Tomaso Vallelunga.jpg
De Tomaso Ghia Vallelunga
Overview
Manufacturer De Tomaso
Production1964–1967 (59 produced)
AssemblyItaly: Modena, Savigliano, Turin
Designer Franco Maina, Carrozzeria Fissore [1] [2]
Body and chassis
Class Sports car (S)
Body style
Layout Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive
Powertrain
Engine 1.5 L (1,498 cc) Ford straight-4
Transmission 4-speed manual
5-speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase 2,273 mm (89.5 in) [3]
Length3,840 mm (151.2 in) [3]
Width1,600 mm (63.0 in) [3]
Height1,080 mm (42.5 in) [3]
Curb weight 726 kg (1,601 lb)
Chronology
Successor De Tomaso Mangusta

The De Tomaso Vallelunga is a mid-engine sports car produced from 1964 until 1967. It was the first road going automobile manufactured by the company.

Contents

History

The prototype has a backbone chassis with stressed member engine and formula car suspension in a barchetta body constructed in Modena. Named the Vallelunga 1500 after the Autodromo di Vallelunga racing circuit, it was shown by De Tomaso at the Turin Auto Show in 1963 and subsequently raced. [1] [4] Advertised in a prospectus as a Spider with weather equipment, Alejandro de Tomaso hoped to sell the concept to another company, [4] but when there were no takers he commissioned Carrozzeria Fissore to build a new aluminum body on his rolling chassis. Fissore presented the resulting coupé styled by its young design chief Franco Maina at the Turin show in November 1964. As many as fifteen were built, [5] the last few of which, unclaimed by De Tomaso, were scrapped by the coachbuilder. [6] In 1965 production was moved to Ghia where 50 were assembled with fiberglass bodies based on Maina's design. [2] In 1966 Ghia loaned a Vallelunga to the Museum of Modern Art in New York City for an automobile design exhibition. [7]

Specifications and features

De Tomaso Fissore Vallelunga De Tomaso Vallelunga c.1965 (15193573343).jpg
De Tomaso Fissore Vallelunga

The engine is a 1.5 L straight-4 Ford Kent from the Cortina, [3] [4] tuned to a power output of 104 hp (78 kW) at 6,200 rpm [2] with twin Weber 40DCOE2 carburetors, mated to a Volkswagen Beetle transaxle. [3] [2] The chassis frame is a fabricated sheet and tubular steel backbone and front crossmember [3] with the mid-mounted transmission and engine initially carrying rear suspension loads to the central beam. Tubular frame extensions were progressively added during production eventually taking all rear suspension and body loads. Suspension is racing-derived double wishbone at the front and multi-link at the rear, with front and rear anti-roll bars and concentric springs & shock absorbers. [3] Front uprights are Standard-Triumph, rack and pinion steering is Renault, brakes are Campagnolo Amadori disc type, tires are radial 145-13 front and 175-13 rear. [8] The small car weighs 726 kg (1,600 lb) [2] with fiberglass body and many cast magnesium chassis components. [2]

Engine and battery are accessed by tilting back the entire rear body section on Fissore Vallelungas. On the Ghia version the rear window hinges at the front and an upholstered panel lifts out. [3] The rear window and headlamp covers are acrylic. The aluminum fuel tank and its filler are in the front compartment. Air leaves the front-mounted radiator beneath the car, and plumbing runs through the backbone to the engine.

Successor

The Vallelunga was replaced by the Mangusta which used the concept of the Vallelunga chassis significantly re-engineered to take a Ford 302 engine, with a coupé body by Giorgetto Giugiaro. [4]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Lamm (1991), p. 108.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rosetti (2009).
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Lamm (1991), p. 109.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Lawrence (1997), p. 97.
  5. Cornil, Etienne (30 June 1965). "Una extraña ″colaboración″" [A Strange ″Collaboration″]. Automundo (in Spanish). Vol. 1, no. 14. Argentina: Editorial Codex S.A. p. 19.
  6. Fissore, Paulo (2020-06-21). "Appunti sulla De Tomaso Vallelunga Fissore" [Lockdown recollections on the De Tomaso Fissore Vallelunga]. Di cosi parliamo oggi? (in Italian). AISA Associazione Italiana per la storia dell'Automobile. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  7. "The Racing Car: Toward a Rational Automobile". moma.org. Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  8. Lamm (1991), pp. 108, 109.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chappe et Gessalin</span>

Chappe et Gessalin is the short-form of the name of French coachbuilder "Carrosserie Chappe Frères et Gessalin". The company built automobile bodies and did contract assembly for other automobile manufacturers. It was also the parent of Automobiles CG, a French automobile maker founded in 1966 which built and sold complete cars under its own name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AC Cobra</span> Sports car

The AC Cobra, sold in the United States as the Shelby Cobra and AC Shelby Cobra, is a sports car manufactured by British company AC Cars, with a Ford V8 engine. It was produced intermittently in both the United Kingdom and later the United States since 1962.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carrozzeria Ghia</span> Italian automobile design firm

Carrozzeria Ghia SpA is an Italian automobile design and coachbuilding firm, established by Giacinto Ghia and Gariglio as "Carrozzeria Ghia & Gariglio". The headquarters are located at Corso Guglielmo Marconi, 4, Turin. The company is currently owned by Ford Motor Company and focused on the European market through Ford's subsidiary in the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ASA (automobile)</span> Motor vehicle

ASA was an Italian automobile manufacturer active from 1961 to 1969, who is known for manufacturing the ASA 1000 GT. This car was developed by Ferrari engineers in the late 1950s as a less expensive, compact alternative to existing Ferrari GT cars. ASA used inline-four and straight-six engines derived from the "250" 3-litre V12 designed by Gioacchino Colombo. The chassis was developed by Giotto Bizzarrini and was derived from the tubular frame chassis of the 250 GTO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">De Tomaso</span> Italian car manufacturing company

De Tomaso Automobili ltd. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DMC DeLorean</span> 1980s automobile

The DMC DeLorean is a rear-engine two-passenger sports car manufactured and marketed by John DeLorean's DeLorean Motor Company (DMC) for the American market from 1981 until 1983—ultimately the only car brought to market by the fledgling company. The DeLorean is sometimes referred to by its internal DMC pre-production designation, DMC-12. However, the DMC-12 name was never used in sales or marketing materials for the production model.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">De Tomaso Guarà</span> Motor vehicle

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">De Tomaso Pantera</span> Italian model of sports car

The De Tomaso Pantera is a mid-engine sports car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer De Tomaso from 1971 to 1992. Italian for "Panther", the Pantera was the automaker's most popular model, with over 7,000 manufactured over its twenty-year production run. More than three quarters of the production was sold by American Lincoln-Mercury dealers from 1972 to 1975; after this agreement ended De Tomaso kept manufacturing the car in ever smaller numbers into the early 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">De Tomaso Mangusta</span> Model of sports car

The De Tomaso Mangusta is a sports car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer De Tomaso between 1967 and 1971. It was succeeded by the De Tomaso Pantera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devin Enterprises</span> American automotive manufacturer

Devin Enterprises was an American automotive manufacturer that operated from 1955 to 1964. Devin was mainly known for producing high quality fiberglass car bodies that were sold as kits, but they also produced automotive accessories as well as complete automobiles. The company was founded by Bill Devin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Backbone chassis</span> Automotive chassis based on a central structural tube

Backbone tube chassis is a type of automobile construction chassis that is similar to the body-on-frame design. Instead of a two-dimensional ladder-type structure, it consists of a strong tubular backbone that connects the front and rear suspension attachment areas. A body is then placed on this structure. It was first used in the English Rover 8hp of 1904 and then the French Simplicia automobile in 1909.

Tom Tjaarda was an American automobile designer noted for his work on a broad range of automobiles — estimated at over eighty — from exotic sports cars including the Ferrari 365 California, De Tomaso Pantera and Aston Martin Lagonda Coupé to high-volume popular cars including the first generation Ford Fiesta (1972) and the Fiat 124 Spider (1966).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matra Djet</span> Motor vehicle

The Matra Djet is a French sports car that was originally designed and sold by René Bonnet. As the Bonnet Djet it was the world's first rear mid-engined production road car. Different versions of the car were produced from 1962 until 1967 and sold under a variety of names that included René Bonnet Djet, Matra-Bonnet Djet, Matra Sports Djet and finally, Matra Sports Jet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corvette Stingray (concept car)</span> Motor vehicle

The Corvette Stingray Racer is a sports racing car and concept car that debuted in 1959. The car was developed in the styling studios at General Motors (GM) at the behest of Bill Mitchell, GM Vice President of styling. The design was based on a sketch by designer Pete Brock, and was further developed by Larry Shinoda. The car strongly influenced the styling of the second generation (C2) Corvette Sting Ray.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vehicle frame</span> Main supporting structure of a motor vehicle

A vehicle frame, also historically known as its chassis, is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monteverdi High Speed</span> Motor vehicle

The Monteverdi High Speed is a series of sports cars with different bodies produced from 1967-1976 by Swiss automaker Monteverdi. The High Speed series included several coupe models, a convertible and a sedan. In addition, the Coupé Berlinetta and the Cabriolet Palm Beach also belong to the model family.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carrozzeria Fissore</span> Italian builder of coaches

Carrozzeria Fissore was an Italian coachbuilder located in Savigliano, near Turin (Piedmont).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">De Tomaso Sport 5000</span> Motor vehicle

The De Tomaso Sport 5000 was a short-lived sports racing car built by De Tomaso in 1965. Fitted with a 289 cu in (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 fifty, meaning that it competed solely as a sports prototype in just one race, the 1966 World Sportscar Championship Mugello 500 km.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SSZ Stradale</span> Motor vehicle

The SSZ Stradale is an automobile developed by Tom Zatloukal, an Alfa Romeo racer and restorer, that was produced between 1984 and 1999. SSZ stands for Sprint Speciale Zatloukal. Based on the Giulietta SS, the aim was to produce a high-performance version with a lightweight and wider body than the standard production SS.

References