De Tomaso: The Flamboyant Saga of an Italo-Argentine Rebel
Picture a wealthy Argentine heir, political exile, who lands in Modena with a fortune, an extremely rich American wife, and a single idea in mind: to defy Enzo Ferrari on his own turf. This scenario worthy of a film is that of Alejandro de Tomaso (1928-2003), founder of the brand bearing his name. A flamboyant brand, sometimes marginal, but always unconventional — and which, in 2025, finally resurrects after two decades of silence.
Birth of an Italian-Argentine dream
The adventure begins in 1959 in the suburbs of Modena, Italy's automotive sports capital. Alejandro, born in Buenos Aires to an Italian father who was Minister of Agriculture and a mother from a prominent Spanish family, had fled Juan Perón's regime a few years earlier. A driver for OSCA (the Maserati brothers' racing team), he meets Elizabeth Haskell — descendant of a co-founder of General Motors — at the 1,000 Kilometers of Buenos Aires in 1956. Love at first sight, marriage, Italian exile: the scene is set.
The logo he designs for his young company says everything about its DNA: a T surrounded on a blue and white background, exactly the branding iron that marked the cattle on his Argentine ranch, placed on the colors of the national flag. Italy and Argentina, mechanics and tradition.
Vallelunga and Mangusta: the first flashes of brilliance
During its early years, De Tomaso dedicated itself to racing: Formula Junior single-seaters, then a Formula 1 entered in 1961 and taken up again in 1970 by Frank Williams' team — it was moreover at the wheel of a De Tomaso that British driver Piers Courage tragically lost his life at the Dutch GP that year.
But it was in 1963, at the Turin Motor Show, that De Tomaso unveiled its first road coupé: the Vallelunga. A small jewel weighing 726 kg using a tube-frame chassis and a 1.5-liter Ford Cortina four-cylinder engine. Lightweight, nimble, closer to Lotus philosophy than to Ferrari.
Three years later, in 1966, comes the thunderbolt: the Mangusta. Designed by a certain Giorgetto Giugiaro (then at Ghia), it received a 4.7-liter Ford V8 and this playful name of "mongoose" — the natural enemy of the cobra, a direct reference to the Shelby AC Cobra. The De Tomaso signature is established: sublime Italian bodywork, sturdy American mechanics. And incidentally: in 1967, Alejandro acquires the Ghia coachworks, which he would resell to Ford in 1970.
The Pantera, the absolute icon
Presented at the New York Motor Show in 1970, produced from 1971, the Pantera is THE model that brings De Tomaso into legend. Designed by American Tom Tjaarda, it abandons the tube-frame chassis for a self-supporting steel monocoque — a first for the brand. Under its mid-mounted engine hood: a 5.8-liter Ford Cleveland V8 with 330 hp, coupled with the same ZF gearbox as the Ford GT40. 0 to 96 km/h in 5.5 seconds, over 250 km/h.
Distributed in the United States via the Lincoln-Mercury network until 1975, the Pantera seduced approximately 5,500 customers there (Elvis Presley leading the charge, who reportedly fired a revolver at his, annoyed that it refused to start). In total, approximately 7,260 units left the Modena workshops between 1971 and 1992, passing through the GTS, GT5, GT5-S versions, and finally the SI restyled by Marcello Gandini in 1990 (only 41 units).
The Modena empire
In the 1970s, Alejandro played the role of a voracious industrialist. With the help of the public agency GEPI, he acquired Benelli (1971), Moto Guzzi (1973), Maserati in 1975 (purchased from Citroën, in the midst of collapse), then Innocenti (1976) which then produced the new Mini designed by Bertone. Meanwhile, De Tomaso broadens its own lineup with the Deauville (1970), a luxury sedan designed to rival the Jaguar XJ, and the Longchamp (1972), a coupé targeting the Mercedes 450 SLC.
The eclipse, then the resurrection
The story deteriorates from the 1990s onward. Stroke in 1993, Alejandro partially withdraws. That same year, Maserati is sold to the Fiat group. Innocenti and Moto Guzzi follow. The brand limps along assembling the Simbir 4×4 for Russian UAZ and produces at a trickle the Guara, the last official model produced between 1993 and 2004. Alejandro passes away in Modena on May 21, 2003, and the company is liquidated the following year.
After more than a decade in limbo, a Chinese consortium, Consolidated Ideal TeamVenture led by Hong Kong businessman Norman Choi (already owner of Apollo Automobil), acquires the brand in April 2015. Four years later, in July 2019, De Tomaso creates a sensation at the Goodwood Festival by presenting the P72, a retro supercar homage to the 1965 P70 prototype (a joint project between Alejandro and Carroll Shelby).
Six years of development later, the definitive production version was unveiled in May 2025. 5.0-liter supercharged V8, 700 hp, six-speed manual transmission, single-piece carbon monocoque, zero screens, all analog. Limited to 72 units at 750,000 euros each, first deliveries are scheduled for late 2025. The mongoose has made a remarkable comeback.
And now, time for the brochures!
The De Tomaso story is that of a bold manufacturer who knew how to forge its own path between the giants of Modena. To extend the journey and dive into the technical specifications and period visuals of the brand's models, find all the De Tomaso brochures available on Brochure Auto. A guaranteed dive into the heart of the Italian-American golden age!
