De Tomaso Vallelunga

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De Tomaso Vallelunga
File:Gaisbergrennen 2009 Bergfahrt 142.jpg
Overview
Manufacturer De Tomaso
Production 1964–1968
Assembly Italy: Ghia
Designer Carrozzeria Fissore
Body and chassis
Class Sports car
Body style
  • Coupe (53 produced)
  • Spider (prototype)[1]
Layout RMR layout
Powertrain
Engine Ford 1592 cc straight-4
Transmission 4/5-speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase 89.5 in (2,273 mm)[2]
Length 151.2 in (3,840 mm)[2]
Width 63.0 in (1,600 mm)[2]
Height 42.5 in (1,080 mm)[2]
Curb weight 726 kg (1,601 lb)
Chronology
Successor De Tomaso Mangusta

The Vallelunga is a mid-engined, rear wheel drive sports car produced by De Tomaso from 1964 until 1968.

History

The Vallelunga was based on a roadster designed by Carozzeria Fissore[1][3] and named after the Autodromo di Vallelunga first shown as a concept car at the Turin Motor Show in 1963.[1][4] De Tomaso had hoped to sell the design of the concept to another company,[4] but when there were no takers had the car produced by Ghia.[3]

Specifications

The engine was a 1.5 L straight-4 Kent engine from the Ford Cortina[2][4] with 104 hp (78 kW) at 6200 rpm.[3] A Volkswagen Beetle transaxle,[2][3] fitted with Hewland gearsets,[3] was used. The chassis was a pressed steel backbone with a tubular subframe at the rear.[2] Suspension was double wishbone and coil springs at all four corners[4] with front and rear anti-roll bars[2] and with uprights sourced from Triumph. The small car weighed 726 kg (1,600 lb)[3] with a fiberglass body and many drilled aluminium parts.[3] Brakes were disc all around.[5]

Demise

The chassis was not torsionally sound for engines with higher torque, a problem made worse by faulty welding in the Italian-made backbone. Drivetrain vibration was a constant problem for those cars. 50 production cars were built,[2][3] along with three aluminum-bodied prototypes and five aluminum-bodied racing cars, bringing the total to 58.[2] The Vallelunga was replaced by the Mangusta. The Mangusta used the concept of the Vallelunga chassis, significantly re-engineered to take a Ford 302 engine, all packaged with a body by Giorgetto Giugiaro.[4]

Ricci Martin, son of entertainer Dean Martin obtained the red car at his sixteenth birthday in 1969,[6] which his brother destroyed in a road accident a few months later.[7] Ricci's mother went to some effort to locate another new Vallelunga in an auto showroom in Milan, Italy, and arranged for the new car to be air-freighted to California.[8] A few years later, Ricci Martin sold the replacement Vallelunga after purchasing a version of its successor, the Mangusta.[9] The Ricci Martin car (VIN 807DT0116) was generally restored by machinist and sports car enthusiast Kenneth Krohncke in San Jose, California, sold to a collector in Southern California in 1980, and was later located in Florida.[citation needed]


Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lamm 1991, p. 108.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Lamm 1991, p. 109.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Rosetti 2009.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Lawrence 1997, p. 97.
  5. ↑ Lamm 1991, pp. 108, 109.
  6. ↑ Martin 2004, p. 197.
  7. ↑ Martin 2004, pp. 197–198.
  8. ↑ Martin 2004, pp. 200–201.
  9. ↑ Martin 2004, pp. 201–202.

References

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De Tomaso Modena S.p.A. car timeline, 1960s–2010s
Type 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
RMR Vallelunga Mangusta Pantera Guarà
FR Sedan Deauville
FR Coupé Longchamp Biguà
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