Miguel Sánchez
From the apollo gt even the AC Cobra there are many American-powered hybrids with a European design and chassis. In this sense, it highlights how during the XNUMXs a young Argentinian pilot and businessman installed in the north of Italy was able to carry out his own car brand thanks to the support of Ford. We are talking about Alejandro De Tomaso. One of the most important characters to understand the financial evolution of the motor in Italy, having become the owner of Moto Guzzi as well as almost a third of Maserati during the seventies. Thus, the best way to understand his meteoric arrival in Europe will be to situate ourselves in his native Argentina in the mid-XNUMXs.
Linked to the administration of family businesses, for Alejandro De Tomaso careers began as entertainment rather than work. In this way he can be traced in some tournaments of an Argentine nature since he started racing a Bugatti from the XNUMXs. Car from which he made the leap to more modern models created by Alfa Romeo and Maserati. In fact, his best result was signed with one of these latest sports cars. He was fourth overall and first in his class during his second participation in the 1.000 Kilometers of Buenos Aires.
However, by 1955 his automotive career was cut short by business. Not in vain, there were moments of high political upheaval in Argentina. Something that obviously had its echo in the stormy relationship established between the Perón government and media such as the Clarín newspaper. Of which Alejandro De Tomaso himself had been a member since its foundation in 1945. At this point, our protagonist emigrated to Italy relocating as a professional mechanic. That yes, at the service of a brand as emblematic as the OSCA directed by the Maserati brothers. However, restless in commercial matters, he decided to create his own workshops in 1959. Thus, De Tomaso Automobili SpA was born.
THE UNCERTAIN START OF A NEW COMPANY
Even arriving with experience in competition and a certain capital in his pockets, the truth is that it was not easy to make his way in the prolific automobile scene of northern Italy. For this reason, Alejandro De Tomaso had to take many detours until he was in a position to launch his own models. In this way, its first steps as an independent workshop focused on the manufacture of high-performance parts. A very interesting chapter in De Tomaso's biography. Since he experimented with materials such as titanium or magnesium. He made the latter a chassis in 1963 as he shortly afterwards would assemble the Porsche 917.
In addition, from 1962 he managed to enter F1 as a constructor thanks to the supply of engines by Ford. Possibly the most momentous moment in his career. Since his collaboration with the Dearborn giant opened the doors to being able to create his own street model. That of Tomaso Vallelunga. And it is that, after all, By the early sixties, this Argentine already had plenty of experience in chassis design. and various mechanical elements. Coupled with a regular supply of reliable engines, the path to entry into the GT world was relatively smooth.
Really, beyond the necessary market studies as well as obtaining financing, at a productive level there was only a striking bodywork left to finish off the whole. Subject entrusted to the young Giorgetto Giugiaro. Responsible for the fluid and light lines with which this model with a central engine bodyworked in fiberglass is covered. A sports car whose main success was not only taking advantage of the business opportunities that appeared along the way, but also synthesizing, in the Italian style, the echoes that the Lotus engineering studio launched from the United Kingdom.
OF TOMASO VALLELUNGA, THE INFLUENCE OF COLIN CHAPMAN
Measured at the level of influence in automotive technology, surely Lotus is one of the most important brands of all time. Forced to maximize their chassis, suspensions and aerodynamics in the face of the weakness of not building their own engines, Colin Chapman's ingenuity took the benefits of saving weight to their ultimate consequences instead of increasing power. Thus, his designs -as well as the expansion of fiberglass- were a clear inspiration for not a few short-run manufacturers.
One of them was De Tomaso, who took for the Vallelunga the idea of a central beam chassis that Lotus had already used in the Elite and Elan. An essential fact to understand the low weight given by this first model of the brand, set at about 720 kilos. Regarding the engine, the contact with Ford provided De Tomaso with Kent blocks with four cylinders in line, 1,5 liters and about 105 hp. By the way, the same mechanics of the Cortina. A car that was born family to finally end up being one of the recurring stars in the British touring car championships of the sixties. In addition, and in another clear nod to the ideas embodied by Lotus in F1, the engine acted as a structural element together with the chassis itself.
With all this we can already get an idea of the sporting refinement of De Tomaso Vallelunga. Complemented by independent suspension with wishbones as well as disc brakes on all wheels. Undoubtedly a very specific car, which meant that only about 50 units of the De Tomaso Vallelunga were manufactured. Almost all of them assembled by Ghia, although the prototype was bodied by Fissore. After all this, De Tomaso established itself as a prestigious manufacturer among the most select circles of sports car racing. And it is that the Valleluga was and is an exceptional car if you want to see it through the eyes of engineering. From here, everything was ready to jump to the spectacular GT that gave De Tomaso popular fame: the Mangusta.
Photographs: Bonhams
