Most of you might not have heard of the automotive sports car company De Tomaso. But like Lamborghini and Ferrari, De Tomaso was an Italian exotic sports car manufacturer from the late 1950’s. However De Tomaso slowly disappeared from the market due to various problems. In 1959, Alejandro de Tomaso founded the company in Modena. It then built its first model, a small Ford-powered Vallelunga before the arrival of Mangusta and Pantera. They both carried strong Ford V8 engines. For more than 20 years, the Pantera’s annual production had gradually fallen. It had also assembled the luxury saloons, the Deauville and the Longchamp. From 1976 until 1993, De Tomaso was the owner of Maserati.
Now years later it is about to be surface again thanks to interest by BMW. It is rumoured that Audi’s ownership of Lamborghini and the brand recognition for the Italian marque have something to do with BMW’s interest to purchase the De Tomaso car company.
In early 2012, there were attempts for this brand to recover. It had designed a 5m-long, V6-engined luxury SUV that was based on a partly aluminium structure. It was set to be produced in a factory formerly owned by Pininfarina. However there is still no word on this project.
