There were once
10 very wealthy families in Argentina which owned the land, and ruled the
nation. They ruled it in benevolence. The Cebalos family, the family of
Alessandro De Tomaso's mother, was one of the 10 original ruling families.
Alessandro De
Tomaso's father died when he was young, so he grew up on the “estate” of his
mother’s family.
Juan Peron
convinced the common people to over-throw the rule of those 10 families,
promising things would be better if they did so. Of course, when the families
were "dethroned" Peron ascended to power. Things were worse for the
common people afterwards, because Peron was not a benevolent man.
The "T" symbol in the De Tomaso logo
is actually not the letter “T”; it represents a special branch from a tree
which grew upon the Cebalos "estate" in Argentina. The "branch"
was a symbol of authority handed down from generation to generation to the
eldest Cebalos child. But awarding birthrights to eldest children had been
illegal since 1806; all children of a specific generation were equally entitled
to a chance to own the "birthright" depending upon the results of a
"coin toss". Both his grandmother and his mother had won the coin
toss. Alessandro won the coin toss too. Governance of the Cebalos estate became
his role.
The lives of the governing
members from all 10 of the ruling families were threatened by Peron, and all 10
were forced to flee Argentina to save their lives. Alessandro De Tomaso fled to
Modena Italy in 1954, at the age of 26. He left behind a wife, Maria, and 3
sons: Alejandro Jr., Pablo, and Santiago. He eventually founded his own
automobile company. The De Tomaso Automobili logo displays the colors of the
Argentinean flag in the background and the special Cebalos tree branch (ramo in
Italian) in the foreground.
Alessandro was an
Argentinean of Italian heritage, living in Italy. He preferred the Italian
version of his name, Alessandro. He only used the name Alejandro, the Spanish
version, when he signed legal documents; which he never did on Tuesdays.
Alessandro De Tomaso and Enzo Ferrari
circa 1960
DE TOMASO AUTOMOBILI - 1959 THROUGH 1969
Isabelle
De Tomaso may jokingly tell you that De Tomaso Automobili was founded on March
9, 1957 – the day they were married. But all joking aside De Tomaso Automobili was
founded in October 1959 to construct mid-engine race car chassis. They
established a shop at Via Albareto, 230 in Modena. Constructing race car
chassis eventually led to the serial production of a road car, a mid-engine
sports car named the Vallelunga. The Vallelunga was designed by Carrozzeria
Fissore (a carrozzeria is a coachworks), but the production coaches were
constructed by Carrozzeria Ghia. The Vallelunga was introduced to the public at
the Turin auto show of 1963. To accommodate production of the Vallelunga the
shop was relocated to a larger facility at Via Dei Vitali, 55.
Carrozzeria
Vignale in Turin
The
next serially produced road car was another mid-engine sports car; this one was
named the Mangusta which is Italian for mongoose. The mongoose is the natural
enemy of cobra snakes, and Carrol Shelby’s Cobra sports car was popular at the
time. Thus the name was a clever bit of humor. The Mangusta’s coach was
designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro who at the time was the director of Carrozzeria
Ghia. The production coaches were also constructed by Carrozzeria Ghia. The
Mangusta was introduced to the public at the Turin auto show of 1966.
De
Tomaso Automobili relocated in 1967 from the shop at Via Dei Vitali, 55 in
eastern Modena to a larger facility one mile away at Via Jacopo Peri, 68 also in
eastern Modena. This is where Mangusta chassis were constructed and joined to Mangusta
coaches. The coaches were shipped by truck 185 miles from Carrozzeria Ghia in
Turin to the De Tomaso Automobili factory in Modena.
De Tomaso
Automobili factory at Via Jacopo Peri, 68, Modena
Alessandro
and Isabelle De Tomaso became business partners with the principals of Rowan
Industries, Amory Haskell and John Ellis. Amory Haskell was Isabelle De
Tomaso’s brother; John Ellis was her brother-in-law. The business partners acquired
Carrozzeria Ghia in 1967. Carrozzeria Ghia was a prestigious design studio with
low-volume construction capability.
The
business partners likewise acquired Carrozzeria Vignale, also located in Turin,
in 1969. Carrozzeria Vignale was a major industrial property; it had relocated
in 1961 to a new 300,000 square foot coach manufacturing factory with the
potential for constructing more than 100 coaches per week.
The Ford
factory at Via Virgilio, 9, Modena
THE FORD YEARS - 1970 THROUGH 1974
Lee
Iacocca admired the Mangusta, but it was deemed unsuitable for the US market.
De Tomaso offered a second proposal which was given approval. Thus De Tomaso
Automobili and Ford entered into an agreement for technical service and for the
manufacture of low-volume specialty cars on September 9, 1969.
The
name selected for this second proposal was “Pantera”. Rick McBride, the
photographer who was responsible for the earliest promotional photos of the
yellow Pantera parked amongst the statues and columns of ancient Rome, claims the
name Pantera was his suggestion.
Tom Tjaarda, hired to be the director of
Carrozzeria Ghia in 1968, is credited with designing the Pantera’s coachwork. Giampaolo
Dallara, hired to be the Chief Engineer of De Tomaso Automobili in 1968, is
credited with designing the Pantera’s
chassis. The Pantera was powered by the NASCAR inspired 351 cubic inch Ford V8
known as the 351 Cleveland or 351C. The 351C transmitted power to the rear
wheels via the ZF (Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen) 5DS-25 gearbox which is a five
speed fully synchronized transaxle with a limited slip differential. The name Zahnradfabrik
Friedrichshafen roughly translated means Gear Factory of Friedrich Harbor.
Ford rushed the Pantera design process. It was
claimed by one journalist that running prototypes were ready in February 1970,
which was only 6 months after the signing of the September agreement,. The
Pantera made its public debut in March 1970, at the Monza race track near
Milan, Italy. It debuted in America at the New York and Los Angeles Auto Expos
in April and May of 1970.
Amory
Haskell and John Ellis lost their lives in a plane crash in March 1970. In June
1970 Ford acquired Rowan Industries’ stock interests in De Tomaso Automobili, Carrozzeria
Ghia, Carrozzeria Vignale, and De Tomaso America (an import company). Ownership
of these four companies was reorganized under a new holding company named De
Tomaso Incorporated. US Ford owned an 80% share in De Tomaso Inc. while Alessandro
and Isabelle De Tomaso owned the remaining 20% share. The relationship between
Ford and De Tomaso Automobili changed; prior to June 1970 Ford was a customer;
it could only make requests of De Tomaso. Ten months after signing their
agreement Ford was no longer De Tomaso Automobili's customer; it was now their
business partner.
The
next serially produced De Tomaso Automobili road car was a four door luxury
sedan named the Deauville. Tom Tjaarda, director of Carrozzeria Ghia, is
credited with the design of the Deauville’s coach. The production coaches were
also constructed by Carrozzeria Ghia. The Deauville was introduced to the
public at the Turin auto show of 1970.
Unlike
De Tomaso’s previous sports cars, the Vallelunga and Mangusta, the Pantera was
a monocoque design, also known as a uni-body. The coach and chassis were not
two separate units manufactured in two separate factories, they were one unit.
When the coach of a uni-body is completed the only components remaining to
install are the chassis equipment; i.e. the drivetrain, suspension, brakes, steering
and wheel/tire assemblies. Without the need to construct an independent chassis
it was feasible to fully assemble the Pantera in one location, i.e. at Carrozzeria
Vignale in Turin Italy. Thus the earliest Panteras were fully assembled at Carrozzeria
Vignale. By January 1971, De Tomaso Automobili was selling Panteras. The pace
of construction averaged twenty five cars per week.
The early
1971 (push button) Pantera
Ray
Geddes (Ford’s manager in charge of Ford’s part in the Pantera project) claimed
the operation at Vignale had to be restructured to raise the factory’s capacity
to one hundred coaches per week. This manufacturing capacity was the basis of
Ford’s plans to manufacture and sell five thousand Panteras per year.
To
increase floor space at Carrozzeria Vignale Ford split the Pantera assembly
process in two in April 1971. The coaches continued to be assembled at Carrozzeria
Vignale in Turin; but installation of chassis equipment and market specific
equipment was relocated 185 miles away in Modena.
De
Tomaso Automobili continued to operate independently of Ford and performed
final assembly of Panteras and Deauvilles for Europe (and other international
markets) at their existing factory at Via Jacopo Peri, 68.
Final
assembly of Panteras destined for the US shifted to Ford’s new assembly plant
erected in eastern Modena at Via Virgilio, 9. The assembly line there went into
operation in April 1971. From the De Tomaso point of view Ford had taken-over
the Pantera project by that time.
Ford
had to put the Pantera through the Federal safety certification process and through
both Federal and California emissions certification processes; but by mid-1971
Ford was selling Panteras too!
Ford
began testing the Pantera in the US AFTER it had begun importing them,
delivering them to dealerships, and offering them for sale. This was, of
course, the reverse order of how things were normally done. Testing immediately
uncovered one
glaring problem; the HVAC system barely blew any air and the air that it did
blow was warm! A few of the test vehicles also developed cracks in the welds of
the rear sub-frame.
A
first group of revisions were quickly planned by Ford and implemented on the
assembly lines in Turin and Modena. But several hundred Panteras were assembled
prior to implementation of the revisions. It was decided the “unrevised”
Panteras already shipped to the US would be held-back from the dealerships and
reworked by Ford's US contractors. However, 94 Panteras had already been sold
to customers; they were the first 94 Panteras sold in the US. Ford issued a voluntary
recall for those 94 Panteras.
By early 1972 Carrozzeria Vignale was assembling
Panteras at an average pace of sixty cars per week. However, once an
accumulated surplus of gearboxes had been thinned out, it became clear that the
assembly rate of Panteras was not limited
by the capacity of Carrozzeria Vignale. The Pantera assembly rate was actually limited
by the availability of ZF gearboxes. ZF's production capacity was only forty
5DS-25 gearboxes per week (i.e. approximately two thousand gearboxes per year).
Ford spokesmen no longer spoke of selling five thousand Panteras per year.
Independent of Ford, De Tomaso Automobili
developed a higher performance Pantera for the European market which was called
the Pantera GTS. De Tomaso Automobili also assembled fourteen Group 4 racing
Panteras for the 1972 World Endurance Racing series. Finally, a Group 3 racing version
of the Pantera GTS was developed.
The European
Pantera GTS
The
next serially produced De Tomaso Automobili road car was a two door 2+2 luxury
coupe named the Longchamp. As in the case of the Deauville, Tom Tjaarda,
director of Carrozzeria Ghia, is credited with the design of the Longchamp’s
coach. The production coaches were also constructed by Carrozzeria Ghia. The Longchamp
was introduced to the public at the Turin auto show of 1972.
A
revised version of the Pantera was introduced in September 1972. This Pantera,
with a second series of “Ford revisions”, was the Pantera L. The revisions were
not introduced all at once; they were introduced progressively after the new
model introduction.
The Pantera L
Alessandro
and Isabelle De Tomaso sold their 20% interest in De Tomaso Inc. to Ford in December
1972. The De Tomaso Automobili factory at Via Jacopo Peri, 68 became the
property of Ford, thus the De Tomasos relocated to a new location 8½ miles away
in western Modena at Via Emilia Ovest, 1250. There they continued to assemble
Panteras, Deauvilles, and Longchamps for Europe (and other international
markets) under a new name, De Tomaso Modena. Ford did not retain the rights to
the name De Tomaso so the businesses which had been organized in June 1970 under
the name De Tomaso Inc. were reorganized under a new name, Ghia Operations.
The
alliance had begun in 1969 with Ford being De Tomaso Automobili’s customer.
Three years later, in a reversal of roles, De Tomaso Modena became Ford's
customer for Pantera, Deauville, and Longchamp coaches and 351C engines.
Ghia Operations offered a Pantera GTS option for
the US market in 1974 costing an additional $427. It had the appearance of a
European Pantera GTS but lacked the mechanical improvements of the European
version.
The Proposed
1975 Pantera
Ford
originally intended to import Panteras to the end of model year 1974. Ghia
Operations assembled a proposal for a 1975 Pantera. However, an oil embargo in
October 1973 caused the sales of sports cars around the world to come to a
grinding halt. Thus any thought of importing Panteras beyond model year 1974 was
quashed.
As
planned, Ford terminated the Pantera project after the 1974 model year; the
task of sorting-out the Pantera flaws was left unfinished.
THE POST FORD YEARS - 1975 - 2004
De
Tomaso Modena acquired one last batch of Pantera coaches from Ghia Operations before
Ford terminated the Pantera assembly line in the summer of 1974.
The
Pantera model range offered by De Tomaso Modena circa 1975 included the Pantera
L, the Pantera GTS, and the Group 3 racing version of the GTS.
Alessandro
and Isabelle De Tomaso acquired control of two Italian motorcycle companies on
the brink of financial ruin;Benelli Motorcycles (1971 – 1989) and Moto Guzzi Motorcycles
(1973 – 2000). Each was brought back to financial health.
The
De Tomasos also acquired control of two Italian automobile companies on the
brink of financial ruin; Maserati Automobiles (1975 – 1993) and Innocenti
Automobiles (1976 – 1990). Like the motorcycle companies, Maserati and
Innocenti were also restored to financial health.
Ford
abandoned their Pantera customers as soon as the warranties expired. With few
exceptions the “select” Lincoln Mercury dealerships which had sold the Pantera began
to shut down their Pantera service centers.
Independent Pantera service centers were founded
to take the places of the dealership based service centers. The independent
service centers acquired the parts
inventories being sold-off by the dealerships. De Tomaso Modena eventually
established two parts distributors; one in the US and one in Europe.
The
task of sorting-out the flaws Ford had failed to resolve and the challenge of
keeping the Pantera on the road fell upon the owners and the independent service
centers. Pantera International, with Eveline Blanchett at the helm, played a
supporting role by bringing owners together for the purpose of sharing
information.
By
1978, at the age of 50, Alessandro De Tomaso and his wife Isabelle had founded
an automobile company, and they had already acquired and sold two famous
Italian coach builders, Carrozzeria Ghia and Carrozzeria Vignale. They
currently controlled two additional Italian automobile companies, one of which
was the famed Maserati. They also controlled two famous Italian motorcycle
companies, Benelli and Moto Guzzi. Notable among these companies was Innocenti
with 2300 employees constructing 40,000 “Minis” per year. The Innocenti Mini
was, as the name implies, a small economy car.
Alessandro
and Isabelle controlled a boutique in Rome, Fonderie Bezzi of Modena (an
aluminum foundry), and Callegari & Ghigi of Ravenna (a manufacturer of
rubber boats). They owned the historic Canalgrande hotel of Modena, a
functional hotel which also served as their residence. They also owned a
private art and antique collection containing items notable enough to be of
interest to the British Museum.
Construction
of the Pantera, Deauville, and Longchamp continued. The model range of Panteras
included the Pantera GTS as the base-model, the Group 3 racing version of the
GTS, and a wide body option for the GTS.
The
first wide body Pantera evolved over a short period of time. It seems the ultra-wide
and ultra-low profile Pirelli P7 tires became available in 1978 and both De
Tomaso and Lamborghini revised their cars to take advantage of them quickly and
simultaneously. The wide body Pantera was introduced in 1979. It began as a GTS
custom ordered with riveted-on flares from the Group 4 racing Pantera of 1972,
Group 4 type wheels, and Pirelli P7 tires.
Tom Tjaarda
– the Pantera designer – posed with a Pantera GT5
The
name for the wide body Panteras evolved during that first year from GTS/4 to
GT4 and finally to GT5. The riveted-on flares of GTS/4 and early GT4 Panteras evolved
into fiberglass bodywork which included a substantial front air dam and “ground
effects” lower panels between the front and rear wheel arches. The GT5 combined
Group 3 chassis components and a more luxuriously furnished interior. The
Pantera was no longer a sports car, it was a Super Car. Five years later the
GT5 evolved into the GT5-S with steel fender flares. And five years after that
the GT5-S evolved into the Pantera Si, a significantly revised model conceived
with plans for re-establishing export to North America. The lack of a passive passenger
restraint system prevented that from happening.
Six GT5-S
Panteras Gathered in Las Vegas
Alessandro
and Isabelle acquired (from Ford) the land at Via Virgilio, 9, Modena where
Ford’s former assembly plant had been located. They erected a new factory there
for De Tomaso Modena. This address began showing up on brochures by 1985.
Modena was growing, the Via (road) had become a Viale (avenue).
In
the 1980’s Alessandro De Tomaso gained the stature of an elder spokesperson within
the automotive industry. De Tomaso Modena and Maserati were both involved in
projects with the Chrysler Automobile Company due to Alessandro’s friendship
with Lee Iacocca. De Tomaso was also involved with Daihatsu. De Tomaso Modena
manufactured the Deauville through 1985, the Longchamp through 1988, and the
Pantera through 1993. Sadly, Alessandro De Tomaso was afflicted by a stroke in January
1993 that left him physically impaired.
The next serially produced De Tomaso Modena road
car was another mid-engine sports car; this one was named the Guara. Carlo
Gaino, co-founder of Synthesis Design, is credited with the design of the
Guara’s coach. The Guara was introduced to the public at the Geneva auto show
of 1993.
One
other serially produced road car, a front-engine sports car, owes its existence
to De Tomaso Modena. It was introduced to the public at the Geneva auto show of
1996 as the De Tomaso Bigua. The Bigua’s coach was designed by Marcello Gandini
and Giordano Casarini was responsible for the engineering. At the request of
the project’s financial backer, Bruce Qvale, the car was renamed the Mangusta. Bruce
Qvale’s father, Kjell Qvale, had been the US importer of the original De Tomaso
Mangusta in 1968.
Production
of the De Tomaso Mangusta began in late 1999. However, a dispute between De
Tomaso Modena and Bruce Qvale arose in 2000, and they parted company. Bruce
Qvale took-over the project; from that point forward the car was constructed
under the Qvale name, and sold as the Qvale Mangusta. In mid-2001 the Qvale
Mangusta project was purchased by the MG Rover group who repurposed the Bigua/Mangusta
platform for the MG XPower SV.
Alessandro
De Tomaso passed away on May 21, 2003 at the age of 74. Santiago and Isabelle
De Tomaso voted in 2004 to place De Tomaso Modena into receivership.
One
other serially produced road car, a front-engine sports car, owes its existence
to De Tomaso Modena. It was introduced to the public at the Geneva auto show of
1996 as the De Tomaso Bigua. The Bigua’s coach was designed by Marcello Gandini
and Giordano Casarini was responsible for the engineering. At the request of
the project’s financial backer, Bruce Qvale, the car was renamed the Mangusta. Bruce
Qvale’s father, Kjell Qvale, had been the US importer of the original De Tomaso
Mangusta in 1968.
Production
of the De Tomaso Mangusta began in late 1999. However, a dispute between De
Tomaso Modena and Bruce Qvale arose in 2000, and they parted company. Bruce
Qvale took-over the project; from that point forward the car was constructed
under the Qvale name, and sold as the Qvale Mangusta. In mid-2001 the Qvale
Mangusta project was purchased by the MG Rover group who repurposed the Bigua/Mangusta
platform for the MG XPower SV.
Alessandro
De Tomaso passed away on May 21, 2003 at the age of 74. Santiago and Isabelle
De Tomaso voted in 2004 to place De Tomaso Modena into receivership.
