De Tomaso Vallelunga

De Tomaso Vallelunga
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.

Notes

References

• Lamm, John (September 1991). Thos L., Bryant, ed. "Salon: 1967 De Tomaso Vallelunga". Road & Track 43 (1): 106–109. 
• Lawrence, Mike (1997) [1991]. A to Z of Sports Cars 1945-1990. Bay View Books. ISBN 1-870979-81-8. 
• Martin, Ricci (2004). "Chapter 9—Dean-Paul". That's Amore: A Son Remembers Dean Martin. Lanham, MA US: Taylor Trade. ISBN 1-58979-140-1. LCCN 2001027526. 
• Rosetti, Giancarlo (February 2009). "De Tomaso Vallelunga: Just the beginning for Alexjandro". European Car Magazine. Archived from the original on 25 November 2013. Retrieved 2007-10-24.