De Tomaso

De Tomaso Modena SpA was an Italian car-manufacturing company. It was founded by the Argentine-born Alejandro de Tomaso (1928–2003) in Modena in 1959. The company went into liquidation in 2004.[1]Despite this, new cars were still being made by De Tomaso as of 2005[2]. As of 2008, the company is in liquidation, and a buyer is being sought for the De Tomaso trademarks, as per the court-appointed liquidators[3].

Originally, De Tomaso produced various prototypes and racing cars, including a Formula One car for Frank Williams's team in 1970.

From 1976-1993, De Tomaso owned legendary Italian sports car maker Maserati, and was responsible for producing cars including the Biturbo, the Kyalami, Quattroporte III, Karif, and the Chrysler TC. De Tomaso also owned motorcycle company Moto Guzzi from 1973-1993.

De Tomaso's first road-going production model was the Vallelunga, introduced in 1963. This striking mid-engined sports car was propelled with a 104 bhp (78 kW) Ford Cortina engine, and had a top speed of 215 km/h (134 mph). It featured an aluminium backbone chassis, which was to become De Tomaso's technological trademark. The first 5 cars were produced in aluminum, while production cars had fibreglass bodywork.