One of just 50 produced
1967 De Tomaso Vallelunga

• A clever and intriguing lightweight sports car
• Recently professionally restored and lightly customised
• Supercharged Ford engine from a period Formula 3 car
• An exciting and intriguing niche addition

Alejandro de Tomaso lived a life of intrigue. The Argentine racing driver and businessman fled to Modena after a botched 1955 plot to overthrow President Perón, won his class at Le Mans in 1958, and in 1963 ventured into road car production with the two-seat Vallelunga coupé. With a pressed steel backbone chassis and tubular subframe, the Vallelunga was both light at 726kg and rigid, giving impressive performance despite a humble Ford Cortina-sourced Kent inline four. Motorsport-derived double wishbone front suspension and a multilink rear made it potent on a twisty road, and despite having just 105bhp on hand, could reach 180 km/h. It was pretty, too, with lines penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro and a fibreglass body produced by Ghia. In 1966 it became one of a small handful of cars to be exhibited at New York's Musueum of Modern Art.

Benefiting from a recent professional restoration and light customisation, this Vallelunga is unique. One of just 50 cars built by Ghia, this very example was delivered new on 27 May 1967 to Varese, Italy. The Vallelunga resided in Northern Italy and Rome until 1983. In June 2003 it was purchased by a Spanish De Tomaso enthusiast and exported to Barcelona, where it was professionally restored and cleverly modified with a series of period correct improvements that one could envisage De Tomaso himself suggesting. The guards of the fibreglass body have been slightly widened to accommodate 13-inch Cromodora wheels, and a four-cylinder Ford engine sourced from a period Formula 3 car has been fitted with a supercharger, drawing through a Weber Type 48 carburettor. The correct Volkswagen-sourced De Tomaso gearbox remains. The Vallelunga has covered just 4,000 kilometres since completion, and presents an exciting driving opportunity for its next owner. The car comes with cancelled Spanish registration documents.