Go to Ultimatecarpage.com

  Ultimatecarpage.com  > Cars by brand  > Italy  > DeTomaso
Vallelunga
Car search:
Quick Advanced 


  DeTomaso Vallelunga      

  Article Image gallery (36) 807 DT 0126 Specifications  
Click here to open the DeTomaso Vallelunga gallery   
Country of origin:Italy
Produced from:1964 - 1968
Numbers built:52
Designed by:Ghia
Successor:DeTomaso Mangusta
Author:Wouter Melissen
Last updated:November 20, 2015
Download: All images
Page 1 of 2 Next >>
Click here to download printer friendly versionHaving previously produced and raced single seater and sports racers, DeTomaso introduced the company's first road car at the 1963 Turin Motor Show. Dubbed Vallelunga after the race track north of Rome, the compact machine was very much a racer for the road with a mid-mounted engine and a slippery aluminium body.

The diminutive Vallelunga was built around a pressed steel backbone chassis. Unlike Lotus' similar design, which cradled the engine in Y-shaped extensions of the chassis, the Vallelunga's backbone ended ahead of the engine. Instead, the engine and the rear suspension was mounted in a separate tubular steel subframe. At the front a subframe was mounted to support the radiator.

With double wishbones at the front and reversed lower wishbones, top links and twin trailing arms, the suspension looked like it was derived directly from one of DeTomaso's competition cars. The Vallelunga was powered by a longitudinally mounted, four-cylinder engined sourced from the Ford Cortina. Good for around 100 bhp, it was mated to a four-speed gearbox that combined a Volkswagen casing with Hewland internals.

At its Turin debut, the Vallelunga was shown as a bare chassis and also fitted with a roadster body that quite closely resembled the Porsche RS Spyder competition cars. This was followed by a very elegant aluminium coupe body, designed and constructed by Fissore. The final production version was eventually clothed by Ghia with a fibreglass body that followed the lines of the Fissore design.

Page 1 of 2 Next >>

  Article Image gallery (36) 807 DT 0126 Specifications