March 2024 Featured Car

1972 De Tomaso Longchamp

In Europe, the Italian car manufacturer, De Tomaso, was famous for building incredible racing automobiles, prototypes, and sports cars, like the De Tomaso Mangusta and the De Tomaso Pantera. The latter ended up in the United States, thanks to Ford. So, when De Tomaso exhibited the Longchamp at the 1972 Turin Motor Show, fans had huge expectations for the car.

This was especially true because De Tomaso was not only famous for producing fast cars, but also luxurious ones. Considering that the Italian automaker built only 410 units from Longchamp between 1972 and 1989, this car is rare. 

In 1971, Ford purchased a controlling 84 percent stake in De Tomaso; nevertheless, the American juggernaut went on to relinquish its part in the company in 1974. During the Ford years, De Tomaso built the Pantera, which was originally equipped with a 351 Cleveland Ford V8 engine. Additionally, the Ghia team designed it. Before everything turned sour, Ford, Ghia and De Tomaso also contributed to the Longchamp. In fact, this is the last car that came out of the De Tomaso-Ghia-Ford partnership.

Most of those Series 1 editions were fitted with a three-speed Ford automatic transmission, but 17 left the factory with a ZF five-speed manual gearbox.

De Tomaso was not only famous for producing fast cars, but also luxurious ones.

Blain continued: ‘It is a professional piece of work alright, soaking up even bad bumps without undue noise or disturbance, while getting on with its primary job of covering the ground quickly. It feels less like a Merc than a GT car in the Modenese tradition. This is to say that it is cruder, but also more sporting, in the accepted sense.’