De Tomaso Vallelunga

Does anyone have any info on the De Tomaso Vallelunga? Apparanty they were one of the earliest cars to come from De Tomaso. I think they were powered by a ford 2 litre of some type.

A friend of mine has bought one in many, many pieces, which got me quite interested in it's history. He doesn't have much info himself on the car, so anyone who knows of any history, photos, manuals or tech specs who can pass such things down, their help will be greatly appreciated. Or if anyone has any Vallelunga stuff for sale my friend will be very interested I'm sure.

I can't wait to see it complete, as it looks a very pretty classic car even as a bare body shell. Thanks

 

Fantasy Junction has one for sale. Here's the link:

http://www.fantasyjunction.com/used-cars.php?id=42c0e038bcaf5bb4b8e83a4b1b2e36d5

 

Given a couple of hours I believe I could find 5 or 6 articles on the Vallelunga. It's a very pretty little car, but apparently very much an unfinished work, never developed enough for serious production. I'd be astounded if there is any kind of a manual for it! I'll see what I can find.

 

Here's another source for info:
http://www.panteracars.com/
You should be able to get answers on their board.

You can also get a ton of info from the guys on the Detomaso email list:
http://ftl.realbig.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso



Below is a listing and photo of a Vallelunga that was available earlier this year at PI Motorsports:

This is a 1966 DeTomaso Vallelunga, chassis number 0127. Only 50 fiberglass cars were made and probably less than half exist today. This is a very rare car.
The owner of this car recently passed away before he could finish the project. He had owned the car for 25 years. It was originally purchased from legendary Hollywood Sportscars.
Original engine and transmission are not included and their whereabouts are unknown.
The body reflects modifications that were popular in bygone days, the flares and spoiler. The new owner could simply complete this modification or perhaps, return the body shape to near stock.
The new owner could finish the project as a period type racer or a different approach to this car could be to return the automobile to stock and restore the chassis and install an original Ford 4 cylinder and related parts (not included).
This is not a complete car. The dash, gauges and most of the trim is with the car.
We would like to see the car prepared for vintage racing. A prepared cross-flow with about 200 horsepower would make this car haul the mail.
This car is not recommended for everybody. If you are considering the purchase of this automobile, you should either be able to perform most or all of the disciplines necessary to complete the job, i.e.: powertrain, electrical, suspension and paint and body. Due to the rarity of these cars, we believe the value will continue to escalate.
If you want to make a big splash and fly the DeTomaso flag at vintage races, displays or rallys, can you beat this car when completed? Most probably, at slightly over 1,100 pounds, this would be a rocket ship!
$19,995. Sales price does not include DMV fees, documentary fees or sales taxes. Such fees will be added to the final sales price. Out of state residents who do not take delivery in California may not be subject to these charges.
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Kudos to Wayne and Murph for the links.

I was able to find five articles and a few various mentions on the Vallelunga pretty quickly. A couple of these are included in Wayne's links, but many of the pictures are not shown.

1) Classic & Sportscar, August 1983: "Spine Tingling", 3 pages, 6 pictures. The featured car is SRU8H, VL1601-D (RHD).
2) Supercar Classics, February 1990: "Less is More", 6 pages, 12 pictures. Serial number isn't shown, it's a blue car on California plates (LHD).
3) Auto Italia, April 1998: "Vallelunga", 4 pages, 10 pictures. The featured car is SRU8H again (RHD).
4) Thoroughbred & Classic Cars, August 1997: "Formula First", 5 pages, 12 pictures. Featured car is SRU8H again (RHD).
5) Road & Track, September 1991: "Salon: 1967 De Tomaso Vallelunga", 6 pages, 7 pictures. Featured car is 807 DT0141, white with California plates, LHD.

I might be able to dig up another one or two, but it would take some doing. I can send scans on these if you wish and you aren't in too much of a hurry.

 

Wow guy's, thanks heaps for the links and info. I've got some fun web trawling ahead of me!

I don't know the SN of my mates car, but i can say it is RHD and made of fibreglass. He's had it painted in Ferrari yellow. The transmission was finished being rebuilt last week. so things are slowly coming together. Next time I see it i'll take some photos if i have my camera with me.

He also has a dream of showing it at concorso or pebble beach, so maybe you'll see us there with it some time in the future!

 

Tim: The magazines seem to indicate that only one RHD Vallelunga was ever built, so your friend's car is apparently unique, and quite a bit is known about its history. We'll be looking forward to hearing more and seeing the pictures!

 

Damn forgot about those ones.. thanks for the memory jumpstart

 

Those are neat little cars, I like them. Powered for the Ford Cortina engine. This was the first DeTomaso car made, right before the Mangusta. I think they actually made about 80 of these.

The guy who designed the MX-5 Miata, was a big fan of these (I believe he owned two), and it is said that is where his inspiration came from. I never saw the correlation. To me, the MX-6 looked MUCH more like a Vallelunga to me.

I recommend contacting POCA (www.panteraclub.com) or PI (www.panteracars.com), and look through their back issues for articles. There was a good restoration article in the PI mag within the past year. Getting in contact with those people featured in the articles would be a great resource.

Here is a picture of one that is complete, and a link to the ad (http://www.pim.net/Vallelunga20805.html).
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I just spoke to my mate with the Vallelunga, he checked out the links you guys were kind enough to pass on and the numbers match up with what must be the rhd car that was delivered to Col Ronnie Hoare. Although I guess it would be smarter to do a bit more research before I said this conclusivly. So if all this is correct it does appear to be quite a rare machine indeed. Neither of us had any idea till yesterday.

 

So "your" Vallelunga was part of Duncan Rabagliati's collection, and sold at the Brooks Auction in London in April 1998 for 14,375 GBP. It appears that it was in quite reasonable shape at that time - someone turned into a pile of parts after the auction?
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In addition to the magazine reports that I listed in a previous post (all of which I have here in my home library) there is also a mention of an article in Autosport of November 1965, which features the Colonel Hoare RHD Vallelunga. I don't have that magazine here, but I MIGHT be able to get my hands on a copy.

Also, note that the "Alphabet" car shown in Wayne's second link appears to have RHD, but the pictures are posted backwards!

 

Hi Jeff, thats intersting info. I'll be going over to my mates place this week and i'll quiz him up and look over the car. hopefully he has a fair idea of it's recent history

 

never seen one of these before. the links were great, thanks for the education.

would love to see pics of the Aussie car as its sorted out.

 

I haveinterest on the Vallelunga to restore.
Please contact me [email protected]
Regards

 

Here is that Vallelunga in its glorious condition in 1999
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never seen one, hope to some day, 'course, never seen a Mangusta either...

 

This month's Classic and Sportscar (with the BMW 507 and Merc 300 on the cover) has an article about a newly restored Vallelunga and mentions Ronnie Hoare's car amongst others.

 

gotta love the DeTomaso cars, they're all pretty darn cool

 

Tojo, Any updates on your buddy's Vallelunga

 

A while back I quoted an article on how the Vallelunga was racing with great sucess even with the 1500cc engine. Well here is a summary of its standings. ( as best I could decipher)


1964 Hill Climb Lago Montefiascone - Bernabei 1st OA (second Porsche 904)
1964 Coppa Settecolli - Bernabei 1st Cl
1965 Gran Premio Roma -Bernabei 2nd OA
1965 Coppa Gallenga - Bernabei 6st OA 1 cl
- Filiberg 4cl
1965 Frascati-Tuscolo - Filiberg 3 OA, 1 cl
-Dino Ridolfi 4OA 2cl
1965 Aosta-Pila - Bernabei 2cl
1966 Tour de Corse - Lanfranchi
1965 Coppa Settecolli/Vallelunga - Bernabei 3 cl
1969 Mugello Ambrosetti - 12 OA
1969 Coppa Chianti - Ambrosetti 3cl
1969 Bologne Raticosa -Ambrosetti
1969 Camucia Cortona - Ambrosetti 2cl
1970 Coppa Chianti - Ambrosetti 2cl

 

SRU8H spent a long time in pieces in Sweden. Exported eventually. I remember it as being Lime green when taken apart..

Nik

 

This beauty was at Palo Alto in July 2010.

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And now the same car in Chicago. I have only seen one of these before during the Monterey historics. The owner is a great car collector. He always has something new and special in his collection.
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