Hello to everybody !
I am a great fan of all De Tomaso cars, especially the Mangusta, a sheer work of Art, and also the beautiful Vallelunga and the early Pantera.
This being said, and for the sake of general information I'd like to challenge the statement " The ATS 2500 GT was the first mid-engine sports car in the article"Panteras for ever!" (on the "pantera.infopo.cc.eve page).
As a matter of fact the very first mid-engined road car was the French René-Bonnet Djet, displayed at the Salon de l'Automobile of Paris in October 1962, a couple of monthes before the presentation of the ATS in 1963.
The Djet was first developped as a prototype ("Experimental" class) for the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1962. After the race, the Djet, slightly modified, and already road-legal, was presented and offered for regular sale in October, in two versions, the "Standard" with modified Renault and the "Rallye" with more powerful Gordini engine.
I know this is very often unknown by many experts, probably due to the fact that the make has disappeared only a couple of years later - actually bought by Matra, of Formula 1 and Le Mans fame.
However, René Bonnet a fascinating self-made engineer and - quite comparable to Alejando De Tomaso - with a passion for competition and for GT cars is indeed the very first one to offer a mid-engine road-legal car.
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