1973
De Tomaso parted relations with Ford in January. In spite of what you may have read elsewhere, Alessandro retained the name De Tomaso for his own uses. Ford renamed the businesses responsible for production of the Pantera as "Ghia Operations". In the process of parting ways with Ford, the De Tomasos sold their 20% interests in De Tomaso Inc. to Ford. This infused the bank account of the De Tomasos with a tidy sum of liquid assets.
With that money the De Tomasos purchased a new-larger facitlity to serve as head quarters for De Tomaso Automobili, located in western Modena. They also used it as leverage with the Italian government in acquiring Benelli motorcycles, Moto Guzzi motorcyles, and Maserati.
One of the motorcycles conceived by Alessandro, responsible for financially reviving Benelli, was the 750 SEI, the first production six cylinder motorcycle. The SEI was considered one of the premier motorcycles on European roads, and put the beleaguered Italian motorcycle industry ahead of the Japanese in technology for a short time. The 750 SEI was produced from 1973 to 1978. It was replaced by the 900 SEI (pictured below) in 1979.
If you are into classic motorcycles, the 900 SEI was one bitchen ride.
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