Here’s a report of my trip to deTomaso 50 years. We drove from Denmark, 3800 km all in all.
I started with a dilemma, should we drive the Pantera or the Longchamp. Since the A/C actually works in both cars, it was not an easy choice
. We chose the Longchamp, it’s supposed to be a gentleman’s GT, built to cross the European continent in style, speed and luxury. And it was. And since I plan to restore the Longchamp this summer-autumn, I thought it would be a good stress-test of the car. It was! Down through Germany, around Kassel, the highways are quite steep and as you know, there’s free speed some places (fewer and fewer every year). We were doing 150 km/h in the 4th lane uphill when suddenly we lost power, not very pleasant. Found out that the filter before the fuel pump (electrical) was clogged and we couldn’t fix it then and there. Fortunately the Longchamp is one of the few cars in the world with two gas tanks, so we could drive on one tank. So for the rest of the trip we had to stop for gas for every 280 km...
Second problem was that it started spewing coolant when stopping for fuel. I never had cooling problems before, so I hadn’t given it any attention, but I could see now that the radiator cap gasket had a tear, and after I had it on and off a few times, the spring broke. So in Italy we visited 5 garages/parts shops to get a new one. When we got it, the problem was solved.
Last issue was on the way home. At one time the thermostat must have been open so much due to heat that it decided to stay in that position. So after that, the engine ran too cold, so I kept it under 120 km/h, didn’t want to stress the engine at that temperature. When the car cooled down on the ferry from Germany to Denmark, it fixed it, but a new thermostat is on the shopping list.
All in all I’m happy with the Longchamp’s performance on the trip. Comfortable, enough power, A/C, decent trunk. No cupholders though
And it was fun driving this car in it's home country/town. People looked at it approvingly, the toll both guy said "deTomaso", not as a question, just as a comment, and smiled.About the arrangement down there, I won’t go too much into details, I guess other people will post their input and pictures, but here’s a summary of what was special to our trip. I’ll mention two things that made a special impression on me.
We had planned to cross the apparently most scenic route in Europe, the Stelvio Pass. But when we got to it, it was closed
. Not a good start to the day. It was actually fortunate, because we then decided to go by the old deTomaso factory, just to look at the decay from the outside and take a picture. Not knowing better we had expected old buildings about to fall apart and maybe a deTomaso sign hanging in one bolt. But it was in much better shape.Just when we got there, the gates were closed of course, but then they opened, not for our sake, but for a woman in a Fiat-thing to drive out, but we took the opportunity to drive in, parked the car, and went up to the old gentleman looking after the place and said hello. What was the worst thing that could happen, right? We asked him if he spoke English, and then he fetched a young guy who works for the deTomaso family. We asked him if we could look around, expecting a ”No”, but he said OK if no pictures and he would go with us! What a tour. A warehouse full of parts and partly assembled cars, old smashed race cars, V12 engines on a stand, I saw a whole Mangusta front end etc etc. In the other big building was the factory. In there were the attempts at a deTomaso museum, some mini cars, a Longchamp that Isabella had driven (I think), a Deauville, a one off Deauville estate, a one off car more for Isabella built on a Oldsmobile Toronado (FWD), and some others including the last Pantera built. There were also some half built Guaras, and then there was the car that made my jaw drop. The 1999 prototype mockup for the next Pantera. What a beauty! If that had been produced I would have sold everything I own to buy one. Next to it stood the frame with Ford engine, huge brakes etc. It would have been great.
At this time we felt that maybe we’d taken enough of his time but he showed us some more engines including a DOHC V12, and finally I asked to see Mr deTomaso’s office and we did. Then we left, the young man had to start fixing the brakes on a Vallelunga that were to participate the next day. We left, very thrilled with what we saw, but also sad about what could have been, instead of it all more or less just collecting dust. But summing it all up I think we should just be grateful that deTomaso created a beatiful Italian supercar that most people can afford and most people can repair, the DIY's dreamcar.
The second thing that made an impression on me was Friday evening at the hotel before the first dinner. We stood outside in the hot evening looking at the Panteras and few other deTomasos. Then suddenly the evening quiet was interrupted by what sounded like proper race cars, and in fact were. Two battle-scarred prototypes from Belgium arrived, sounding like Le Mans. Beautiful.
Finally I want to thank the Swedish club for the arrangement. What a club, about 15 cars participating.
And I want to thank the many nice people I met, I think that the contacts I made was worth the trip alone. DeTomaso owners are truly helpful in any way they can. And the members of the deTomaso family that I got a chance to talk to were very helpful and true "car people".
And for those of you not able to join, start saving up and clearing your calendars for 2019...
