DE TOMASO : THE STRENGTH OF THE DARING ONES
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Alejandro De Tomaso,
former driver of a Bugatti 35, dared to break the
rules of Italian supercars, and measure up to the
best : Enzo Ferrari and
Ferruccio Lamborghini, but also Carroll Shelby with
his Mangusta, the name of a small animal that eats
cobras…
Grand Touring,
racing, Formula 2 and even Formula 1, De Tomaso
lived an adventurous life on a knife-edge, out of
the ordinary, as a prodigious engineer and pioneer.
Among his creations, the most radical is the
ultra-rare and exclusive Guarà with a mid-rear BMW
engine, just like the BMW M1 and the McLaren F1…
With just eighteen copies, it is his final creation,
the legacy of a 20th-century automotive master. |
DE TOMASO : From
Vallelunga to Guarà
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De Tomaso has a rich history,
marked by extraordinary cars, legendary grand
tourers, including some truly stunning racing
prototypes, right up to Formula 1. Like Enzo
Ferrari, it was from this experience that he drew
his inspiration for the ultra-sporty GTs he designed. Alejandro De Tomaso
introduced the Guarà at the 1993 Geneva Motor
Show, the one that will be remembered as his
final creation, returning to his original recipe :
a racing wheelbase as the basis for creating a
sports GT, how the first De Tomaso, the stunning
and extremely rare Vallelunga came into being. As he
was the owner of Maserati, De Tomaso has drawn
inspiration from the wheelbase of its extremely
confidential Maserati Barchetta Trofeo, a car
designed exclusively for the track, designed by an
F1 engineer ; this wheelbase is very light,
efficient and in the tradition of De Tomaso sports
cars. |
Formula 1 suspensions
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Offered at an extremely
high price, De Tomaso will build only around fifty
Guarà ; only the first 18, including both the Coupe
and the Spider, are powered by a 4.0-litre BMW V8
engine (The subsequent models, which are heavier,
will be fitted with a Ford engine).
High-displacement, mid-engine, two-seat supercars
using BMW mechanics are extremely rare : the BMW M1
(453 units), designed by Lamborghini,
the McLaren F1 (106 units) designed by Gordon
Murray, and the De Tomaso Guarà (18 units). This
rarety
adds a major attraction to the Guarà we are
offering which is also one of the very first to have
been built. |
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The interior is spacious and comfortable, entirely
covered in leather ; the gearbox has 6 gears. The
Guarà is very light, just 1,200 kg, using its highly
sophisticated suspension system, its racing pedigree
works wonders, its dynamic behavior is out of the
ordinary. |
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These three exceptional De Tomaso were part of our collection, two
Pantera, one of the very first, a stunning and rare early ‘L’ model, the
other a GT5-S, towards the end of the model’s production run; finally, a
stunning Mangusta, in the centre. |
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De
Tomaso, it is a life dedicated to a passion
for cars, with boundless audacity, from the race to
the industrial adventure. His creations, just like
Lamborghini, were always ambitious in their design,
original and beautiful, both road cars and racing
prototypes. The Guarà, the final stop on this
extraordinary journey is, of course, of big
historical interest and an extremely rare and
wonderful classic car. |
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We have carried out a very general overhaul
complemented by the fitting of four new tyres and
new front brake discs. The car is fitted with a
stainless steel sports exhaust. |
DE
TOMASO'S
LAST ONE
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Extremely rare sports cars, are in a class of
their own for collectors and enthusiasts ;
interesting, ambitious and a bit secret, this De
Tomaso Guarà BMW is an excellent choice and
could enter as a key piece in a fine collection.
Opportunities to acquire, at the right time, one
of these cars, of which very few were ever made
with an historical importance, is a rare find... |
DE TOMASO
Guarà
1995
Price : 285.000 €
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