Alexandro de Tomaso initially made his name building racing cars, but dreamed of producing a high performance road car. The Pantera and Mangusta are his most famous efforts, but before those big V8 machines came the delicate little Vallelunga of 1962. One of the pioneers of the mid engined layout in a road car, it was supplied by the Ford 1600 engine Hewland gearbox were structural members in the rear half of the car, bolted to a U shaped spine chassis that help give it good handling. The car has four cylinder 1498cc engine with 102 bhp. It has four speed manual transmission gearbox and independent suspension.Triumph Herald uprights could be found at the front, but there were few other propriety components in the Vallelunga, which was named after a Rome racing track that de Tomaso used for testing its sports cars. The prototype had unbolted two seater body, but manufacturing cars were coupes, fashioned by Fissore. Early cars were built in aluminum, but those built by Ghia have fiberglass bodywork. The top speed was 130 mph (208 km/h)
The car was know as the best car from de Tomaso production, although it didn’t catch many customers, but still the ride is ride know for its unique style and shape. Noisy, fast and furious and supremely agile, the Vallelunga was a car that pointed the way forward in sports car design, although it was destined never to be very popular. Just 50 were built before it gave way to the Mangusta on the production lines.
