The De Tomaso brand failed to attract a bid in auction this week
But it appears that the liquidators for the De Tomaso assetts have already disposed of the factory and land, and this week the brand and trademarks were on the auction block, with a starting price of €1.6 million. But there were no takers. Not one.
We would have thought that even in these difficult times there would have been some serious interest. De Tomaso is probably the last of the big Supercar marques that hasn’t been gobbled up. VW have grabbed names like Bugatti and Lamborghini and we know that BMW has been seeking an appropriate halo brand for years. In fact, it was reported that BMW that stumped up a chunk of money to help develop De Tomaso’s last big project – The De Tomaso Mangusta. So it’s a surprise that no one stepped up to the mark.
But if €1.6 million was too rich for people to get seriously interested, perhaps at something nearer the €1.0 million mark it would make sense for one of the ‘Garden-Shed’ supercar makers. After all, an iconic brand has got to be a good head start if you’re going to make a very high-end supercar.
Sad to see De Tomaso end up here. True, it was never in the top rank of Supercar makers, but it did have a strong following – and actually still does – in particular in the US.
De Tomaso Assets Photo Image Gallery
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Source: Argentina Auto Blog via Autoblog
+odd Eaton says
I had the privelage of a decade with one of the 500 ’73 Panteras made -and others since, which created an enduring love for the exotic-musclecar.
Anyone having experienced the car (if just being in the presence of one running, with its shorter exhaust 351 Ford) knows its appeal, it got me followed and even pursued on occasion -and I’ve heard that it’s even gotten a marriage proposal while cruising!
It had only one ‘short’coming the rear gear wasn’t tall enough stock (making shifting 2-4-5 an improvement!), a wider ratio set of gears would help -with 2 overdrives- but the race transaxle upgrade was wonderful!
There’s nothing else that compares to the character of its “V-8 in the backseat” and low overall profile with good clearance… it may have been ‘kinda rinky-dink’ but WOW!!!
I’ve had lots of cars and yet this one with very few others (the ’72 Dodge Demon 340 GSS, and ’69 Pontiac GTO Judge RA IV) will remain one of the ‘Best experiences of all time”, it’s hard to believe that THIS is the end of that legacy!
There’s a You Tube video of a 427 Pantera ride which captures somewhat the potencial of this great enthusiast automobile, definately it was the “heavy metal” supercar!