CarBrandLogos archive · De Tomaso · 1972

De TomasoLongchamp

The Deauville shortened by two doors, and quietly the basis of a Maserati.

Photo: Rios · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in De Tomaso history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the De Tomaso Longchamp, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

De Tomaso Longchamp Gen1 000 1973-1979 backleft A

Origins

Take the Deauville saloon, cut the wheelbase, delete the rear doors and give Tom Tjaarda another go at the body, and you have the Longchamp: a front-engined two-door grand tourer built in Modena from 1972, with a 5.8-litre Ford Cleveland V8, a Ford C6 automatic or a ZF five-speed manual, and independent suspension all round.

De Tomaso Longchamp Gen1 000 1973-1979 backleft A · Detectandpreserve · CC BY-SA 3.0

De Tomaso Longchamp Spyder Gen2 000 1983 frontleft A ji

Design and engineering

It was a comfortable, quick, understated car in a period when Italian GTs were mostly neither understated nor comfortable, and it aimed at the Mercedes SLC rather than at Ferrari. A convertible followed, built in very small numbers. Total production over seventeen years reached 409.

De Tomaso Longchamp Spyder Gen2 000 1983 frontleft A ji · Detectandpreserve · CC BY-SA 3.0

In production

Its real legacy is corporate. When De Tomaso took control of Maserati, the Longchamp's platform and much of its structure were reworked by Frua into the Maserati Kyalami — the same car with an Italian V8 and a trident on the nose.

Late de Tomaso Longchamp · Tony Harrison from Farnborough, UK;cropped by uploader Mr.choppers · CC BY-SA 2.0

At a glance