Coys Auction - Spring Classics
Royal Horticultural Halls
Elverton St
Westminster
London SW1
Tuesday 8 March 2011
Estimate: £24,000 - £30,000
Registration Number: EYN 400
Chassis Number: THPNMGO3273
De Tomaso owes its name to its founder, Alejandro De Tomaso, born in Argentina in 1928. Proud of his South American roots, the De Tomaso symbol is a branding iron used to mark throughbred horses, while its colours are those of the Argentinean flag.
At the age of 27, De Tomaso was already demonstrating his passion for cars, and while living in Italy raced Maseratis and others for around four years. At the age of 29 he took the bold move of founding his own car company in Modena, the home of Italian sports cars. After a few years he sold the company to Ford, then greatly enamoured of Italian styling and engineering. Ford's acquisition was inspired by the desire to create a competitor to General Motor's successful Corvette. The Pantera was that car. Designed by American stylist Tom Tjaarda and