1983 DeTomaso Longchamp

The DeTomaso Longchamp was in production from 1972 until 1989. Styled by Tom TJaarda at Ghia, it is a front-engine, rear wheel drive saloon range seating two adults and two children.

The DeTomaso Longchamp was launched in 1973 alongside the four door Deauville. Both cars sat on the same floorpan and utilised the same drivetrain; a 5.8 litre Ford Cleveland V8 with either a five speed ZF manual or a three speed Ford automatic gearbox also used in the DeTomaso Pantera supercar. It used a number of parts from other manufacturers, including headlamps from the Ford Granada MK1 and tail lights from the Alfa Romeo 1750. While trimmed in leather to a high standard, the appearance of some Ford componentry in the cabin did reveal that the illusion of class was only skin deep.

1980 saw the introduction of the Series 2 DeTomaso Longchamp, with minor detail differences. The same year, two new models were announced; a Spyder convertible and a GTS with wider wheels and flared wheelarches,plus suspension tweaks to make better use of the wider track. Carrozeria Pavesi of Milan was responsible for the Spyder – production of which included a couple of GTS spec cars and a handful of retrospective conversions to Series 1 cars. As US production of the 351ci Cleveland engine ceased, DeTomaso would source engines from Australia and have them performance tuned in Switzerland before installation. 409 DeTomaso Longchamps were made over a 17 year production run, with just a handful built each year toward the end. Of the total, 395 were coupes and just 14 were Spyders.

The most obvious rival to the DeTomaso Longchamp is the Maserati Kyalami. The Kyalami was a Longchamp with a light restyle and a Maserati V8 in place of the Ford unit. Other rivals would include the Ford Mustang Mach 1, the Longchamp’s four door sister the Deauville, and perhaps the smaller Maserati Biturbo. A more conventional German alternative would be the Mercedes-Benz 450SLC 5.0. The Bitter CD might also be considered a rival, given that its humble Opel roots compare well with the Ford underpinnings of the DeTomaso.