I Need help in finding De Tomaso prototype photos.

Gentlemen,

I have been searching for colour photos of the De Tomaso Longchamp prototype, that was unveiled at the Turin auto show in 1972. I am aware, that this is a racing related forum, but as I am starting to run out of options (not even the designer of the car, Tom Tjaarda had any colour pictures), I thought I´d try if the distinguished members of this board could help. Any help is greatly appriciated.

-J

Am I a "distinguished member"?

Here is a color picture which I believe was taken at the Turin Show in 1972, from "World Cars 1973", page 29. Photo credit unknown to me. I'll see if I can find any others.

Edit: What has Image Shack gone and done? I'll have to try again.

Holy crap Batman!!

You have no idea how hard I have tried... Thanks a million JB! Now I just need to find an interior shot (any pictures recieve a warm welcome).


-J

J: Do you have Road & Track for July 1973? There is a three page article on the Longchamp with five black/white pictures, including one (rather poor quality) of the interior. I can scan and email the article to you if you send me a PM with your email address.

I also have a copy of the "Pantera Buyers Guide" which has a six page section on the Longchamp.

I found a very short article in the February 1973 issue of Motor Trend with an amusing line:
"Now for the surprise - the Longchamp is front wheel drive! And its speed capability is said to be fantastic with a 0-60 time of 5 seconds flat! The Longchamp may be sold through Ford dealers stateside late in '73."

Too bad my collection of Quattroruote magazines ends in January 1972, one issue too early for coverage of the '72 Turin Show.

Why the interest?

JB,

I have a poor reprint of that road & track article, but the actual issue is in the mail as we speak(eBay). If you could scan the Pantera buyers guide article, that´d be great.

The motor trend 0-60 time was probably lifted from a De Tomaso/Ghia press release when the car was still a concept (not even the prototype was ready yet) that said 0-60 in five some seconds. It also said that the weight would be 1475kg(actual weight ended up being 1750kg), so they were a bit optimistic..

Why the intrest? Ever since I saw a little black and white photo of the prototype in French classic car magazine, I´ve been mesmerized by it. I think it captures an intresting mix of elegance and aggressiveness in a way that imho the production model doesn´t(production model is imho more aggressive than elegant).

I want to recreate the prototype. Thanks to the color picture that you found, I probably should rephrase that: I´m going to recreate that prototype(unless my wife tells me not to )..

P.s. I´ll pm my e-mail for you.