www.QV500.com - De Tomaso Vallelunga Part 2: Vallelunga Fissore Berlinetta
 

Vallelunga Fissore Berlinetta		 De Tomaso’s Vallelunga Berlinetta was only the second production sports car to incorporate a mid-mounted engine. The cars innovative spine chassis used the engine and gearbox as load-bearing members whilst its rose-jointed suspension was lifted almost directly from the firms Formula 3 racer. It was a state of the art set up with unequal-length upper and lower A-arms, coil spring/shock units and an anti-roll bar at the front. At the back was a single upper arm, a reversed lower A-arm, long upper and lower trailing arms extending back from the bulkhead, coil spring/shocks and another anti-roll bar.
   

Campagnolo’s cast magnesium 13-inch diameter wheels were 5.5 and 6.5-inches wide at the front / rear respectively and shod with Dunlop SP rubber. Brevetti disc brakes were fitted all round and with a 47% front / 53% rear unladen weight distribution, the Vallelunga was perfectly balanced with a full tank of fuel and two passengers. De Tomaso installed Ford 1500 Kent motors, these rugged pushrod four-cylinders having proven themselves in various sporting machines. Probably the Kent's most exciting application prior to the Vallelunga was in Ford’s Cortina GT where the 1498cc engine produced 78bhp. However, in Modena, output was upped to 105bhp at 6500rpm by setting compression at 10.3:1, fitting twin Weber 40 DCOE 2 carbs and a ribbed alloy De Tomaso rocker cover. The engine drove through Hewland gears mounted in a De Tomaso-prepared upturned VW gearbox bolted to the back of the engine. While some early examples used a four-speed box, this was later replaced with a five-speed unit. Bolted above the gearbox was a fabricated crossmember carrying the rear suspension top mounts and also the body. Despite this comparatively modest combination on the face of it, the Ford/VW package proved a good one, providing the Vallelunga with plenty of tuning potential and good reliability. De Tomaso’s claimed 130mph top speed in standard form was probably a little optimistic but not for the handful of hot competetion-prepared cars that were reputedly producing in excess of 130bhp.

 

Vallelunga Fissore Berlinetta #VL 1606

Like the Spider, the Vallelunga’s bodywork was designed by Carrozzeria Fissore of Savigliano who manufactured the two or three prototypes from aluminium. Fissore may have been expecting to get the production contract but this ended up going to Ghia in Turin, a firm that De Tomaso had begun to exercise growing influence over. He would eventually assue full control in 1967. The Fissore-built variants differed only slightly from Ghia’s, these alloy prototypes all getting lift-up rear bodywork, circular indicator lenses mounted outside of the front grille and Fissore badges behind each front wheelarch.

 

Inside, the driving position was very good with steeply raked bucket seats, excellent visibility and offset pedals grouped closely together. Fissore’s alloy-bodied prototype debuted in October 1964 at the Turin Salon, precisely twelve months after the Spyder had been unveiled. As the Vallelunga was never manufactured in sufficient enough numbers to be homologated as a production car, it was forced to compete against out-and-out sports racing cars. Despite this, both the factory team and several privateers used Vallelunga's to good effect, mostly in domestic Italian races and hillclimbs. It seems likely that two of the alloy prototypes were pushed into service for the 1965 season, these Fissore-bodied cars being driven by the likes of Secondo Ridolfi and Alberto 'Filiberg' Antonucci.

 

Vallelunga Fissore Berlinetta #VL 1606