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| www.QV500.com - De Tomaso Vallelunga Part 4: Vallelunga Fantuzzi Spyder (Sport 1000) |
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Between 1963 and '66, De Tomaso produced a number of sports racing cars that wowed the crowds at various motor shows. Few were ever raced and more often than not they were based on Vallelunga underpinnings. The winter of 1965/66 was an especially busy time for the diminutive Modena-based firm with several road and race projects in full swing. These included the big banger 70P that served as a useful engineering exercise for the Mangusta despite never making it into limited production. There was also the futuristic Ghia-bodied Competizione 2000 and this car, the little-known Sport 1000 that like the 70P, was clothed by Fantuzzi. |
Beginning with a stock Vallelunga spine chassis numbered VL1609, Fantuzzi crafted one of his most elegant bodies for this car. Nice details included perspex-covered Marchal headlights and prominent engine cooling scoops, an innovative rear aerofoil having been adjustable through four alternative angles. Inside, the rudimentary vinyl-covered dash was fronted by a three-spoke wood-rimmed steering wheel, vinyl also being used to trim the black bucket seats. There were no safety belts or rear view mirrors. The familiar Vallelunga spine chassis used the engine and gearbox as load-bearing members for the back half of the car. Rose-jointed suspension from De Tomaso’s F3 single seater was state of the art 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. Standard Campagnolo 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. |
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In this form, VL1609 was displayed at the inaugural Turin Racing Car Show over February 26th and 27th 1966, Auto Italiana magazine referring to it as the Corsa Biposto when they pictured it in their 10th March edition. The Italian weekly also mentioned the car was intended for use with Ford motors varying in size from one to two-litres. After the show, VL1609 was taken back to the factory and soon after fitted not with a Ford engine, but one of BRM's advanced in-line fours designed for Formula 2 racing. This was then coupled to a later-type five-speed transmission with Hewland gears mounted in a De Tomaso-prepared upturned VW gearbox. |
From the cylinders up these F2 units were essentially half of the Type P56 V8's used in P578 1.5-litre Grand Prix contenders (albeit with slightly different block dimensions). Using the P56 cylinder head, other Formula 1 components included the cylinder section, block and crankcase casting plus EN28 forged connecting rods that were machined and polished all over. The oil pumps and cylinder block were designed from scratch, bore having been stretched from 68.5 to 71.8mm, this combined with a stroke of 61.6mm bringing capacity up to 998cc. Compression was set at 12.5:1, Lucas supplying the fuel injection system, OPUS ignition and alternator. Weighing in at just 81.7kg (complete with starter), BRM's Formula 2 motor was a full 20lbs lighter than Cosworth's and with a fully counterbalanced plain bearing crankshaft, developed 129bhp at 9750rpm. Laid out to be installed at an angle of 18°, it was designed to be mated to a variety of different gearboxes, most of which in Formula 2 were five-speed units. Consequently, valve timing got reduced to 120° (compared to 150° for six-speed applications), providing power over a wider speed band than the Formula 1 unit. |
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After engine 8011 was installed, several further modifications were made including fitting wider three-spoke magnesium alloy wheels as used on the 1966 De Tomaso F3 car. This meant the rear wheelarches had to be flared and gave a considerably more menacing stance. Upon completion, the Sport 1000 weighed in at just 570kg. With 226bhp per ton, it was reputedly capable of 140mph and 0-60 in less than six seconds, more than enough to have matched 1-litre prototypes from the likes of Abarth, AMS and De Sanctis. VL1609 was retained by the De Tomaso factory until being sold to an English collector in July 2004. Click here for more info. |
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