Scuderia de Tomaso

Based in: Modena Founded: 1959 (active 1961-1963 & 1970) Principal: Alessandro de Tomaso

Alessandro de Tomaso, an Argentine living in Italy, abandoned his racing career in 1959 and set up de Tomaso Automobili the same year.

Initially the company concentrated on building Formula Junior and F2 cars at its Modena base. Throughout the 1960s the company produced a handful of cars that were rarely competitive in any of the formulae. Then in 1969 de Tomaso commissioned Gianpaolo Dallara to build an F2 design which formed the basis of the Frank Williams entered F1 car the following year. Although little more than a Cosworth kit car the vehicle did begin to show promise until Piers Courage was killed in one at Zandvoort.

Following the death of Courage the company lost heart and abandoned their F1 projects before going on to produce exotic Ford engined road cars. The company was eventually amalgamated with Maserati.

Cars