Guide: De Tomaso Sport 1000 / 66
Background
Alessandro de Tomaso’s early days as an auto manufacturer focused on the production of single seat and sports racing cars. The period 1959 to 1962 was generally spent trying to compete at a level his budget simply did not permit.
However, by 1963, the tide was beginning to turn. De Tomaso’s 1000cc Formula 3 cars were quite the performers and, when the advanced Vallelunga was launched, the firm had a mid-engined platform suitable for road and racing use.
The Vallelunga undoubtedly had great potential as demonstrated by Franco Bernabei’s victory in the 1964 Italian two-litre Championship.
Once Vallelunga production was underway, De Tomaso used its underpinnings to build a number of sports racing cars that impressed the crowds at various Italian motor shows. Although these vehicles saw no competitive action, they did a good job of further elevating the burgeoning firm’s reputation and demonstrating its diverse capabilities.
In this regard, Alessandro de Tomaso was undoubtedly a master; his promotional skills were second to none and the goal was to attract a major backer that would enable De Tomaso Automobili to rival the Italian aristocrats over at Ferrari and Maserati.
The winter of 1965-1966 was an especially busy time for the little Modena-based firm. Several road and race projects were in full swing to include the big banger 70P which served as a useful engineering exercise for the forthcoming Mangusta supercar. There was also the futuristic Ghia-bodied Competizione 2000 and the little-known Sport 1000 that, like the 70P, was clothed in a Fantuzzi design.
Chassis
The Sport 1000 was based on a stock Vallelunga spine chassis (VL 1609) which used the engine and gearbox as load-bearing members for the back half of the car.
As usual, state-of-the-art fully independent rose-jointed suspension was imported from De Tomaso’s F3 single seater. At the front were unequal-length wishbones while the back end used a single upper arm, a reversed lower A-arm and long upper and lower trailing arms that extended back from the bulkhead.
Coil sprung damper units were fitted all round along with anti-roll bars at either end.
Initially, the Vallelunga’s standard Campagnolo cast magnesium 13-inch diameter wheels were fitted. These measured 5.5-inches wide at the front, 6.5-inches wide at the back and were shod with Dunlop SP rubber.
Brevetti disc brakes were fitted all round.
Engine & Gearbox
For its debut appearance at the inaugural Turin Racing Car Show held on February 26th and 27th 1966, chassis VL 1609 was fitted with an off the shelf Ford Kent motor. Ford engines of between one and two-litres could be installed according to a customer’s requirements.
The overhead valve-type pushrod Kent four-cylinder engine was a well-proven unit that had powered 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 increasing the compression ratio to 10.3:1, fitting twin Weber 40 DCOE carburettors and a custom aluminium alloy De Tomaso head.
The engine drove through Hewland gears mounted in a De Tomaso-prepared upturned Volkswagen gearbox attached to the back of the engine.
While some early Vallelungas used a four-speed ‘box, this was later replaced with a five-speed unit as found in the Sport 1000.
Bolted above the gearbox was a fabricated crossmember that supported the rear suspension top mounts and also the body.
Bodywork
The aluminium bodywork was created by Medoardo Fantuzzi’s renowned carrozzeria just down the road in Modena.
It featured perspex-covered Marchal headlights and prominent shoulder-mounted engine cooling scoops.
At the back, an adjustable rear spoiler offered four alternative angles of rake.
The cockpit was shrouded by a wraparound Plexiglas windscreen and the two doors opened conventionally on both sides.
Twelve cooling louvres were carved out from the rear decklid and a cut away was added for the carburettors.
Interior
Inside, the rudimentary vinyl-covered dash was fronted by a three-spoke wood-rimmed steering wheel.
Black vinyl was also used to trim the black bucket seats but there were no safety belts or rear view mirrors.
Launch & BRM Engine Installation
In this form, chassis VL1609 was displayed at the 1966 Turin Racing Car Show.
Afterwards, it was taken back to the factory and fitted with one of BRM's advanced in-line four cylinder engines designed for Formula 2 racing.
From the cylinders up, these F2 units were essentially half of a Type P56 V8 as used in P578 1.5-litre Grand Prix car (albeit with slightly different block dimensions). They used a P56 cylinder head, 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.
A fully counterbalanced plain bearing crankshaft was installed.
Bore dimensions were stretched from 68.5mm to 71.8mm. Stroke remained at 61.6mm for an overall displacement of 998cc.
Compression was set at 12.5:1. The fuel-injection, OPUS ignition and alternator were supplied by Lucas.
The entire engine weighed just 81.7kg (complete with starter) which meant BRM's motor was a full 9kg lighter than Cosworth's power unit.
Peak output was 129bhp at 9750rpm.
Laid out to be installed at an angle of 18°, the BRM engine was designed to be mated to a variety of different gearboxes, most of which in Formula 2 were five-speed units. As a result, valve timing was reduced to 120° (compared to 150° for six-speed applications). This gave power over a wider speed band than the Formula 1 variant.
Subsequent Modifications
After BRM engine number 8011 was installed, several further modifications were made to VL1609. These included fitting wider three-spoke magnesium alloy wheels from De Tomaso’s 1966 F3 car which necessitated flaring of the rear arches.
Weight / Performance
Upon completion, the Sport 1000 weighed in at 570kg.
With 226bhp per ton, it was reputedly capable of 140mph and 0-62mph in less than six seconds.
Although this was likely to have been more than enough to beat one-litre prototypes from the likes of Abarth, AMS and De Sanctis, VL1609 was never raced.
It instead served as just another one of Alessandro de Tomaso’s promotional tools.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Supercar Nostalgia & De Tomaso Automobili - https://detomaso-automobili.com/
