De Tomaso Deauville

De Tomaso Deauville is a model of the Italian car manufacturer De Tomaso

Overview
Alejandro de Tomaso frequently used the good ideas of other people for his own conceptions. A classical example of it is the Deauville, which appeared 1971. The technology of the car was typical for De Tomaso, but the body was an accurate reproduction of the new Jaguar XJ6 sedan. The wheel base was shorter but had a wider track. The car, overall, was 20 cm shorter and allegedly 160 kg lighter. De Tomaso wanted XJ6 alternative of its own, with the glamour of an exotic name but with less complicated technology. Therefore he inserted the Ford V8 motor from the Pantera and equipped it exclusively with Ford's C6 mechanicals. Ghia had sketched a stable, self-supporting body, which was equipped all around with double wishbones and independent suspensions. It was to be a beautiful, fast and elegant car with excellent handling characteristics, yet it sold badly. De Tomaso had never developed the right dealer network outside of America and the Deauville was not even offered in that market. As was the case with Iso, with whom De Tomaso competed fiercely at the beginning of the 70's, the sound (plus the well-known "across-the-pond" origin of the Ford V8) spoke against the Deauville. Compared with Ferrari and Lamborghini neither sound nor a character were correct. The result was finally a maximum annual sales rate of 46 units (1972). By the end of the decade, only 208 copies had been sold. Nevertheless, the Deauville was still available by 1988. Officially, the 270 hp example, sold only 241 copies. In reality only the strongest engines were selected, in order to move a nearly 2-ton sedan with reasonable performance. In 1978, the entire chassis was revised and used concurrently with the new Maserati Quattroporte. The Deauville ceased production in 1988.