Shelby DeTomaso, Brock 70P-1, Ghia DeTomaso Sport 5000, King Cobra...call it like you want. I think, that Ghia DeTomaso Sport 5000 comes next. So, here is the story:

DeTomaso Can-Am
and Ferrari 750 Monza Carrera Panamericana
by Stefan Elsaesser



The FACTS:

In 1964 DeTomaso showed interest in hillclimb racing and built several prototypes powered by 1000-2000cc engines. Unfortunately, none of these prototypes were ever raced. However, in November 1965 DeTomaso showed a brand-new open sports racer at the annual Turin Motor Show. The car was called Ghia-DeTomaso Sport 5000 and was purposed for Group 9 racing.

The body design dates back to 1963 and was drawn by Pete Brock while working for Shelby American. It could have the successor of the Shelby Cobra on a DeTomaso chassis. After leaving Carroll Shelby, Brock took the drawings with him to offer them to DeTomaso. The car was built by Carozzeria Fantuzzi in Modena and not by Ghia.

Rumors said, that the Ghia name was only used because the car was built with money from Ghia. The Sport 5000 was a interesting car, it looked very aerodynamic with the huge air intakes and the rear wing. This wing was connected with the gearshift lever and adjusted itself according to the speed of the car. The chassis was similiar to the one of the Vallelunga. The engine was a 289 Ford V8 which was upgraded by DeTomaso and output was claimed to be around 475 hp at 7300 rpm.

The car attracted many visitors at the Turin show and Pete Brock intended to build the necessary 50 cars required for FIA-homologation. In 1966, the car was featured in the March issue of Road & Track magazine. However, the Brock/DeTomaso joint venture failed. A single 5 litres DeTomaso was entered for the Monza 1000-km race in 1967, but the car did not show up on the track (nor were the remaining 49 cars).


The FICTION:

In 1966, DeTomaso contracted Mario Andretti and Andrea de Adamich and 2 cars were entered for the Canadian-American challenge cup. Andretti won the season opener in St. Jovite and finished the season 6th in final points standing.

For the 1967 season, DeTomaso entered again 2 cars with almost unchanged bodywork, although the rearwing moved upwards similiar to Jim Hall's Chaparral. Andretti won 3 races and finished 2nd with 27 total points. In November 1967, a fire in the DeTomaso factory destroyed one chassis and a lot of spares. Maybe because of this, the DeTomaso Can Am team withdraw from competition and the last remaining chassis and parts were bought by Pete Brock, who took them to Japan.

With Japanese sponsor-money, the Ghia DeTomaso saw racing action in several Japanese sports car events in 1968. For 1969 the car recieved a Nissan V-12 engine, was painted white/blue/red and raced in the colors of the main sponsor Tamiya. Although, the now-called Tamiya-DeTomaso-Nissan was totally destroyed in a practice accident (fragile DeTomaso chassis could not handle the V-12 power) early 1969 and never raced again, Tamiya issued plastic model kits of the car in 1/40, 1/24 and finally in super-detailed 1/12 scale in late 1969.




The MODEL:

Although never raced in reality, the Ghia DeTomaso Sport 5000 was indeed produced in 1/24 scale by Tamiya in the late '60s. The 1/24 slot-kit named 'King Cobra' came with an injection-molded body in white plastic (although my body is molded in blue). Despite named 'King Cobra', a chromed 'licence plate' frame was included which read Ghia DeTomaso Sport 5000. Stabo Car of Germany sold the Tamiya slotcar in their own box. Furthermore, the 1969 catalogue of the German Tamiya distributor shows a 1/24 static kit (kit-no. 9T-256). I never saw any of these static kits, maybe they were never made or only available for the Japanese market.

Back in 1983, I obtained a bulk of used slotcar bodies and parts from Switzerland including a Tamiya body. The body was complete, but in a terrible condition. The use of very aggressive paint left it in 'pockmarked' condition. Furthermore, the body was broken in 2 pieces right in front of the headlights maybe a result of a heavy impact on the track. Never really knowing what to do with it, the model rests in my attic for almost 20 years.

Attending an antique slot car swapmeet in 2003, I was aware of a original slotkit (priced at around US$ 400). Fascinated by the very nice boxart painting, I put the sad 'King Cobra' on my workbench. Between my other projects, I glued the broken body and started putting, filling and sanding. Watching the few available photos of the real car, the body line looked to narrow to me. So, I added plastic sheets to the sides and filled-up front and rear panels. I also covered the rear wheel with plastic sheet, because the previous owner did not install the covers or cut them out (in fact, I do not know, if the original kit had molded-in covers or separate ones). New body lines were engraved, because the original lines were wrong or meanwhile filled with putty.

Although trying to use as many parts from the original kit as possible, I made a new rear spoiler from plastic sheet, because the one attached was broken and did not look very accurate. Not using the huge rearlights, I drilled them out to make room for the exhaust tips. Because no clear headlight covers were attached to the model (maybe also missing in the original kit?) and because my Phantom-CanAm car should have not lights, I filled the headlights with Milliput. Looking for a adequate interior and chassis, I found out that parts from a Monogram Chaparral fit with just minor adjustements. Wheels and tires came from a Fujimi Ford GT 40. Color is Testors Copenhagen Blue Metallic. The finished model shows the car in 'fictional' early-1966 livery.

Some related informations about the real car can be found at the Pantera Club website. Nice photos from the real car and the Tamiya kit plus additional information (as long if you understand the Japanese text) can be found here: http://www.mmjp.or.jp/60srace/KingCobraStory1.html



Ferrari 750 Monza Carrera Panamericana

In the 1950s the Mexican road race called ‘Carrera Panamericana‘ was the longest, fastest and probably the wildest international automobile race event. It even became a World Championship event along Le Mans, Mille Miglia and so on. A lot drivers considered to by the best and also the worst of them all. Huge crowds of spectators had the possibility to watch fragile European-made race machinery next to Detroit-made iron, sometimes in radical customized form.


Being a big fan of the often very wild-looking cars attending the PanAm races between 1950 and 1954, I am always looking for 1/24-25 scale kits which can be used or converted to original Mexico roadracers. Among the few available model kits was the Ferrari 750 Monza made by VMC models a few years ago (today no longer available).

The real Ferrari 750 Monza was built in quantities of about 30 cars and was equipped by the 3 litres Lambredi-designed DOHC 4-cylinder engine with a power output of about 260 hp. Several 750 Monzas saw race action in Mexico, however I choose the car driven (without a co-driver!) by Alfonso de Portago.

Alfonso Cabeza De Vaca Y Leighton Carvajal Y Are, 13th Earl of Majorada, 17th Marquis de Portago - or just 'Fon' was born in 1928 and died in a accident on the 1957 Mille Miglia. He was son of a Spanish aristocrat and a nurse from Ireland. Alfonso was married to a millionairess from the US. He was a excellent swimmer, polo-player and driver. As bobber, he participated on the 1956 Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo. In 1953, Alfonso participated his first PanAm race as co-driver of Luigi Chinetti in a Ferrari 375MM. In 1954, he bought his own Ferrari 750 Monza and participated on the 'V Carrera Panamericana.' Although not finishing the race because of a broken oil line, his 750 Monza makes a nice companion to the larger V-12 powered Ferrari 375+ and 340 available from K&R and Brianza in 1/24 scale.


The VMC kit was in fact a very rudimentary curbside kit with a glassfibre-intergrated body (which needed a lot of filling and sanding) and a few resin parts. From the kit I only used the body, floor pan, dashboard, seat and clear parts. All the other parts came from the parts box. I forget where the wirewheels and rubber tires came from (maybe Sakatsu?), but they look nice on this model. The Mobil Oil pegaso horse decals came from Virages, the white roundels from Calligraphe and the rest of the decals were drawn by a friend and than printed on an ALPS. Paint is Duplicolor gloss black.