The De Tomaso Deauville; launched at the 1970 Turin Motor Show. A very luxurious four-door saloon. Many thought the styling was reminiscent of the Jaguar XJ Series. Similar to the Jaguar, De Tomaso fitted an independent rear suspension. It shared its chassis with Maserati Quattroporte III. The car entered production in 1971.
This beautiful motor car was designed by Tom Tjaarda when working for the Design House, Ghia. Like the Jaguar XJ, it had a wheelbase of approximately 109 inches and an overall length of 191 inches; however, it was five inches wider. The Deauville had either a five-speed manual gearbox or three-speed automatic.
The Deauville had a top speed of 143mph. It was powered by a Ford 351 Cleveland V8, the same as the De Tomaso Pantera, producing 330hp.
There were three iterations of the Deauville between 1970 and 1985. The firm built a station wagon for Mrs De Tomaso and two armoured cars, one for the Belgian Royal Family and the other for the Italian government. De Tomaso only built 244 Deauvilles.
The Deauville was hand-built and the only four-door De Tomaso made; it was the company’s first sudden swoop into a motor car with a front-engine.