18 August 2022
In 1969, De Tomaso began planning for a high-performance, luxury four-door saloon, partly because Jaguar Car’s had sales success with the XJ in Italy. The De Tomaso Deauville became known as the Jaguar built in Italy, much to the chagrin of De Tomaso.
De Tomaso named the car after the French resort of Deauville, where he regularly went with his wife.
The De Tomaso Deauville had a Ford Cleveland 5.8 litre V8 as fitted in the De Tomaso Pantera.
Launched at the 1970 Turin Motor Show and designed by Tom Tjaarda, the American automobile designer noted for his work on a broad range of automobiles, estimated at over seventy designs.
The history of Deauville started when Carrozzeria Ghia received a request from Ford to create a compact American sports saloon with European styling elements. Ghia designer Tom Tjaarda came up with a design influenced by the Lancia Marica and De Tomaso Mustela.
After Ford discarded the idea of a four-door sports saloon, Alejandro de Tomaso took up the project and, based on Tjaarda’s drafts, built a luxury saloon for the wealthy end of the market that he unveiled at the 1970 Turin Motor Show.
Critics pointed out the similarity to the 1968 Jaguar XJ6, but Tjaarda insisted that he had completed it before the premiere of the British competitor.
Approximately 244 De Tomaso Deauville’s were built.
De Tomaso once told journalists at a press event that he had just driven from Rome to Milan in two hours, producing receipts from the Italian highway tolls as evidence.
