The mood at De Tomaso is upbeat nowadays. With major investment underway and new models in the pipeline, the outlook looks better for this small Italian manufacturer than at any recent time.

Simbir 4x4

The key to De Tomaso's revival has been the co-operation agreement signed in May 1999 with Russian company UAZ to build its "Simbir" off road vehicle. After over three years of planning the first models are expected to leave the Modena factory within weeks. The plan will see around 200 built this year and 1,350 next year before production is switch to a brand new factory which will turn out 3,000 Simbir off-roaders in 2004, 4,500 in 2005, doubling to 10,000 in 2006 and then hitting the production capacity of 20,000 per year the year after.

De Tomaso and UAZ are confident that the combination of De Tomaso's engineering expertise coupled with UAZ's experience of the Russian 4x4 market will produce a vehicle that will be competitively priced and reliable. It is somewhat of a coup that they have secured the use of Fiat's 115bhp 1.9 JTD engine. The Simbir will be marketed in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Greece. A dealer network is already in place and the Simbir has passed all European Union directives.

Guara

De Tomaso manufactures two models of Guarà: a coupè and barchetta. The Guara makes use of independent fourwheel suspension, push-rod type, with torsion bars and adjustable vibration dampers all housed in fibreglass and composite body. The name "Guarà" is that of an Argentinian breed of hunting dog. 

Fitted with a 4600 cc, 90° V8 Ford engine, electronic multipoint sequential fuel injection and 4 valves per cylinder characterise a unit that De Tomaso believe offers excellent torque and power at low revs.