DeTomaso Mailing List: October 99, Message #238

Crazy Dave wrote:

>So tell me this, do any of the other 12 cars exist in the country??

I hope to do a story on this car for the rag some day.

>>>The earliest known survivor in the world is #1006.  This car was a 
hand-built pre-production prototype that had a number of weird features 
(two-piece front grill, for example--upper and lower.)  The car was one of 
the cars used by a Southern California company for all the federalizing the 
DOT required--Ford contracted out for that stuff rather than do it themselves.

Bill Hohnhorst managed to get copies of the full report which totally fills 
up a thick binder and is really fascinating.  

Anyway, after the tests were done, #1006 went back to Italy where it kicked 
around for awhile and was eventually sold.  After one (or more?) owners it 
was purchased by a U.S. military officer, a full-bird Colonel.  I believe he 
purchased it from the estate of the prior owner after the prior owner was 
killed in an assassination (very common fate for the rich and powerful in 
Italy in the late '70's and early '80's.)  Or was it the Colonel who bought 
the farm? Hmm, my memory is failing me here...

Anyway, the car found its way to Texas where Bill Borrello performed a 
restoration on the car, and repainted it from its original yellow to a shade 
of red.  It then was sold to a fellow in Florida, who held onto it for a few 
years, then advertised it for sale in Autoweek about a year ago.  Dunno what 
happened to it after that--hey, I can't keep track of EVERYTHING! :>)

Mike