The De Tomaso Guarà is a sports car and the last model manufactured and marketed by Alejandro de Tomaso. The carmaker only produced 52 units from 1994 to 2004 and was initially available in coupé body style. De Tomaso later added a roadster and an open-top barchetta body style to the lineup.
History of De Tomaso Guarà
The Guarà, Alejandro's last creation, was shown at the Geneva Motor Show in 1993. Carlo Gaino designed the automobile based on the 1991 Maserati barchetta Stradale concept race car. The Guarà was first available as a coupe, but later models included a roadster and an open barchetta. Alejandro de Tomaso was unable to realize this Maserati barchetta version following Fiat's acquisition of Maserati, which stopped Maserati's manufacturing of the barchetta. De Tomaso built the vehicle, renamed Guarà, and they sold it under that name. Guarà was a financial failure. Only 40 Guarà coupes and 10 Guarà barchetta were sold for ten years. In order to meet demand, the Modena factory was often inactive. In Italy, Austria, and Switzerland, the Coupé and barchetta were still available with full payment necessary in 2005/2006 despite minor delays, with the first cars (mostly Coupés) going on sale in 1994. However, it appears that the company fell into bankruptcy in 2004. After De Tomaso's liquidation was finalized in 2011, the last automobile purchased by an Austrian in 2004 was released.
Price
The Guarà was a real exotic, competing with the Lamborghini Diablo and Ferrari 348. De Tomaso sold the De Tomaso Guarà with an MSRP of €145,000 (€240,724 or $260,640 in 2022). Race-car styling and fast acceleration made it an attractive choice for the enthusiasts who wanted to stand out from the pack.
Features
Considering its race-car-like chassis, Guarà provided a shocking amount of interior comfort. It was more spacious than Pantera, covered entirely in leather. A superb driving posture and ergonomics made for a pleasurable driving experience. While not up to the standards of Ferrari and Lamborghini, the interior quality has improved from Pantera because of the many uses of Ford and BMW parts. Like Vallelunga and the Mangusta, its backbone chassis was made of aluminum honeycomb construction, which was both lightweight and sturdy, avoiding the bending problem of the latter. De Tomaso used a combination of Kevlar and carbon fiber to construct its body. The carmaker put the gasoline tank in the center tunnel to not impact weight distribution. Other than the suspensions, every component of the vehicle was cutting-edge.
Specs
The De Tomaso Guarà Ford engine variant delivers 316 hp (208 kW) at 6,500 rpm and 300 lb-ft (408 Nm) at 4,800 rpm of torque, accelerates from 0 to 60 mph (97 kph) in 4.8 seconds with a top speed of 170 mph (274 kph) and a curb weight of 3,086 lbs (1,400 kg) for the coupe and 2,315 lbs (1,050 kg) for the barchetta. De Tomaso offered the Guarà models a rear-wheel-drive (RWD) configuration with a 6-speed Getrag manual transmission.
The De Tomaso Guarà was available in two engines:
- 4.0L BMW M60B40 V8 (1993 - 1998)
- 4.6L Ford supercharged V8 (1998 - 2004)
Release Date
De Tomas Guarà was released at the 1993 Geneva Motor Show and was discontinued in 2004 when the company went into liquidation.