Few small-volume car manufacturers can boast as compelling or cosmopolitan a backstory as that of De Tomaso Automobili. Company founder Alejandro de Tomaso had been born to a wealthy and politically active Argentinian family, although he fled to Italy in 1955 after his implication in a plot to overthrow then-President Juan Perón. A skilled amateur racing driver himself, de Tomaso competed in two Formula 1 Grands Prix, four Sebring 12 Hours, and secured a class win and 11th overall at Le Mans in 1958.

In 1957, de Tomaso married American heiress Isabelle Haskell, granddaughter of General Motors founder William C. Durant, and settled in Modena, the era’s epicenter of European motorsport innovation. There, de Tomaso began manufacturing a series of competition cars which led to the 1963 introduction of his first road car—the Vallelunga coupe. Powered by a modest Ford Cortina engine and built around a pressed steel backbone chassis with a tubular rear subframe, the Vallelunga employed the engine as a stressed member, a sophisticated design that gave the lightweight coupe remarkable torsional rigidity and poise.

Suitably fortified by the dynamic success of the Vallelunga, in 1965 de Tomaso embarked upon his most ambitious project to date: the dramatic P70 spyder. An ambitious collaboration between De Tomaso, Carroll Shelby, and former Daytona Cobra Coupe designer Pete Brock, the car was intended as a prospective entry into the burgeoning North American Can-Am series as well as longer-distance European events. It borrowed heavily from the design of the Vallelunga, featuring a steel backbone chassis and a stressed engine; in this case a Shelby-sourced competition version of the tried-and-tested 289-cubic-inch Ford unit. A five-speed Colotti transaxle transmitted power to the road, while Brock’s futuristic body design was transformed into reality by Modenese master craftsman Medardo Fantuzzi.

While P70 development ultimately fizzled after Shelby’s departure to rescue Ford’s then-troubled GT40 program, de Tomaso had progressed with the construction of a companion car, the Sport 5000 Spyder, with the intention of contesting selected international events the following year. Though built around the same chassis design as the P70 and wearing similar bodywork, the Sport 5000 Spyder included certain distinguishing features to meet FIA regulations, namely a taller windscreen with wiper and more conventional doors. On 17 July 1966, the Sport 5000 made its racing debut in the grueling Mugello 500 KM, driven by long-time De Tomaso associate and works Alfa Romeo driver Roberto Bussinello, but was regrettably forced to retire due to mechanical failure.

Incredibly, this marked both the commencement and conclusion of the Sport 5000’s competitive career. After Mugello, chassis SP5000-001, the car which RM Sotheby’s is proud to offer here, returned to De Tomaso’s Modena works, where it would languish for almost four decades until Alejandro de Tomaso’s death in 2003 when it was acquired directly from his estate by a Belgian enthusiast and later passed to its current US-based custodian.

Impeccably preserved in near-time warp condition, the car offers a fascinating insight into both contemporary Italian Sports Prototype design and “what might have been” had Shelby remained with the project. Notably, its well-preserved cosmetic condition stands in dramatic contrast to the De Tomaso P70 companion car, which has since been fully restored.

As a car with period international race history, this spectacular De Tomaso remains eligible for FIA papers and would be a welcome addition to numerous historic events, not least the Monterey Historics, Goodwood Revival, or Silverstone Classic—to say nothing of participation in exhibitions and thrilling tours and rallies, such as the Copperstate 1000, both at home and abroad.