One out of only ten 1996 De Tomaso Guara cars with the Barchetta body type is up for auction right now. It lacks a roof and relies on an impressive V8 sourced from a Ford Mustang Cobra for propulsion.
Alejandro de Tomaso molded the Guara after the image of the track-only Maserati Barchetta, which used to be produced in the early 1990s. The Guara had a similarly designed chassis, but it was modified to accommodate a BMW V8 engine instead of Maserati’s six-cylinder mill.
Double-wishbone suspension goes hand-in-hand here with composite bodywork and Brembo brakes. Interior highlights include bucket seats, a Momo Prototipo steering wheel and MoTec dash gauges.
Before it went insolvent, the manufacturer had produced 52 such cars. Many were fixed-top coupes, two were droptops, and ten were styled as Barchettas – no roof, no windshield.
This particular example was bought by Pantera Parts CEO Steve Wilkinson, but it was lacking an engine upon arrival – Wilkinson found it easier to import it into the United States that way. He then put a 4.6-liter Ford V8 under the hood that he linked to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual transmission. The output exceeded 300 horsepower (224 kilowatts). The engine housing has ‘Guara’ and ‘De Tomaso’ printed on it. There is an added Plexiglas visor at the front end that wasn’t there originally – the car’s second owner had it installed earlier this year.
The odometer shows 9,400 km (5,840 miles) of use, but the seller admits the actual mileage could be much higher than that.
The bidding is at $80,000 at the time of writing, with a few days left on the auction clock.