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Crashed in ’82: 1974 De Tomaso Longchamp

Our favorite seller that holds the world record for wrecked Porsche 356s in inventory has revealed yet another prize from its salvaged stash, this time with a 1974 De Tomaso Longchamp. Seriously, is there any slice of exotica they didn’t scoop up from the insurance auction? While it is yet another wrecked classic, this one at least looks reasonably solid once you peel away the accident damage. Find the De Tomaso here on eBay with a Buy-It-Now of $29,000.

While it may look serviceable from the driver’s side front, this angle reveals the severity of the front hit. It’s hard to say whether the door is pushed down or the whole body is pushed up, but the gap between the roof and the door frame is disconcerting. The Longchamp is missing its engine, transmission, and windshield, as well as its original passenger-side front wheel.

What’s curious about really any wrecked De Tomaso is that you could justify the expense of restoration because you can simply drop in a Ford-derived 351 Cleveland and still have it be technically correct. It won’t be numbers-matching, but find a date-coded one that’s close to the original production date and you’d fool 95% of the onlookers. The interior has held up surprisingly well despite having no front glass.

I included this picture of the trunk because it looks quite tidy back here as well. Despite all of the 356s appearing stacked on racks, some of these wrecked sports cars look good enough to have been stored inside for all of these years. The Longchamp is one of the De Tomaso models we don’t often see, and I wonder if any hardcore enthusiasts could justify rescuing this rare Pantera alternative. Would you?

Comments

  1. Avatar bobhess Member

    Never got excited about the Italian sedans though they were good income at the shop in the ’80s when folks wrecked them or wanted them repainted. Not sure this car is going to stir up a whole lot of excitement with anything worth having is already gone.

    Like 3
  2. Avatar sir mike

    Where has it been for the last 37yrs??? Seller has a Porsche SCRAP yard.

    Like 1
  3. Avatar Gaspumpchas

    That thing was blasted so hard I’d dare say its done. Somebody used it for the mill and threw it away, and some flipper is trying to get rich. I bet if was fugly when it was new. Put it out of its misery. SMFH.
    Cheers
    GPC

    Like 6
  4. Avatar Billy1

    No, no, no. These jerks again?!! I think we should get a fund together so we can buy this dump of a yard, then send the bulldozers in there.

    Finally we get some “steam” rollers in there and flatten anything more than an inch high.

    Like 6
  5. Avatar michael h streuly

    29k of that POS. I dont think so.

    Like 7
  6. Avatar Jamie

    You can buy a great looking 1976 model for $32,500.00 on BaT. Complete running car. $29k for this POS….hard pass.

    Like 9
  7. Avatar Dan

    This car does not look restorable, and it isn’t worth anything near $29,000. What is this seller on?

    Like 5
    • Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

      Dan,
      Anything is restorable, put another $100K into this one, and you’ll have a $35,000 car!

      Like 1
  8. Avatar Coventrycat

    That 70’s Camaro steering wheel sold me.

    Like 1
    • Avatar JOHN Member

      Similar to the Camaro type wheel, but the “spokes” on the Chevy wheel are closer together, not quite parallel. What jumped out at me immediately was the Mustang style shifter, but these did have the Ford 351 and automatic transmissions. De Tomaso could have at least designed their own shifter. It looks like someone hacked in a shifter out of a Mustang or Pinto.

      Like 0
  9. Avatar Mike

    That’s weird. BaT posted this before BF did. Usually the other way around.

    Like 3
    • Avatar Jubjub

      She gets around…like a record!!!

      Get tired of detritus like this, the gall of the zeros in the price and the attention it’s being given.

      Admittedly was a fairly cool car prior to ‘82.

      Like 0
  10. Avatar rustylink

    what a deal, ya know if you have another wrecked titleless 1974 De Tomaso Longchamp that;s been hit on the drivers side sitting in your yard.

    Like 0
  11. Avatar Benjy58

    it’s sitting in the right place, right next to the crusher.

    Like 2
  12. Avatar John

    pos

    Like 1
  13. Avatar Andrew Franks

    The price is too high and I think the car has been hit so hard that rescuing it will be a very high number and not worth it unless you love the thing and intend on keeping it.

    Like 1
  14. Avatar Scott 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

    These guys must have ties to Bolivia as i think they’ve been into the marching powder again

    Like 3
  15. Avatar kakerlak

    I’ve said it before, but getting some backstory on this place would be fascinating. This car has clearly been wrecked and inop for decades; just look at the tires. This place seems to have bought hundreds of wrecked exotics in the 1970s and held onto them for 45+ years. Why? Some of them are such obvious total loses that there’d have been close to zero parts value the moment they wrecked, much less after sitting exposed for decades. It’s all very bizarre.

    Like 0
    • Avatar grant

      Well, the story is TITLED “wrecked in 82” so there’s not a lot of detective work there. This yard is known for having a large inventory of salvage exotics. Sometimes they’ll come out with something decent, most of it is garbage like this.

      Like 1

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