[DeTomaso] Didn't Mike Drew drive this car?

[Roland Jaeckel]

Wasn'n this one the former Wilkinson car? If so, it came without engine from Italy. Steve equipped it with a 4.6 Ford engine instead of the BMW unit. I guess, he also put another gastank in, as i bought all the original parts as centerspline rubber gastank and bellhouse with geardrive from him. If this one caught fire on bad fuel lines, the reason where bad US sourced fuel lines. On my burned Guara we found later a broken geardrive. These parts a very expencive and real hard to come by. Some times it's time to get on fire :-) 
I never heard on a third car, that caught fire. Whe was that?

Roland

Send from my x-phone


Am 10.09.2011 um 16:19 schrieb MikeLDrew at aol.com:

> 
> In a message dated 9/9/11 18 58 25, julian_kift at hotmail.com writes:
> 
> 
>> 
>> Wow, with something like only 38 built and 2 in the US I was aware of that 
>> is a huge loss to De Tomaso history.
>> 
>>>> And, sadly, not an uncommon one.   Due to some sort of design flaw, 
> apparently they have an unfortunate habit of self-immolation.   I know of at 
> least two others that caught fire in the engine bay and burned like this one 
> did.   Apparently De Tomaso used some sort of substandard fuel lines or 
> connections, and at some point they let go, spray fuel all over the exhaust, and 
> FOOM!
>> 
>>> I actually like the Guara, but confess don't know taht much about them. 
>> Are they all fiberglass? 
>> 
>>>> The body is formed from a sophisticated composite--not pure carbon 
> fiber, but rather a blend of some sort.   It's not straight fiberglass.   As for 
> the chassis, when I test-drove them at the factory, I wrote:
> 
> The heart of the Guara is its unique
> central spine, a sophisticated trapezoidal-
> shaped extrusion of aluminum and
> composite honeycomb, whose hollow
> center doubles as the car’s 21-gallon
> fuel tank. A lightweight alloy subframe
> bolts to the front to support the front
> suspension and cooling system, while
> an elaborate forged aluminum casting
> bolts to the rear and supports the engine
> and gearbox. Another large ribbed
> casting between the engine and
> transaxle forms the bellhousing and also
> provides the anchor points for the rear
> suspension.
> 
> 
>>> The damage looks mostly cosmetic, wonder if any molds or parts exist? 
>> It's somewhat tempting at the right price.
>> 
>>>> Run away.   Screaming!
> 
> FWIW the one in England which was burned just like this, and sold in very 
> similar condition, was purchased from a junkyard for 2000 GP pounds, I 
> believe.   It has since traded hands at least a couple of times because it's not 
> cost-effective to repair, as the needed parts, while available, are 
> prohibitively expensive. :<(
> 
> Mike
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