INNOCENTI MINI TURBO DE TOMASO
Year of manufacture 1985 Recorded mileage 78,684km Asking price €15,000 Vendor Car Cave, Senator Alfons Jeurissenlaan 1229-1231, 3520 Zonhoven, Belgium; 0032 498 519603; carcave.be WHENITWASNEW Price n/a Max power 71bhp Max torque 55.5lb ft 0-60mph 10.8 secs Top speed 101mph Mpg 38.6
A De Tomaso Mangusta is close to the top of my list of dream cars, despite the model’s shortcomings, but my budget is a tiny speck in its rear-view mirror. By setting my sights a touch lower, however, I found this little beauty on offer with Belgian specialist Car Cave. Short of a barn-find Longchamp, there is surely no cheaper way into a De Tomaso-badged car. The fact that it’s both unfeasibly cute and would be a giggle to drive only adds to its appeal.
Bertone’s chic, angular reinterpretation of BMC’S baby had already been around for over a decade by the time this De Tomaso version was built in 1985. The still-fresh shape was given an update for the ’80s with a new plastic grille, a bodykit and a sharp set of De Tomaso mag wheels. Changes under the skin were more fundamental: the long-serving A-series engine was ditched after Innocenti owner Alejandro de Tomaso’s deal with British Leyland had expired, and in its place came the tiny three-cylinder unit from the Daihatsu Charade.
That meant a fairly asthmatic 50bhp for the basic Minitre (or Mini 3), but when de Tomaso applied his name to the range-topping model he ensured it had sufficient swagger, with a 71bhp twin-carb, turbocharged 993cc engine, fed by that discreet bonnet scoop. I love the sound of a triple, and the idea of that noise plus the whistle and hiss of a 1980s-era turbo has huge appeal. Some of the lag of earlier cars had been tamed by the time this model came around, with the Italian-built CB-DT engine being replaced in late 1984 by the Japanese-built CB60, with its smaller, faster-spooling IHI RHB32 turbo. It’s a shame it only ever came with the 6v version, rather than the 12v twin-cam that made the later Charade Gtti such a surprise hit. I wonder if it would fit…
This example was sold new to an owner in Bressana Bottarone, Italy, and after a further keeper in its homeland it made its way to Belgium and a place in a private collection. Still wearing factory paint, alloy wheels and original clothand-vinyl interior with a Clarion cassette deck, it’s packed with ’80s charm.
The vendor says it’s great fun to drive, adding that ‘the little turbo gives more than a surprising kick.’ Seeing that the reverse-rotating Jaeger rev counter’s redline begins at 6500rpm confirms how different it must feel to the A-series cars. There’s a five-speed ’box, too, but it should mate all of these advances with the Mini’s usual talent for brilliant handling. And who could resist slipping behind a steering wheel that looks as if it’s come straight out of a Pantera?