The story of the car read from the italian magazines

In the second half of the 70's, Innocenti introduced a little sport car based on the 1974 Bertone's Mini 90 body : the Mini De Tomaso.

With the classic 4 cylinders 1275 cc. BMC engine and rubber cones based "dry" suspensions, this car was the successor of Mini Cooper.

The road test was published on italian magazine "Quattroruote" in the may 1982 issue, with a complete performace test compared with other 70 Hp competitors, such as the famous Autobianchi A112 Abarth.

["QUATTRORUOTE", MAY 1982]

["QUATTRORUOTE", JUL 1983]

At the beginning of 80's, Innocenti's leader Alejandro De Tomaso decided to produce a new generation of little cars with more advanced and reliable engines.

After accurate R&D tests that involved also a twin cylinders motorcycle derived Guzzi engine, the final choice lead to the three cylinders Daihatsu unit, already mounted in the Daihatsu Charade model. So the Mini 90 project was totally revisited, and a more modern car, called "Innocenti 3 cilindri" ( minitre) was introduced in the market (see "Quattroruote" may 1982 issue).

The very first announcement about De Tomaso Turbo is dated july 1983, when "Quattroruote" magazine reports that during an exclusive meeting of Innocenti dealers the factory introduced a sport version of "3 cilindri", with a more powerful turbo charged engine developed by De Tomaso. [This early engine type, called CB/DT, was an italian made tuning of the japanese CB22 standard engine].

More informations about Innocenti De Tomaso Turbo appeared in "Quattroruote" novembre 1983 issue.

A first technical description is reported here, together with some pictures of the car, interiors and turbo engine.

Starting from the middle of the same year, the old Mini De Tomaso was no more available in the Innocenti price-list.

["QUATTRORUOTE", NOV 1983]

The first technical overview was carried out and published in december 1983 issue of "Quattroruote" magazine.

This paper revealed a very sophisticated turbo charged engine and fuel system, and a first driving test report.

In the same month the "3 cilindri Turbo" model appeared in the Innocenti price list, costing as much as 10.200.000 itl lire. The most refined Innocenti "3 cilindri SE" model was priced 8.261.000 itl lire.

Sales in Italy started on january 1984.

["QUATTRORUOTE", DEC 1983]

["QUATTRORUOTE", APR 1984]

The first complete road test of Innocenti "3 cilindri" and "Turbo De Tomaso" was published on april 1984 issue of "Quattroruote".

Here an extensive performance test has been carried out on both models, revealing the impressive acceleration properties of the small sport car.

[This paper reports interesting performance data about early CB/DT engined De Tomaso Turbo, that can be compared with the road test that follows]

[In the second half of 1984 Innocenti stopped production of CB/DT engine and the "De Tomaso Turbo" was equipped with the CB60 engine, totally built by Daihatsu]

A couple of years later, the italian magazine "Automobilismo" (may 1986 issue) published another complete road test of Innocenti De Tomaso Turbo.

This paper is extremely interesting because it reports a complete performance test of the CB60 engined model.

You can note here that also some body details, such as bonnet and front wings, are different from the early CB/DT model, and some pictures of the new engine are reported here.

["AUTOMOBILISMO", MAY 1986]