Fitted with a 289 cu in (4,736 cc) Ford V8 engine, the Sport 5000 was initially designed to be used as a Grand Tourer; however, only one car was ever built of the planned fifty, meaning that it competed solely as a sports prototype in just one race, the 1966 World Sportscar Championship Mugello 500 km.

Carroll Shelby sourced a 289 cu in (4,736 cc) Ford V8 engine (tuned to provide around 475 hp (354 kW; 482 PS) at 7,300 rpm),[1] and also commissioned Pete Brock to design the car's open-top aluminium bodywork.

The car made its first public appearance at the Turin Motor Show in November 1965, with striking red bodywork.

[3]De Tomaso had attempted to enter the Sebring 12 Hours in March 1966, with the Italian trio of Pierre Noblet, Franco Bernabei and Umberto Maglioli selected to drive; however, they withdrew from the event and did not compete.

[4] It would be another three months before another Sport 5000 entry was lodged, but De Tomaso's attempt to run Noblet and Bernabei at the 24 Hours of Le Mans was rejected by that event's organizers.