Thomassima III (Tom Meade) - 1969

Forever compulsive and fiercely focused, Tom Meade was on a life-long trajectory of creativity; making history, if not friends or wealth. His third complete design effort was another dramatic coupé, he christened it Thomassima III. It was made famous by the most exotic side exhaust system seen to that date; it would be Tom’s “Keeper.” The incredibly swoopy form paid its own way by modeling for a series of models, the most successful of which was a Hot Wheels edition that went international. While enjoying the published acolades, he was never completely comfortable with the public demonstration of that attention and “wealth” was never a personal goal. Once Thomassima III had made itself famous and put funds in his account, Tom went back to the South Pacific as his comfort zone. He spent most of the next two decades living on air and surf in Indonesia. He returned to California in 1993 to share his mother’s final years. She had been responsible for giving him the fairytale life he had enjoyed and one assumes they had much to share. Thomassima III and a treasure of Ferrari chassis and components were locked into a facility secured by his son on the southwest coast of Lago di Como. Tom shared his mother’s modest apartment until she passed, then, alone again and filled with ideas for his next car, slowly filled it with pieces for Thomassima IV including one of the fabulous 333 SP V-12 engines that had more to do with F1 than sports car racing. He died in 2014 with the drawings and a growing number of pieces for his next dream coming together with the help of another talented young designer, builder, Josh Lange, who continues to work toward completion of Tom’s last dream car, Lange now calls Thomassima IIII Lacrima Rossa (Red Tear, his recognition of Tom’s last great struggle). The design includes a carbon fiber chassis with seats molded into the tub, much like the Thomassima II. The instruments will be multi-level, multi-functional and hand made like most of the car’s details. An aluminum body to Tom’s careful design will follow the Meade tradition. While a close friend of Tom for the last few years of his life, Lange shares less of the obesssion and more of a devotion to the last testament of Tom Meade.

Added 3 Jun 2026