The Italian sports car brand of De Tomaso celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2019. A name most famous for the likes of the Pantera and Mangusta sports cars n the 60s and 70s. While it has gone bust many times during its lifetime, this 60th birthday was quite special as De Tomaso announced its return with a brand new offering: the P72.
Modern carmakers trying to relive glorious design would do well to look at the beauty of the De Tomaso P72. It is a stunning collection of carbon fibre based on a state-of-the-art carbon chassis consisting of the monocoque, subframes and crash structures that adhere to respective FIA LMP safety requirements. It’s inspired by the proportions of Le Mans cars from the 1960s after all.
If you’re wondering about who decided to provide a life for this special project, you might love it even more. The current ‘owner’ of De Tomaso is the same man who birthed the Apollo IE – Norman Choi. The P72 is the result of a collaboration between De Tomaso and Wyn Design, much like the partnership between its founder Alejandro and Carrol Shelby who worked together on the P70. Its wing mirrors and front emblem cap design are stated to pay homage to the P70.
The interior of the P72 is breathtaking too complete with exotic materials. “Polished copper and diamond pattern detailing adorn the cabin, fashioning a true sense of drama and occasion. The classically designed switchgear and circular analogue display dials take inspiration from the timeless design themes of the 60s and 70s era.”-Jowyn Wong, P72 designer and founder of Wyn Design.
De Tomaso will be keeping the P72 a highly exclusive offering. Only 72 units will be produced priced at around €750,000 each. Given that the likes of the McLaren Senna and the Aston Martin Valkyrie would be relatively more common, the P72 is almost a steal. While it made its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, the mechanical details were announced in late October.
In the theme of Alejandro de Tomaso’s partnership with Carrol Shelby for the P70, the mid-engined P72 will have an American heart: a supercharged 5.0-litre V8. This power unit is built in collaboration with another engineering firm renowned for tuning Ford engines – ROUSH Performance. These are the same people who were involved in the development of the V8 engine in the 2005 Ford GT and the twin-turbo V6 in the 2017 Ford GT.
The bespoke engine for the De Tomaso P72 is still under development but the target is to extract more than 700bhp and 825Nm from it. It will be mated to a 6-speed manual. We already got to experience its fantastic pre-production soundtrack from the Goodwood hill climb so the signs are very promising.
We don’t yet know the delivery timelines for the final version of the De Tomaso P72 but it could be as late as 2021. What do you think of the P72? Do you agree that it’s the prettiest supercar that you can buy brand new? Share your thoughts in the comments below and don’t forget to subscribe to The Auto Loons for more cool updates from the car world.
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