De Tomaso turns 60 this year, and after facing financial difficulties leading to it being acquired by Ideal Team Ventures in 2014, the Italian carmaker has now presented its first (new) product in a long time, the P72.
Named in honour of the P70, a joint project between Alejandro de Tomaso and Carroll Shelby almost 50 years ago, the P72 is a modern throwback to racing prototypes of the 1960s.
The P72 is built on a chassis that is shared with the Apollo Intensa Emozione, so there’s plenty of carbon-fibre usage, including for the crash structure, passenger cell and suspension mounting points. However, unlike that car’s Batman-inspired styling that is straight out aggression, the De Tomaso adopts a more elegant approach.
The curvy body is shaped in the interest of aerodynamics, with purposeful lines that channel air to either feed the mid-mounted engine, or create downforce. There’s also a good amount of copper details to go along with the red paint, including on the sleek headlamps, fuel door and even the top-exit exhaust.
Swing open those doors, and you’ll be greeted by an opulent interior that can only be put on par with something made by Pagani. A mix of quilted leather, carbon-fibre and machined metals complement the retro-modern philosophy, with no large central display in sight. Of course, this doesn’t matter when the shifter for the manual gearbox has exposed linkages, which is a masterpiece on its own.
For now, the company hasn’t revealed any information about the car’s powertrain, or even performance figures. However, it did say that the P72 will be limited just 72 cars, and it won’t come cheap, as prices are said to start from 750,000 euros.
The post De Tomaso P72 unveiled – only 72 units to be made appeared first on Paul Tan's Automotive News.
