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De Tomaso returns with gorgeous P72 supercar

The reborn Italian car maker returns with manual supercar successor

Best known for the V8-powered Pantera and Mangusta sports cars of the 70s, the Italian car maker De Tomaso had suffered a tremendous fall from grace in recent times.

Various changes in ownership, liquidation, numerous unfounded rumours of resurgence, and even the arrest of a chairman – had all battered the brand in the last ten years.

It left us on a sore note, with its last concept car a stark and sad contrast to the burly brutes we remember.

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But De Tomaso is back, and arguably better than ever – with the unveiling of their latest creation, the P72.

It’s underpinned by the unhinged Apollo Intensa Emozione’s carbon fibre monocoque, drawing inspiration off the back of the brand’s 60th anniversary.

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In 1964, Alejandro DeTomaso, Carroll Shelby and Peter Brock (the American one, not ours), “conspired to build a car they felt could defeat the best in the world”. The result of the project was the De Tomaso P70 prototype race car (pictured below), featuring a Shelby 289 Cobra V8, with the tear-drop bodied penned by Brock himself. The three parted company before the project’s completion, with the ultimate body produced by Ghia for the 1965 Turin Motor Show.

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The reborn De Tomaso P72 harks back to the curvaceous Le Mans protypes of the 60s, modernised and made for the road. It’s designed to provoke a more classical driving experience – yes, it has a manual gearbox!

Engine and transmission details have yet to be revealed by the company, but they have announced that 72 cars will be produced, each for the price of €750,000 – or roughly AU$1.2 million.

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Welcome back De Tomaso, we’ve missed you dearly.

 

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