The De Tomaso P72 is a 1960s Le Mans Inspired Supercar 

De Tomaso P92

De Tomaso Modena SpA is an Italian sports car manufacturer which was founded by Argentinian race car driver Alejandro de Tomaso in 1959. Acquired by Ideal Team Ventures in 2014, the brand was relaunched with the release of the vintage-inspired De Tomaso P72 last weekend at the 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The De Tomaso P72 in all its Glory: 

In the run-up to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, De Tomaso was mostly tight-lipped about what to expect from the company at the event. Many across the automotive landscape incorrectly assumed that the #ProjectP hashtag which the company launched might refer to a revamped version of the brand’s highly influential 1970’s Pantera sports car.

The De Tomaso P72 is a 1960’s Le Mans Inspired Supercar 

Channeling the 1960s and Carroll Shelby

While it is unlikely that many would have guessed the P72 would be the focus of De Tomaso’s rebranding, the supercar’s name is a throwback to an older race car prototype the company worked on. The De Tomaso P70 was a 1964 collaboration between, Alejandro De Tomaso and acclaimed race car wizard, Carroll Shelby. Powered by a 7.0 Liter Cobra V8, the P70 due to a number of factors was never ever to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Caroll Shelby

Fortunately, in what appears to be a fortunate accident, the prototype was revived and renewed. De Tomaso explains in the press release for the  P72: “Being completely honest, when the brand was acquired we were unaware that this prototype period was part of the De Tomaso heritage. During our studies, endless research both on and offline and speaking to those still around from the brands past a fascinating and untold piece of De Tomaso and Automotive history surfaced.”

The P72’s designer Jowyn Wong explains his retro inspiration:

“We intentionally incorporated a distinctive aerodynamically optimized body for performance and to modernize the aesthetics, while the classic wing mirrors and front emblem cap pays homage to the P70.”

Stunningly Beautiful, Supremely Refined

De Tomaso had previously been known for producing cars such as the: Vallelunga, Sport 5000 (also known as the 70P, P70 and Ghia DeTomaso), De Tomaso 5000, De Tomaso Sport 2000, Mangusta, Pantera, Deauville, Longchamp, Guarà, and Biguà. De Tomaso is also closely associated with its sister company, the German high performance automotive brand known as Apollo.

The P72 shares a chassis in common with Apollo IE. While not quite as outrageous as its hyper-car kin, the P72 nonetheless manages to stun with its shockingly good looks and high class luxuries. Jowyn Wong, lead designer of the Apollo IE project as well is quite pleased with his final result.

The P72, with its 1960s Le Mans endurance race car inspired design, is an ultra limited release. Only 72 have been produced, each priced around $846,000. Available with a manual gearbox, the P72 features a majestically refined interior that was designed with comfort and opulence in mind.

De Tomaso has described the P72 as a halo car. This could mean that while it is limited to only 72 cars, additional variants and models are to be expected in the years to come.

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While Apollo is focused on creating GT1 street and race car hybrids, a re-launched De Tomaso will be working to create stunningly and supremely luxurious vehicles. While Paganini is the sports car manufacturer most known for over-the-top interior opulence, they may soon be forced to pass that crown to De Tomaso.

While drivetrain specifics for the P72 are currently unavailable, its clear from the pictures that it is as incredibly beautiful on the outside as it is on the inside.

Welcome back De Tomaso.

Source: Jalopnik