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 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.
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.
