Dormant Italian performance marque De Tomaso is set for revival, 60 years after the brand's founding by Alejandro de Tomaso. The revival will take place on July 4 at the 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed in the United Kingdom, where a new car code-named Project P will be unveiled.
Running the show is Ideal TeamVenture, the same Hong Kong-based company that bought German supercar marque Gumpert and turned it into Apollo. Apollo's first model is the V-12 beast that is the Intensa Emozione, so you know De Tomaso is in good hands.
Apollo Intensa Emozione
Teaser shots of the upcoming Project P hint at a modern interpretation of the De Tomaso Pantera, arguably De Tomaso's most famous model. Making the Pantera the focus of the reveal is a smart move, as the car was one of the supercar stars of the 1970s. Featuring knife-edged bodywork from designer Tom Tjaarda and a V-8 from Ford, the car proved to be an impressive combination of Italian style and American muscle and thus garnered worldwide fame. Even Elvis had one.
But De Tomaso had many other achievements. Much like Pagani of today, the company's founder was born in Argentina but moved to Italy, where he became a racing driver and competed in two Formula 1 World Championships before starting De Tomaso. The company would eventually help develop an F1 car for Frank Williams Racing Cars, the team Frank Williams founded before he started the current Willians F1 team. De Tomaso even owned Maserati briefly.
De Tomaso logo
The original incarnation of De Tomaso went under in 2004, just a year after the death of the brand's founder. There have been previous attempts to revive it since then but the latest looks to be the most credible.
“Alejandro’s journey was never properly told and we feel his name should be commonly recognized amongst greats such as Enzo Ferrari and Ferruccio Lamborghini,” De Tomaso General Manager Ryan Berris said on Wednesday. “When the new car debuts this summer, not only will another special vehicle be added to the brand’s heritage, but the story will finally be told.”
