De Tomaso P72
07-07-19, 08:22 PM
#1
De Tomaso P72
A De Tomaso re-launch has two presumed starting points: Either a Pantera, the original automaker's most popular model, or a crossover, because of the days we live in. When De Tomaso brand owners Consolidated Ideal TeamVentures (CIT) began promoting their effort earlier this year, they did so with what looked like a camouflaged Pantera. Yet execs said they spent years studying Alejandro de Tomaso's history, vision, and products and spoke of making a much deeper impact than merely recycling a classic. They have proved their point at the Goodwood Festival of Speed with De Tomaso's first new product, the P72. It's the modern incarnation of a car CIT didn't know existed before they bought the brand, the De Tomaso P70.
It's likely hardly anyone beyond De Tomaso historians remembers the P70 (Car Design News has an excellent two-part story on it). In 1964, Carroll Shelby wanted to develop a race car to take on the big boys for the Can-Am series launching in 1966. Peter Brock had designed a car, Shelby had financing, the Texan only looking for a chassis and someone who could turn his Cobra's 4.7-liter V8 into a lightweight, bored-and-stroked 7.0-liter. He called De Tomaso, who was working on his first road car and a 7.0-liter V8. The two men agreed to collaborate, but things didn't go well. As the project fell behind and Shelby grew wary about De Tomaso's interpretation of the design, and about timely delivery of the promised engine and five cars, he sent Brock to Italy to oversee the project. This offended De Tomaso, and the partnership dissolved soon after. Shelby's withdrawal — he began working on the GT40 project — angered De Tomaso enough to finish the P70 with help from Ghia. The Argentine showed the car at the 1965 Turin Motor Show as the Ghia-De Tomaso Sport 5000, and reworked the chassis to serve his Mangusta road car.
Whereas the Apollo IE pays homages to the GT1 era from the mid-1990s, the "modern-day time machine" P72 celebrates the sixtieth anniversary of De Tomaso and the prototype racing era in the sixties. In the original vehicle, the P stood for Prototipi, the 70 stood for the expected 7.0-liter engine. The P represents the same today, but 72 stands for the number to be built. A small number, but multiples larger than the ten Apollo IEs headed for climate-controlled garages.
We mention Apollo because the same all-carbon chassis from the Apollo IE underpins the P72. Jowyn Wong, the man behind the Apollo's design, penned the P72's Le Man's body and that captivating, wide open rear end. The interior looks like a moody dalliance between Spyker and Pagani, full of polished copper, diamond motifs on the stitched leather, on the shift **** above the exposed linkage, and the pedals, plus golden lighting. A row of analogue dials bespeaks the past and the future, the circular theme capped outside by the small round side mirrors.
The carmaker's finalizing the specs, and hasn't said what will power the final version. The Apollo IE uses a naturally-aspirated Ferrari-sourced V12, but based on De Tomaso's history with V8s, don't be surprised by a free-breathing and burly eight-cylinder. Pricing is expected to be around 750,000 euros ($842,000 U.S.). That's a reasonable sum given the prices of low-volume custom vehicles today, exemplifying the last of De Tomaso's six core tenets: Heritage, Passion, Racing, European Design, and World-Class Performance at Extreme Value. The company is taking deposits now, and with Miller Motorcars on board as a U.S. dealer, don't be surprised to see the P72 here — at least, in photos — one day.
It's likely hardly anyone beyond De Tomaso historians remembers the P70 (Car Design News has an excellent two-part story on it). In 1964, Carroll Shelby wanted to develop a race car to take on the big boys for the Can-Am series launching in 1966. Peter Brock had designed a car, Shelby had financing, the Texan only looking for a chassis and someone who could turn his Cobra's 4.7-liter V8 into a lightweight, bored-and-stroked 7.0-liter. He called De Tomaso, who was working on his first road car and a 7.0-liter V8. The two men agreed to collaborate, but things didn't go well. As the project fell behind and Shelby grew wary about De Tomaso's interpretation of the design, and about timely delivery of the promised engine and five cars, he sent Brock to Italy to oversee the project. This offended De Tomaso, and the partnership dissolved soon after. Shelby's withdrawal — he began working on the GT40 project — angered De Tomaso enough to finish the P70 with help from Ghia. The Argentine showed the car at the 1965 Turin Motor Show as the Ghia-De Tomaso Sport 5000, and reworked the chassis to serve his Mangusta road car.
Whereas the Apollo IE pays homages to the GT1 era from the mid-1990s, the "modern-day time machine" P72 celebrates the sixtieth anniversary of De Tomaso and the prototype racing era in the sixties. In the original vehicle, the P stood for Prototipi, the 70 stood for the expected 7.0-liter engine. The P represents the same today, but 72 stands for the number to be built. A small number, but multiples larger than the ten Apollo IEs headed for climate-controlled garages.
We mention Apollo because the same all-carbon chassis from the Apollo IE underpins the P72. Jowyn Wong, the man behind the Apollo's design, penned the P72's Le Man's body and that captivating, wide open rear end. The interior looks like a moody dalliance between Spyker and Pagani, full of polished copper, diamond motifs on the stitched leather, on the shift **** above the exposed linkage, and the pedals, plus golden lighting. A row of analogue dials bespeaks the past and the future, the circular theme capped outside by the small round side mirrors.
The carmaker's finalizing the specs, and hasn't said what will power the final version. The Apollo IE uses a naturally-aspirated Ferrari-sourced V12, but based on De Tomaso's history with V8s, don't be surprised by a free-breathing and burly eight-cylinder. Pricing is expected to be around 750,000 euros ($842,000 U.S.). That's a reasonable sum given the prices of low-volume custom vehicles today, exemplifying the last of De Tomaso's six core tenets: Heritage, Passion, Racing, European Design, and World-Class Performance at Extreme Value. The company is taking deposits now, and with Miller Motorcars on board as a U.S. dealer, don't be surprised to see the P72 here — at least, in photos — one day.
10-30-19, 03:36 PM
#3
De Tomaso P72 gets a 5.0-liter Ford V8 with 700+ horsepower
Developed with Roush, supercharged V8 is being reworked to deliver a 1960s feel
All the comments the Hong Kong-based Consolidated Ideal TeamVentures (CIT) have made about resurrecting the De Tomaso brand have stressed the company's focus on staying true to De Tomaso's intentions and the values of his car company. The first proof of that came in CIT deciding to pay homage to the practically unknown De Tomaso P70 with the P72, instead of going for the slam dunk with a Pantera facsimile. The second proof comes in the choice of engine for the P72: Ford's 5.0-liter Coyote V8 further developed by De Tomaso and Roush Performance. From De Tomaso's first road car, the Vallelunga, to his last, the Guarà, he used Ford engines.
Final output figures will come in north of 700 horsepower and 608 pound-feet of torque thanks to a Roots-type supercharger. Yes, that's less grunt and gumption than one gets from the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, a coupe that costs one-tenth the P72's 700,000 euros ($842,000 U.S.). But the men behind the project say blinding power figures are "irrelevant to ethos of this project and what we are trying to achieve." In the words of general manager and chief marketing officer Ryan Berns, "In our opinion the market is now over-saturated with commercially driven 'limited edition' models primarily marketed on performance metrics. We have grown tired of this notion and thus took a contrarian approach with the P72." The point with this car, rather, is "the provenance and the overall experience as a brand and for our clients."
We can't judge all of that yet, but the engine looks good on paper. Roush Performance tweaked the two four-lobe rotors in the supercharger for faster operation, better airflow and thermal efficiency, and less noise and vibration. The supercharger provides the power and response De Tomaso wants, along with regulation compliance in the U.S. and Europe. Yet the engine's still in development as De Tomaso works to reduce the apparent presence of the supercharger, stressing an "old-school American V8 soundtrack" and the naturally aspirated spirit of the Sixties. Roush also added dry-sump lubrication, and it's planned that the engine's redline will lie beyond 7,500 rpm. Power gets sent to the rear axle through a six-speed manual gearbox, and we're told to expect an audio clip soon of the "symphonic exhaust system" that exits atop the rear deck. If done right, the sound "brings one back in time as if they were on the starting grid at Le Mans in 1966."
Miller Motorcars is the U.S. dealer for anyone still interested, but it seems this is a matter of snoozing and losing; De Tomaso will only build 72 examples of the P72 - hence the name - and the car already has more than 72 people standing in line for the chance to buy.
Final output figures will come in north of 700 horsepower and 608 pound-feet of torque thanks to a Roots-type supercharger. Yes, that's less grunt and gumption than one gets from the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, a coupe that costs one-tenth the P72's 700,000 euros ($842,000 U.S.). But the men behind the project say blinding power figures are "irrelevant to ethos of this project and what we are trying to achieve." In the words of general manager and chief marketing officer Ryan Berns, "In our opinion the market is now over-saturated with commercially driven 'limited edition' models primarily marketed on performance metrics. We have grown tired of this notion and thus took a contrarian approach with the P72." The point with this car, rather, is "the provenance and the overall experience as a brand and for our clients."
We can't judge all of that yet, but the engine looks good on paper. Roush Performance tweaked the two four-lobe rotors in the supercharger for faster operation, better airflow and thermal efficiency, and less noise and vibration. The supercharger provides the power and response De Tomaso wants, along with regulation compliance in the U.S. and Europe. Yet the engine's still in development as De Tomaso works to reduce the apparent presence of the supercharger, stressing an "old-school American V8 soundtrack" and the naturally aspirated spirit of the Sixties. Roush also added dry-sump lubrication, and it's planned that the engine's redline will lie beyond 7,500 rpm. Power gets sent to the rear axle through a six-speed manual gearbox, and we're told to expect an audio clip soon of the "symphonic exhaust system" that exits atop the rear deck. If done right, the sound "brings one back in time as if they were on the starting grid at Le Mans in 1966."
Miller Motorcars is the U.S. dealer for anyone still interested, but it seems this is a matter of snoozing and losing; De Tomaso will only build 72 examples of the P72 - hence the name - and the car already has more than 72 people standing in line for the chance to buy.
