CarBrandLogos archive · De Tomaso · 2019

De TomasoP72

A revived name wrapped around deliberate 1960s theatre.

Photo: Calreyn88 · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in De Tomaso history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the De Tomaso P72, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

De Tomaso had been dormant for years when the name reappeared at Goodwood in 2019 with the P72. The reference point is the P70, the sports-racer De Tomaso and Carroll Shelby began and never finished in the mid-1960s, and the car is unashamedly retrospective: long curved flanks, exposed rivets, a copper-and-leather cabin full of visible linkages and a gated manual shifter.

De Tomaso P72 · J Harwood Images · CC BY-SA 2.0

Design and engineering

Jowyn Wong penned the body. Underneath it is a modern carbon-fibre monocoque derived from Apollo's Intensa Emozione, carrying a 5.0-litre supercharged Ford Coyote V8 mounted behind the driver and a six-speed manual gearbox — a combination chosen against the industry's drift towards hybrid systems and dual-clutch transmissions.

2022 De Tomaso P72 · Calreyn88 · CC BY-SA 4.0

2024 De Tomaso P72 in Avorio Rosa, front right

In production

Seventy-two cars are planned, assembled at Affalterbach in Germany, with deliveries beginning in 2024. Whether the revived firm can sustain itself remains an open question, but the P72 is at least honest about what it is selling: an object, not a lap time.

2024 De Tomaso P72 in Avorio Rosa, front right · Mr.choppers · CC BY-SA 4.0

Technical specification