Automotive

De Tomaso stuns Goodwood, revealing its retro-sensual new P72 supercar

De Tomaso stuns Goodwood, revealing its retro-sensual new P72 supercar
The new De Tomaso P72 may end up being more of a design feat than a technical one, but this design is superb
The new De Tomaso P72 may end up being more of a design feat than a technical one, but this design is superb
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De Tomaso is now owned by Hong Kong-based Ideal Team Ventures
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De Tomaso is now owned by Hong Kong-based Ideal Team Ventures
Extraordinary curves of the De Tomaso P72 stun the Goodwood crowd
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Extraordinary curves of the De Tomaso P72 stun the Goodwood crowd
The De Tomaso team pose with their stunning creation
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The De Tomaso team pose with their stunning creation
Carbon chassis of the De Tomaso P72
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Carbon chassis of the De Tomaso P72
Monocoque design
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Monocoque design
Derived from the chassis of the Apollo Intense Emotione
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Derived from the chassis of the Apollo Intense Emotione
Fat wheels and a huge exhaust
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Fat wheels and a huge exhaust
Going to need nice wide rubber for the back there
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Going to need nice wide rubber for the back there
Clamshell engine access
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Clamshell engine access
The new De Tomaso P72 may end up being more of a design feat than a technical one, but this design is superb
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The new De Tomaso P72 may end up being more of a design feat than a technical one, but this design is superb
Curvy looks of the De Tomaso P72
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Curvy looks of the De Tomaso P72
Front-on view of the De Tomaso P72
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Front-on view of the De Tomaso P72
Headlight detail
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Headlight detail
The P72 could probably do with a slightly more evocative name
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The P72 could probably do with a slightly more evocative name
Been a while since we saw something with a De Tomaso badge come out
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Been a while since we saw something with a De Tomaso badge come out
The De Tomaso P72, like a bird in flight
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The De Tomaso P72, like a bird in flight
Taillight detail
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Taillight detail
Shamelessly curvaceous
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Shamelessly curvaceous
Exhaust pipe is ... different
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Exhaust pipe is ... different
Rear view is dominated by that gaping exhaust
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Rear view is dominated by that gaping exhaust
Beautifully detailed retro gauges inside the De Tomaso P72
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Beautifully detailed retro gauges inside the De Tomaso P72
This gearshift lever mechanism design borders on steampunk
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This gearshift lever mechanism design borders on steampunk
Sumptuous leather seats
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Sumptuous leather seats
The cabin is designed to be simple, retro, analog and tactile
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The cabin is designed to be simple, retro, analog and tactile
View gallery - 24 images

Wealth is concentrating upwards toward the 1 percent of the 1 percent. Instagram influencers are flying to Miami to rent and pose and preen in Lamborghinis and Ferraris, irreversibly cheapening these brands in the eyes of those that can actually afford to own them. Exotic car manufacturers with their fingers in the wind have clearly come to the consensus that the time is ripe for a new crop of metal that's ludicrously exclusive enough to keep people with selfie sticks out of the club, and the proliferation of ultra-high end hypercars over the last few years has been staggering.

Here's another for the pile. Built to celebrate De Tomaso's 60th anniversary, the P72 has been "designed to pay homage to De Tomaso's 1960s P70 prototype racer, built in partnership with Carroll Shelby." Thus, new De Tomaso brand overlords Ideal Team Ventures from Hong Kong looked to the works of Peter Brock for inspiration, who worked on the original P70 as well as classics like the Corvette Stingray.

Ideal Team Ventures also owns Apollo, and thus the utterly ludicrous Apollo Intense Emotionale we first saw in 2017, and gave its design team the IE's carbon fiber monocoque chassis as a starting point to work from.

Derived from the chassis of the Apollo Intense Emotione
Derived from the chassis of the Apollo Intense Emotione

That's all the solid detail we've been given at this point, apart from what we can see in the pictures, which show one of the most unashamedly curvaceous designs we've seen in many years, a deliberate return to the flowing forms that permeated the 50s, 60s and 70s before things got all wedgy and sharp and digital in the 80s.

Extraordinary curves of the De Tomaso P72 stun the Goodwood crowd
Extraordinary curves of the De Tomaso P72 stun the Goodwood crowd

Indeed, the new De Tomaso team wanted this to be a "modern day time machine" capable of transporting the driver back in time to a more analog age. Thus, the interior is so damn analog it's borderline steampunk, with dial gauges so pretty they look like those crystal glasses your mother keeps in the cupboard in case royalty pops in to visit.

The cabin is designed to be simple, retro, analog and tactile
The cabin is designed to be simple, retro, analog and tactile

It's even beautiful from angles you'd need to be sniffing the seats to look at it from – look at the time and materials that have been spent making this sequential gearshift mechanism look cool tucked away under the center console:

This gearshift lever mechanism design borders on steampunk
This gearshift lever mechanism design borders on steampunk

We don't know what engine De Tomaso is choosing to run in this thing, or if it will be naturally aspirated like the Apollo IE's monstrous 780-hp 6.3-liter V12. What we do know is that, like the Apollo, the P72 will run a large and visually prominent central exhaust exit.

Putting things delicately, the starfish shape of the Apollo's exhaust reminded us a little too much of the exhaust on your average mammal. As we said when we first saw it, "in a perfect world, it would visibly pucker whenever you go into a corner too fast." On the De Tomaso, it's been reamed out into a gaping hole at the bottom of the engine bay that makes the P72 look like it's been around the block several times before it's even turned a wheel.

Exhaust pipe is ... different
Exhaust pipe is ... different

It's a great baritone saxophone horn of a thing, upturned in such a way that it'll be virtually impossible for children and fools to resist throwing rubbish into. Interesting choice, but then hey, vive la difference.

The P72's surprise unveiling at Goodwood signals that De Tomaso is open for business again, and the company says it's planning to build just 72 of these things, specified to meet LMP2 racing specifications as set by the FIA.

The price will be "around €750,000," (US$845,000) and considering that the Apollo IE's 10 builds sold for a staggering US$2.7 million each, the De Tomaso P72 looks like a bit of a bargain, especially if the motor in there's half decent, which it surely will be. It remains to be seen if that'll be enough to keep the 'grammers outside looking in.

Source: De Tomaso Automobili

View gallery - 24 images
7 comments
7 comments
Nobody
Finally, a car that is beautiful curves and not a hundred fins, slots, wings, wrinkles and scoops. Why would they call this retro? Beautiful curves are always in style. Even this car could have been a little smoother with some classier tail lights.
Kpar
Nobody is right (?) (!)...
But the reference to the early Sting Ray doesn't quite fit. For a closer approximation of this new beauty, one should look up the Corvair Monza GT and the Corvair Monza SS, IMHO, the best looking cars to come out of the Chevrolet design studios.
Both were show/concept cars, and both ran.
David V
Beautiful. Modern but yet classic lines. Stunning curves. Love nearly everything about it. If I want to be picky - why the roman numerals on the rev counter ? A few centuries too late for that.
Expanded Viewpoint
Stunningly beautiful car from every angle, inside and out, except for where you see that awful and obnoxious looking exhaust port! Come on, guys!! You can do way better than something as hideously ugly as THAT!! Yuk. Run those pipes down low and close up that grotesque orifice, like right effing now!
Randy
Vernon Miles Kerr
Funny, when I was in my 20s, 30s, even 40s I would salivate over cars like this — because I still believed that I might someday attain enough wealth to acquire one. Now that I'm in my 70s, and on a fixed income, that burning desire has turned into mild curiosity about the state of automotive technology, nothing more. ;)
Troublesh00ter
I saw this during Goodwood's live-stream of the Festival of Speed. In three words: Flat. Out. GORGEOUS! What a treat to have De Tomaso back in the game!
Mr T
Would have been so much better as an EV, and could have done away with the ridiculous exhaust port at the back, which looks so out of place.