Modern supercars such as the Ferrari SF90 are soon going to have a new but familiar competitor approaching them in their rearview mirrors. Iconic Italian auto manufacturer De Tomaso, responsible for icons such as the Pantera and Mangusta, has announced a new technical partner that will bring its P72 to production.
The Capricorn Group, who has previously done work on cars such as the Le Mans-winning Porsche 919 LMP1, will be stepping in to aid De Tomaso in putting its supercar together at an all-new Nurburgring production facility. Despite still being identified as a small-time carmaker, De Tomaso assures that no expenses are being spared.
It acknowledges that complications have been prevalent due to the pandemic but has been working hard to find an efficient path forward. Its original plan was to develop the P72 in America but a number of disruptions interfered with its proposed timeline. As a result, it has taken the strategic business decision to create pre-series and production examples of the P72, together with Capricorn, at this new location.
Regardless, it promises that the brand's current partnerships in the USA, together with its facilities, powertrain operations, and initiatives will expand on its North American presence. De Tomaso says that this decision also solidifies its philosophy of a relentless pursuit of excellence as it expands its internal team while taking on a new partnership.
Chairman of De Tomaso Automobili, Norman Choi says: "Since our revival of De Tomaso there has been a large focus on the P72 and its development program which is progressing very well. In addition, we have been making extensive progress on our business development, setting a strong foundation for our future expansion of De Tomaso,
"Today we are proud to announce a new strategic partnership which reaffirms our philosophy, strengthens our core competencies, and ensures the highest level of quality for our future offerings. Our P72 will not only be developed on, but also produced at the legendary Nürburgring, providing unrivaled experience, quality, and value for our clients. "
Together with this announcement, De Tomaso has also provided an update regarding the P72. It confirms that the original idea of a carbon chassis has been scrapped for an all-new one. This layout provides the supercar with an additional 3.93-inches of headroom and 1.97-inches of legroom without and adjustments to the exterior proportions.
A new suspension geometry joins this chassis to enhance its safety characteristics and improve quality standards. It confirms that the center-of-gravity has also been lowered significantly. With this new shell, De Tomaso confirms that the P72 chassis exceeds respective FIA and homologation safety requirements and features a carbon mono-cell that provides occupant protection without the requirement for a roll-cage.
While this all sounds exciting, how soon can we expect the P72 to hit the market? De Tomaso clarifies that construction of its pre-series prototypes is underway, now that the engineering of the production vehicle packaging is complete. In the coming months, we can expect a debut of said prototypes which will be followed by the final stages of vehicle development, calibration, validation, and crash testing.
After this is complete, De Tomaso will get to work on creating the final product with deliveries set to commence in the first half of 2023. It's understood that the P72 will keep to its original powertrain roots and employ a Ford-soured 5.0-liter V8 that has been supercharged by Roush to produce 700 horsepower and 608 lb-ft of torque.