After a long hiatus, famed Italian automaker De Tomaso made a triumphant return at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed with the debut of its brand-new supercar: the breathtakingly beautiful P72. It's a very tasty-looking supercar inspired by 1960s racing prototypes and based on the Apollo IE. What we didn't know at the time of the reveal, however, was what laid the hood of the exotic Italian supercar.
Thankfully, De Tomaso has decided that now is the right time to reveal the P72's potent powertrain. Not only does the P72 pay homage to the design language and spirit of the original Shelby De Tomaso P70, but it also shares a similar heart.
Continuing De Tomaso's tradition of using Ford-sourced powertrains dating back to 1963 with the Vallelunga mid-engined grand tourer, the P72 packs a supercharged 5.0-liter V8 tuned by Roush to deliver over 700 horsepower and 608 lb-ft of torque with 91 octane fuel and a 7,500 rpm redline. Power will be sent through a bespoke six-speed manual transmission developed by De Tomaso.
The supercharger utilizes twin four-lobe rotors that are twisted 170 degrees. The fourth lobe and helix angle results in huge benefits, including thermal efficiency, higher volumetric capacity, higher operating speeds, increased efficiency of airflow into the engine and improved noise and vibration characteristics. It should also sound sublime, as De Tomaso wanted to replicate the sound of old-school, naturally aspirated 1960s American muscle cars by reducing the noise generated by the supercharger.
This will also give the De Tomaso a distinctive sound as the automaker believes the sound of modern V8 supercars has become "quite homogenous." It will also feature a "symphonic exhaust system," though De Tomaso promises to release videos in the coming months allowing us to hear its glorious V8 soundtrack.
Why has it taken De Tomaso so long to reveal the P72's powertrain details and performance figures? Because the company believes it's "completely irrelevant to the ethos of this project" and what De Tomaso is trying to achieve. "In our opinion, the market is now over-saturated with commercially driven 'limited edition' models primarily marketed on performance metrics," said Ryan Berris, De Tomaso General Manager and CMO.
"We have grown tired of this notion and thus took a contrarian approach with the P72. A stark contrast in almost every aspect of today's market, the P72 is a true 'Modern-Day Time Machine.' A car that has been oversubscribed without revealing any performance figures, nor disclosing the engine as the P72 owners and enthusiasts realize the historical significance of this program and therefore have disproved the notion that one needs to produce the fastest or most powerful car on earth to garner interest. We focus on the provenance and the overall experience as a brand and for our clients."
Production of the De Tomaso P72 will be limited to just 72 examples, with each starting at €750,000 (around $831,000).