296 GTB

Make
Ferrari
Segment
Coupe

De Tomaso Automobili posted a cryptic post and a few teaser images on its Facebook page for a new model that will debut on 29 November. Accompanying the images were a series of hashtags that leave us with more questions than answers, and a quote from the company's founder, Alejandro De Tomaso: "For Those Who Demand Extraordinary."

The teaser images seem to suggest an all-new hypercar, but we'll get back to that theory in a moment.

To most, the De Tomaso name immediately conjures up images of the famous Pantera or the brilliantly-named Mangusta. Designed by the Italians and powered by American muscle, the former should have been a smash hit, but the Italian-based manufacturer, founded by Argentine-born Alejandro De Tomaso, faded into obscurity.

It emerged again in 2019 with the P72, an homage to the P70 race car co-developed by De Tomaso and Carroll Shelby.

Then the whole world shut down due to a virus, but De Tomaso surfaced again this year when it announced that the P72 would be built near the Nurburgring. The P72 is a proper mashup: designed in Italy, made in Germany, and powered by an American Roush-tuned supercharged 5.0-liter V8. It's like a Ferrari 296 GTB, but with a Predator V8.

But back to the new teasers.

The teaser images show three body panels and what appears to be a wing mirror. None of these panels match the panels found on the P72, which suggests an all-new model. The side mirrors are similar to those found on the P72, however.

It seems De Tomaso is moving at a rapid pace. In less than a year, it went from breaking ground at a new production facility to building P72s to introducing what might be a second model.

The hints are there in the obligatory hashtags, which include #P900, #Launch, #Hypercar, #V8, #V10, and #V12.

P900 must be the name, in keeping with the current naming structure. Or it could indicate the number of horses the car will have at its disposal. But why tease V8, V10, and V12? De Tomaso is a small company, and it might not have enough cash to develop an entirely new engine. If it does have a V10 or V12 under the hood, it will be one of the few cars on the planet still using these configurations.

We don't think De Tomaso will move away from the carbon monocoque chassis it borrowed from the radical Apollo Automobil Intensa Emozione. McLaren has proven that you can develop several cars using the same carbon tub. The word hypercar suggests that it will be a monster, unlike the P72, which is sold as a grand tourer.

Luckily, we have less than a week to wait before the car's debut.