De Tomaso P72: A Legacy Lived On

Alejandro de Tomaso, born into one of Argentina’s most wealthy ranching families, always had a passion for racing. In 1955, he won the 1000km race of Buenos Aires in his Maserati A6GCS. In 1959, Alejandro and his wife Isabelle co-founded De Tomaso Automibili in Modena. Alejandro was then approached by Carroll Shelby in 1963 about building a racecar for the USRRC Racing Series. Out of this partnership came the idea for the P70, but due to a tumultuous relationship between the two men, the P70 was never completed. This however was not the end of the Ford-De Tomaso relationship; in 1970 Ford acquired an equity stake in De Tomaso which led to the production of the Pantera. The Pantera was a mid engined, steel unibody grand tourer with a Ford V8 sold in the United States and Italy.

In 1974, Ford ended the partnership with De Tomaso due to the oil crisis. Alejandro suffered a stroke and passed away in 2003 which was also when the company entered court-supervised liquidation. In 2014 a Hong Kong based company bought the rights to the company with the intention of bringing back the brand. That has led to the production and release of the De Tomaso P72, based on the P70, the racecar that never was. 

The P72, is fitted with a hand assembled 5.0 litre supercharged Coyote V8 tuned by Roush. The powertrain makes 700 horsepower and 605 lbs/ft of torque. The original prototype was made with a V12, but ultimately the decision was made to switch to the Ford-derived V8 for customer cars. This decision was made to stay true to the original P70 racecar and powertrain history of De Tomaso cars, which were predominantly Ford V8’s. (Until 1993-2004, the Guará had a BMW sourced V8 in the early production years). 

The chassis is a bespoke carbon fiber monocoque and meets the LMP1 safety standards. The double wishbone independent pushrod suspension is paired with a 6 speed manual with short ratios. The P72 weighs 1500kg/3307lbs. The design language of the P72 is based on 1960s endurance geometry. The low-slung teardrop cabin is based on the P70 and other classic Le Mans racers. The low-drag focus of the design eliminates the need for modern aggressive aero pieces. The interior is completely analog, with no screens and an exposed shifter linkage. All the dials are analog and hand engraved with roman numerals on the tachometer. The whole interior features 179 bespoke metal pieces. Only 72 models will be created. 

In June of 2026, De Tomaso released their Aurelian Night Commission as the first customer car. The outside is finished in Midnight Blue, accompanied by hand polish rose-gold details around the exterior. The interior is finished in Venetian Blue leather. This makes a historic achievement for the brand, as the legacy of Alejandro De Tomaso resumes after bankruptcy in 2003. The elegant designs of the 60’s race cars have returned in a refreshing but classic fashion that only 72 lucky customers will get to enjoy.