De Tomaso resurrected, announces Pantera-inspired Project P

It was brought back to life by a team of Hong Kong-based investors.

Italian sports car manufacturer De Tomaso is making an unexpected comeback. The firm will unveil a car called Project P internally during the 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed taking place in England this summer. It's keeping full details under wraps until the car's big debut, but teaser images give us a decent idea of what to expect.

The De Tomaso brand is owned by Ideal TeamVenture, the same Hong Kong-based consortium of investors that purchased Gumpert, renamed it Apollo, and more or less revived it. The firm claims it has spent the last five years developing what looks like a modern version of the Pantera, De Tomaso's best-known model. While it's fully covered in camouflage, we can easily tell Project P borrows numerous styling cues from the Tom Tjaarda-designed Pantera released in 1971.

Technical specifications remain secret for now, too, but we'd bet the last new cars equipped with a manual transmission that power comes from a V8 engine. That's because the Pantera's exotic Italian skin hid a V8 engine borrowed from the Ford parts bin, so De Tomaso would have a difficult time credibly downsizing to something like a twin-turbocharged V6. Odds are the eight comes from another manufacturer, and we'd be happy to see the Mustang's heart in the Pantera.

Ford sold the original Pantera through its Lincoln-Mercury dealers in the United States between 1971 and 1975. While this arrangement evidently won't be possible this time around, there's no word yet on how De Tomaso will sell the born-again Pantera to buyers, or whether it will again be available in the United States. We'll learn more in the weeks leading up to its reveal, which is scheduled for July 4th.