De Tomaso is back... with a 4x4

20th November 2009

Supercar legend De Tomaso is getting a new lease of life – but its first model is going to be an SUV!

Best known for its Pantera coupé of the Seventies, the firm went into liquidation soon after its Argentina-born founder, Alejandro De Tomaso, died in 2003. But the rights to the Modena-based brand have been snapped up by Italian industrialist Gianmario Rossignolo – who also recently took over the lease for the former Pininfarina factory in Grugliasco, near Turin.

Rossignolo, a former senior executive at Fiat, is planning a three-model range of high-performance luxury cars, and hopes to build 8,000 a year. These will be penned by Pininfarina, built in Grugliasco and sold under the famous blue and white De Tomaso badge.

A crossover SUV, called the Tosca, is due to debut at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, with a saloon and a coupé to follow.