The track-only De Tomaso P900 has been revealed to the world, boasting a spec sheet to make any car enthusiast drool.
De Tomaso is perhaps best described as a fondly remembered marque of the past, but in recent years, a new lease of life has been breathed back into the Italian brand. Of course, there have been many instances of unsuccessful car brand relaunches, but if its latest showcase is anything to go by, this new-look De Tomaso is a business to be taken seriously.
De Tomaso first returned to the world stage a few years ago when it unveiled a new retro-styled hypercar called the P72. That particular project has been slow to come to fruition, but the global pandemic surely had a hand to play in that. Besides, it’s not as if these new De Tomaso cars are slated to be built in the back of an Italian shed. Far from it, in fact.
Not too long ago, De Tomaso announced a key technical partnership with a respected engineering and manufacturing firm called Capricorn GmbH. Given those four little letters at the end there, you won’t be surprised to hear that Capricorn is a German company; a German company that’s about to lay down some roots in a pretty illustrious environment. Yep, the new line of De Tomaso performance cars is set to be built and developed within a stone’s throw of the Nürburgring.
It appears, then, that there won’t be anything half-arsed or unfulfilled about these cars. Happily, that means we can allow ourselves to get excited about them without most of the usual caveats that come with new automotive start-ups. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at what the De Tomaso P900 is really all about.
Well, the first thing you should know is that you won’t be driving it on the road. Nope, if you want to take your De Tomaso shopping, get yourself a P72 instead – those should be heading into the hands of customers next Spring. The P900, by contrast, has been deigned for the sole purpose of getting around a circuit as quickly as possible. And as a result, it’s what you might describe as ‘a bit wild’.
For a start, its slightly bulbous curves and expansive array of aero devices give the P900 an appearance that wouldn’t be out of place on a Hot Wheels course. Then, you get to the engineering that lies within.
The De Tomaso P900’s party piece is surely its engine. De Tomaso claim that the car’s bespoke 6.2-litre unit will be the shortest, lightest V12 ever produced, featuring a sky-high redline set at the 12,300rpm-mark. If you love the sound of that, wait until you hear about the performance figures! Supposedly, it’ll come packing 900hp from the factory floor (hence the name) and while there’s no official 0-60mph time announced yet, it’s safe to assume that it’ll be somewhere between ‘rapid’ and ‘f*cking fast’.
As mentioned earlier though, this is a car built for the circuit, and that means it needs to be just as good at taking corners as it is at going quickly in a straight line. Not to worry though, as all those aero features – including a DRS-spec rear wing and complex underfloor channeling – have been tested and developed at an F1-grade wind tunnel. So, you know, they’re probably gonna be alright. On top of that, the De Tomaso P900 won’t weight much more than 900kg, so expect it to be suitably dynamic through the twisty stuff.
Right, so, here’s the catch. As you might imagine, the De Tomaso P900 isn’t going to be cheap. In fact, it’s the sort of car that will even make a millionaire’s bank balance weep. Reserved for only the wealthiest of track day enthusiasts, P900 prices start at a whopping $3 million (around £2.5 million), and only 18 will be built. Oh, and while the car might be ready sometime next year, that all-singing, all-dancing engine we spoke about… won’t. Bit awkward, really. Instead, if owners can’t wait until 2024 (when the engine is scheduled to be finalised), De Tomaso will fit the car with a Judd V10 instead as an interim option – which, to be fair, isn’t a bad compromise. I mean, just listen to it.
Further cause for optimism is the fact that within the past month, well-sourced rumours have indicated that De Tomaso isn’t just interested in building cars for the road and its own customer track days. By the sounds of it, the marque is also pretty keen to go racing. Specifically, Le Mans has been touted as where we’ll see De Tomaso pop up, thanks to the arrival of the new Hypercar regulations.
Overall then, the future for De Tomaso looks much brighter than perhaps anyone would’ve expected.
