The famous De Tomaso brand will be revived at the Geneva motorshow in 2011, if ambitious plans by Italian industrialist Gian Mario Rossignolo reach fruition.
Pantera, the best-known De Tomaso
Rossignolo is a former CEO of Lancia, Telecom Italia and Zanussi (according to Wikipedia!), and has harboured ambitions to start making his own motorcars for some time. In 2007 he was behind a failed plan to buy Bertone, which has since been swallowed up by Fiat, and in the 1990s he relaunched the Isotta Fraschini brand with an Audi-based concept that never reached production.
According to reports the De Tomaso relaunch will be made possible by Rossignolo's purchase of a Pininfarina plant - a deal announced last month and due to be completed soon - that will allow him to implement his Innovation in Auto Industry S.p.A project (IAI).
IAI is a business plan that allows for the building of a three model range of aluminium vehicles using a new low-cost spaceframe technology called Univis which minimises tooling requirements while allowing for numerous model derivatives. If it works as planned a new luxury saloon, sportscar and SUV are all on the cards.
The Audi based Isotta T8 concept
The De Tomaso nameplate has apparently been up for sale at the Modena bankruptcy court for some time, following the liquidation of De Tomaso in 2004, and latest reports suggest that too has been bought by Rossignolo.
If all the pieces fall together, reports from Italy suggest the three new De Tomaso badged models will all be shown at Geneva in less than two years time. In which case Gianmario Rossignolo is going to be a very busy man.