Tomaso supercar brand set for revival

The legendary Italian marque De Tomaso may be revived if a group of American and Chinese investors have their way. In 2003, MG took over the label to secure a production facility for a new sports car but the plans went bust and Tomaso closed its doors just one year later.

A new group of investors are now interested in purchasing the Tomaso name and its production facilities to possibly build new versions of the Pantera or Mangusta exotics
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moto - 7/25/2007 10:26:16 AM

+2 Boost

bimmermike, read the rest of the article. The Chinese investors pulled out. A different, yet unnamed group is in negotiations now.

BUT - I won't hold my breath. There's not a big enough market for more supercars. Spyker is suffering, Pagani folded, and VW is sheltering both Bugatti and Lamborghini from the volitility that nearly killed them many times in recent history.

With the Audi R8 on the market, as well as impressive new hardware from Maserati and Alfa Romeo, not to mention the stalwart Ferrari, I see little room to launch another niche Italian sportscar, especially if the only purpose is to revive a name that is synonymous with "mongerel". What's next, some investor with too much money trying to revive DeLorean or Vector?

Neverfollow - 7/24/2007 6:25:52 PM

+3 Boost

I've owned a few of these cars myself and I have to say they weren't all that great. It looked Italian and sounded American. Kinda like putting a Ford truck V8 in a Ferrari or Maserati. I probably won't break, but is it really the proper thing to do? I don't know enough about Chinese car manufactering to know if they are a good thing or bad. I suspect bad but don't really know. All I know is that there is huge competition in the sector already with the Germans turning out 911s, SLs, R8s and what not. The Italians pretty much have a lock with the F430, Gallardo, Grand Turismo and C8. Whats a bastard child like a Chinese/Italian going to offer?