Three P72s with different V8 engines were presented at the “Le Mans Classic” last July. The brand’s CEO, Norman Choi, gave his first interview since becoming the owner of De Tomaso Automobili to talk about his ideas and plans.

maybe the name Norman Choi Don’t say too much. words don’t say much Apollo intense emotion. But if both are inextricably linked with the new existence of the brand created by Argentina Alejandro De Tomaso, late 1950sBoth names are far more relevant in the automotive world. The first is the brand’s owner, the second, the inspiration for its first carbon fiber supercar, the new De Tomaso P72 which is in the process of development and testing.

When I was still a student in America, The Hong Kong-born businessman already had a passion for cars, but specifically with the De Tomaso brand. In those years, the De Tomaso Pantera was quite the epitome, an absolutely aspirational car that everyone wanted to own.

Norman Choi looking behind the Apollo Intensa Emozione, the first prototype that was presented from his other brand, and which is the inspiration for the De Tomaso P72.

many years later, already converted into a man from the world of finance and even in the automobile industry To be part of the purchase design of the financial structure to buy remake, Choi had the opportunity to participate in Tender organized by the Italian Government for the sale of DeTomaso brandas part of the settlement program.

But even for supercars, that wasn’t new. In an exclusive interview for Infobae, given to Argentine journalist Alejo Pérez Monsalvo, which collects data, documents, photos and everything that may be related to De Tomaso an upcoming bookbusinessman left important Definitions that allow us to learn more about the De Tomaso P72, the first three units of which were present at the “Le Mans Classic” weekendThe biennial historic car test that took place last July.

All the way a hypercar, the De Tomaso P72 will have 72 units that will start manufacturing for customers by the end of 2023.

“In my youth, one of my favorite cars was the Mercedes-Benz AMG CLK-GTR, years later I ended up working with the founder of AMG at the same Apollo plant where the CLK-GTR was made, and with Engineer… it really influenced me to understand what I wanted to achieve in the automotive world”Says De Tomaso’s new owner.

Shopping was not easy. He had to compete with several businessmen including Gerard López, who was the Lotus F1 Team Principal at the time. In 2014, Choi achieved his goal and took over the rights to the brand. The operation was almost simultaneously with the purchase of Apollo cars. since, In just 4 years, the new De Tomaso Automobili was presented at the Goodwood Festival of Speed ​​along with the first prototype of the P72.

“De Tomaso is something different, it’s a brand with a long history. And when you’re going to recover an iconic brand, you have to do it the right way”Choi says, as he begins to explain his vision for a brand not of Italian origin, but with Argentine roots.

The De Tomaso P70, the inspiration that inspired current designers who created the P72 . Make

“We wanted to go back to where De Tomaso started, how he started as a brand. We didn’t want to take the story from the point of mass production of the cars. The idea was to recapture the spirit of the P70, When the two ends of the world were connected: Peter Brock-Carol Shelby in the United States and De Tomaso in Italy”Explain

Then, The strategy chosen was to repeat the process with which Alejandro di Tomaso Started manufacturing his automobile: Development of an avant-garde design sports vehicle based on innovative technical solutions and in low production volumes.

The De Tomaso Velelunga was the first mid-engined production car three years before the Lamborghini Miura

For the former De Tomaso, this meant the development of the “Vellelunga” sports car, the first mid-engined production car.Lamborghini Was Born 3 Years Before the Miura, But He Also Had novel spine-shaped chassis, With a body designed by Fisore, and a production that only reached 50 units.

For The new De Tomaso Automobili, technical similarity is an evolution of a sports car that is the only production car built 100% in carbon fiber, with an estimated production output of 72 units., and attention to detail that the brand has never achieved before. Today, it’s called a “hypercar” and the P72 more than meets the definition.

The concept is of a competition car that can compete in the World Endurance Championship (WEC)., developed from the inside out. From this it was achieved that The P72 is a hypercar for roads that can participate in endurance or long-duration races, with minimal changes or adjustments. For example, the fuel tank capacity is 110 liters, so you’re ready to race.

“P72 is designed to participate in 24-hour endurance competitions when necessary”Choi says, without giving any further explanation on the matter. Another fact that cannot be ignored is that Cars being tested and parts certified at the Nürburgring circuitOne of the most sought after in the world.

“Look at your compatriot Horacio Pagani, he never officially put a car on the track to race”Choi mentions rehearsing a good explanation regarding participating in automobile competitions. “It took Porsche 70 years to develop the GT3RS, which can do 75,000 km on the Nordschleife without breaking, hundreds of million euros. It is very difficult for us at the moment to face such a challenge. We have to focus on our own space. To produce unique cars today. We must meet our short and medium term goals before making our dreams a reality.”

The fuel tank is 110 liters, which will allow you to compete in long-duration races without any significant modifications.

The P72 takes the brand to a high standard of meticulous design quality for each component. Excluding Michelin tires and Brembo brakes, of course All parts of the vehicle are designed by De Tomaso ad hoc, and produced manually.

“The idea with this vehicle is not to create a business plan about profit margins, but to create a car that people can value for its design, engineering and craftsmanship. We at De Tomaso have no affiliation We designed the P72 to be as tight as we could get, even designing the bolts that held the wheels together.Proudly associates its manufacturer, who is involved in every step and every part of the car.

Not all technical specifications are public yet, but as The concept of the car is a chassis that is perfectly suited for any mechanics, the fact that is relevant is that it will have a V8 engine. To check this, you just need to know that The 3 prototypes in existence have different power plants. And it is not yet disclosed who will be equated The next 6 prototypes are to be built before the end of 2022. The decision was to test the various components in multiple prototypes, in order to certainly go into production being the best possible.

Except tyres, brakes and engine, all elements of the P72 are handcrafted at De Tomaso Automobili

In the next two months, the most important details of the specifications will start to be communicated, so that The factory they are building in the Nürburgring, just 200 meters from the track, is set to start production in the early first quarter of 2023. Although the building will be completed in October 2022, it will take a few more months to complete the equipment, visitor center and interactive museum. The first unit is scheduled to leave the factory before June 2023.

In the last quarter of the year, we are going to make some very special disclosures, which we cannot disclose yet.In short De Tomaso guesses the CEO of Automobili.

in present, Production of the vehicles is entirely handmade, which means that some processes are particularly slow, such as the manual manufacturing of each carbon fiber monocoque, which requires approximately 3 weeks of full-time work by 4 employees.

It is estimated that the construction of Each unit would require approximately 1,500 man-hours in the first phase of production, and that time could be gradually reduced until it reached 1,000 hours. This means that each car will initially take up to a month and a half to finish, but during that first year, thanks to the optimization of processes, it can be upgraded to three cars every two months before, and Finally get to produce three monthly units. All 72 units are planned to be built in about 2 years.

At Le Mans the P72 is in the pit next to a fuel pump. Perhaps a sign of staying with the internal combustion engine as a global concept for the De Tomaso brand





There is an explanation for the time and dedication put into each P72. The carbon fiber monocoque is the strongest of any sports car, able to withstand forces far greater than those required for racing cars. Technically speaking, the monocoque’s torsional stiffness is calculated at 72,600 N/m, and the design considers it to withstand forces of up to 16 times its own weight in the event of a rollover.

The company works on business and development plans for 7 years, and they have very clear purposes, although not all of them have been publicized yet. uniformly, Norman Choi One is encouraged to leave a thought that generates peace and expectation.

“I guarantee you that as long as the industry is electric and calm, we will be as loud as we can be”He tells Infobae.

De Tomaso seems to have fallen into the hands of a man who, above all else, has a passion for cars, Norman Choi doesn’t have the industry rush, but has a passion for details and perfectionand confirms it with the last sentence by saying that “I don’t think about my plans and projects when I sleep, but the whole day.”


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