De Tomaso: the history of an Italian marque with Argentine roots

Yet the Pantera is only part of the story. De Tomaso began by constructing racing cars, then moved into lightweight mid-engined sports cars, luxury saloons and large grand tourers. For a period, Alejandro de Tomaso also controlled Maserati, Innocenti, Benelli and Moto Guzzi. His businesses straddled two very different worlds: low-volume automotive craftsmanship and the ambition to run a diversified industrial group.

Nor is this the story of a single factory growing without interruption. The original company ceased operating after a crisis in the early twenty-first century. An attempted revival subsequently failed. Today's De Tomaso, developing the P72 and P900 under new ownership, carries forward the name and certain ideas associated with the historical marque, but it is not a straightforward continuation of its former corporate organisation.

Alejandro de Tomaso: racing driver, engineer and entrepreneur

Alejandro, also known by the Italian form of his name, Alessandro, was born in Buenos Aires in 1928. He came from a family with Italian roots and developed an early interest in motor racing. During the 1950s he moved to Italy and became part of the racing community centred on Modena. Among other machinery, he drove OSCA cars, produced by the Maserati brothers after they had left the company bearing their surname.

Another important figure in the marque's history was Isabelle Haskell, an American racing driver whom Alejandro met through motorsport. They married in 1957. Isabelle was more than a companion to the future founder: she belonged to the family and business circle that supported the developing enterprise. Links with the American Haskell family later became significant in securing finance and arranging industrial partnerships.

In 1959 the couple established De Tomaso Automobili in Modena. Its initial business was not the manufacture of elegant road cars, but the construction of racing chassis. The young firm sought a place in a region already home to Ferrari, Maserati, OSCA and numerous workshops producing cars and components for competition.

The founder did not command Enzo Ferrari's racing reputation or the resources of a major carmaker. He did, however, show an aptitude for finding partners, identifying shared interests between seemingly unrelated businesses and changing direction rapidly when a project failed to deliver. Those qualities would contribute both to De Tomaso's greatest successes and to some of its later difficulties.

Even the company emblem reflected its founder's personal history. Its blue and white colours referred to the Argentine flag, while the stylised device recalled the mark used on the family's Ceballos estate. De Tomaso was Italian in its base of operations, engineering talent and manufacturing arrangements, but its identity was international from the beginning.

Racing origins and the difficult Formula One years

De Tomaso's earliest products were largely single-seaters. The company developed cars for Formula Junior and other junior categories, while also making more ambitious attempts to compete in Formula One. Racing gave a small workshop practical experience with lightweight frames, suspension design, aerodynamics and powertrain packaging. It could also provide the publicity needed to attract customers and investors.

In the early 1960s the marque entered its own Grand Prix designs, without securing significant results. One particularly ambitious venture involved the development of an in-house V8 engine of a capacity suited to contemporary Formula One regulations. The engineering challenge was far greater than the financial means of a manufacturer for which every new batch of components represented a substantial investment.

De Tomaso returned to the world championship in 1970, this time supplying a car to Frank Williams Racing Cars. The 505/38, developed with the involvement of Giampaolo Dallara, used the Ford Cosworth DFV engine. The car was uncompetitive and suffered reliability problems.

At the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, British driver Piers Courage died in an accident while driving the De Tomaso. The tragedy is inseparable from the history of the programme, regardless of how the car itself is assessed. A fatal accident, however, does not by itself establish that a particular engineering feature caused it. The partnership with Williams did not continue after that season.

For the marque, the transfer of racing knowledge into road cars proved more valuable than competition results. Mid-engine layouts, suspension geometry and the search for a light, rigid structure became defining concerns of its subsequent designs. De Tomaso never enjoyed the Formula One successes that helped build Ferrari's image, but its racing roots were more than a marketing story.

Vallelunga: the first road car

The turning point came with the Vallelunga. A prototype appeared in 1963, followed by limited production over the next several years. The name came from the Italian racing circuit. De Tomaso initially considered attracting a larger manufacturer to the project before deciding to sell the car under its own badge.

The Vallelunga used a roughly 1.5-litre Ford four-cylinder engine mounted behind the seats. Its chassis was built around a steel central backbone to which the mechanical assemblies were attached. Independent suspension and disc brakes completed a package conceived in the spirit of racing rather than conventional touring cars. It was compact and light, with little of the accommodation expected of a comfortable grand tourer.

Its coachbuilding history reflects the realities of small-series production. The first coupé body was prepared by Carrozzeria Fissore, while later examples involved Ghia. Body materials and details varied. Sources are not entirely consistent about whether prototypes and completed production cars are included in their totals; a figure of several dozen, commonly estimated at about 50-60 cars, is more defensible than an exact count.

The Vallelunga never became a large commercial success. Cabin space was limited, everyday practicality was modest and the mechanical layout asked more of its driver than a typical touring car. But the project proved that De Tomaso could move beyond selling racing chassis to developing an entire road car while relying on an engine sourced from a major manufacturer.

That last decision mattered enormously. Rather than funding an expensive proprietary engine, the firm could spend its limited resources on the chassis and styling. The idea reached its next stage with the Mangusta.

P70, Carroll Shelby and the road to the Mangusta

In the middle of the 1960s Alejandro de Tomaso entered into a partnership with Carroll Shelby. The objective was a racing sports car for American competition, known as the P70. Shelby was to contribute elements of the programme's support and a Ford engine; De Tomaso would handle the engineering, while Peter Brock worked on the aerodynamic body shape. Its ambitions were considerably greater than those of the Vallelunga.

The arrangement broke down. Shelby's attention was drawn to other programmes, including activities surrounding the Ford GT40, and the partners differed in their assessment of progress. The planned series of racing cars never materialised. The completed prototype was also known as the Sport 5000. It remains evidence of the period in which American V8 power, Italian chassis engineering and transatlantic styling projects began to converge at De Tomaso.

The Mangusta emerged at approximately the same time. Unveiled in 1966 and produced from the latter part of the decade, it combined a mid-mounted Ford V8 with bodywork designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, then working for Ghia. Its name means 'mongoose', an animal associated with fighting cobras. It is frequently interpreted as a playful reference to Shelby's Cobra cars. That interpretation fits the relationship between the parties, although the anecdote should not be treated as a complete explanation for the programme.

The Mangusta was far more dramatic than the Vallelunga. Its low roof, broad rear haunches, pronounced wheelarches and extraordinary sideways-opening engine covers created an unmistakable shape. Beneath the Ghia-designed panels, however, the car retained a backbone-type chassis architecture that lacked some of the advantages of the Pantera's later unitary body construction.

A Ford V8 of around 4.7 litres in the more familiar versions, a five-speed ZF gearbox and rear-wheel drive promised considerable performance, but there were compromises. Weight distribution, chassis rigidity and handling characteristics made the engine's potential difficult to exploit near the limit of grip. The car was neither forgiving nor particularly spacious. Production reached roughly 400 examples, vastly more than the Vallelunga but still too few to guarantee long-term financial stability.

The Mangusta also demonstrated that an Italian sports car with Ford mechanical components could find buyers in the United States. Turning that opportunity into a sustainable business required a model better suited to regular use, along with a sales network that De Tomaso did not possess.

Ghia, Vignale and the Ford partnership

During the 1960s De Tomaso began building a business infrastructure considerably broader than its own workshop. Through arrangements with American investors connected to the Haskell family, control was acquired over Carrozzeria Ghia and later Vignale. Each brought a different asset. Ghia was respected for design and specialist coachbuilding, while Vignale had manufacturing facilities that made higher-volume body production more plausible.

Cooperation with Ford gained momentum in 1969. Lee Iacocca was an important figure on the American side, recognising the opportunity to offer a European-style exotic car through the company's dealer network. Ford could provide an established engine and a sales organisation; the Italian partners could deliver the design, the body and the appropriate character.

Ownership changes affecting De Tomaso, Ghia and Vignale followed in 1970. Historical accounts give different percentages for Ford's holdings, partly because they do not always refer to the same company or the same stage of restructuring. What is clear is that the American group secured decisive control over important parts of the project's infrastructure. The arrangement went well beyond a simple agreement to supply engines.

That reorganisation explains both how the Pantera reached the market so quickly and why the marque became vulnerable when the alliance ended. De Tomaso gained access to a scale of activity it could not previously have achieved, but important production assets, design resources and distribution channels were no longer entirely under its own control.

Pantera: the car that made De Tomaso famous

The Pantera was unveiled in 1970, with sales beginning in 1971. Tom Tjaarda designed its body at Ghia, while the engineering team working on its chassis was associated with Giampaolo Dallara. Unlike the Mangusta, the new car used a steel monocoque structure. Its engine sat longitudinally behind the seats and ahead of the rear axle, with power passing through a five-speed ZF transaxle.

Most early examples used the naturally aspirated Ford 351 Cleveland V8, displacing approximately 5.8 litres. Although its pushrod valvegear was relatively straightforward beside high-revving European designs, the engine produced abundant torque. A driver did not need to keep it near the top of the rev range to obtain strong acceleration. The availability of numerous Ford engine components also offered advantages when maintaining or modifying the car.

Power figures must be tied to specific years, markets and measuring systems. Early American figures were often quoted using the older SAE gross standard, with later figures expressed in SAE net. Comparing the numbers directly, without allowing for the difference in test methods, gives a misleading impression of changes in performance. American-market examples should not be treated as mechanically identical to European Pantera GTS models.

The greatest change was commercial. Ford brought the Pantera to the United States through selected Lincoln-Mercury dealerships. A buyer could obtain an Italian-looking mid-engined sports car powered by an engine derived from mass production, backed by the dealer organisation of a major manufacturer.

The speed of the programme came at a price. Early cars suffered from inconsistent assembly quality, ventilation and cooling issues, and variable interior finishing. Ford introduced repairs and improvements, but not every limitation could be resolved quickly. Supply of the specialist ZF gearbox created an additional bottleneck: increasing Italian body production was of little use if the transmission supplier could not increase output at the same pace.

The Pantera became by far the most numerous De Tomaso model. Commonly cited estimates put the total at a little over 7,000 across its various derivatives, although published sources differ about the final count and which cars they include. Compared with the production figures for the Mangusta and Vallelunga, even that approximate volume represented a fundamental shift.

The Pantera's public profile was not enough to ensure a lasting partnership. Toughening American emissions and safety requirements, the cost of correcting defects, a changing sports-car market and the oil crisis all affected the programme's appeal. Ford ended its American sales of the Pantera after the 1974 model year.

Deauville and Longchamp: luxury grand touring

While the Pantera was being developed, De Tomaso was also working on cars that broke with its image as a maker of two-seat sports coupés. The four-door Deauville saloon was introduced in 1970. Its Ghia bodywork was designed under Tom Tjaarda's direction. It had a front-mounted Ford V8, rear-wheel drive, independent suspension and an interior conceived to meet the expectations of the luxury segment.

The Deauville's proportions recalled the large European saloons of its era, particularly the Jaguar XJ. In manufacturing scale, however, De Tomaso could not compete with established luxury brands. Buyers had to be convinced not only of the car's performance, but also of its build quality, servicing arrangements and resale prospects. The model remained in the catalogue for years, yet only about 240 were built. A long production life did not imply consistently strong demand.

The two-door Longchamp followed in 1972, using the technical foundations of the luxury saloon. It was a conventional grand tourer, with its engine in front, drive to the rear wheels, a cabin roomier than the Pantera's and an emphasis on covering long distances quickly rather than on racetrack agility. Like the Deauville, it used Ford V8 power and Tjaarda's angular styling. Sportier and open-top derivatives appeared later.

The Longchamp attracted somewhat more buyers than the Deauville, but total production still amounted to only several hundred cars. Both programmes were expensive undertakings for a small company: large bodies, substantial interior finishing and limited runs demanded a healthy margin on each sale.

Today these two models are significant for another reason. They reveal the technical links among the companies Alejandro de Tomaso would eventually control. After the acquisition of Maserati, the Longchamp and Deauville's engineering provided a starting point for other cars sold with the trident badge. This was a deliberate attempt to reduce development expenditure by reusing established components and assemblies.

After Ford: the Pantera survives

The end of Ford's American import programme did not mean the end of the Pantera. De Tomaso continued building it for European markets and customers seeking an unusual sports car. Output, however, declined sharply. The marque no longer had access to Ford's American dealer network, while plants and rights connected with the former partnership were not simply at its disposal.

The Pantera evolved gradually as tastes and expectations changed. GTS versions adopted a more overtly sporting appearance, followed by the wide-bodied GT5 and GT5-S, with expanded wheelarches, large wheels and increasingly assertive aerodynamic additions. Its appearance moved with the trends of successive decades, even as the underlying concept dated back to the turn of the 1970s.

At the beginning of the 1990s, the Pantera Si arrived with a revised body by Marcello Gandini. It was not an entirely new car, but an attempt to bring a long-running design up to date. The last cars in this line were assembled in the early 1990s. Other dates can be found in histories of the model, depending on whether the writer is counting assembly, registration, the sale of existing stock or individually commissioned cars.

The Pantera's endurance represented a different kind of success from the mass-market ambitions pursued with Ford. Without its major partner, the car became a specialist product for informed customers and workshops devoted to the marque. That community remains important to keeping surviving examples on the road.

Maserati: the founder's biggest business venture

In the second half of the 1970s, Alejandro de Tomaso's interests grew far beyond the marque bearing his surname. Maserati was in serious difficulty after Citroën withdrew from the business. During 1975-1976, with assistance from Italian institutions and as part of a reorganisation, De Tomaso gained control. Maserati remained a separate marque and manufacturer, but its business decisions were subsequently directed by Alejandro de Tomaso for many years.

The initial strategy made use of existing resources. The Maserati Kyalami, developed with the involvement of Pietro Frua, drew on Longchamp-related engineering but received a Maserati engine and distinctive styling. The Quattroporte III likewise shared elements of the technical architecture associated with the group's larger cars. Such common foundations could save money, although they also raised questions about the engineering independence of the more expensive marque.

A far larger shift came with the Maserati Biturbo, introduced in 1981. Rather than rely solely on large, costly GT cars, the company moved into smaller, more accessible luxury models powered by V6 engines with twin turbochargers. The range subsequently expanded into numerous coupés, saloons and specialised variants.

The strategic reasoning was clear. More customers were supposed to make Maserati less dependent on the narrow market for expensive, large-engined grand tourers. In practice, rapid range expansion, cost pressure and quality problems damaged the Biturbo's reputation. Its history is neither an uncomplicated success nor a straightforward failure. The programme helped sustain production and enlarge Maserati's business, but it also created persistent image problems.

A partnership with Chrysler, then led by Lee Iacocca, produced the Chrysler TC by Maserati, among other initiatives. The TC neatly illustrates Alejandro de Tomaso's approach to the industry: secure a partner with substantial resources, then attempt to combine American market access with Italian product identity. Its reception and commercial results fell short of the project's ambitions.

De Tomaso did not retain control of Maserati indefinitely. Following changes in shareholdings and increasing financial difficulties, Fiat assumed full control of Maserati in 1993. The Maserati models produced between 1975 and 1993 were not De Tomaso models. The two companies shared ownership and parts of their industrial infrastructure for a period, but they were distinct marques.

Innocenti, Benelli and Moto Guzzi: an empire beyond sports cars

Alongside Maserati, Alejandro de Tomaso pursued other businesses. Alejandro and Isabelle controlled motorcycle manufacturer Benelli of Pesaro and Moto Guzzi of Mandello del Lario. Each had a history and manufacturing needs very different from those of an exotic sports coupé producer. De Tomaso sought to exploit opportunities across the wider group, although the scope for genuine industrial synergies was limited.

During this period, Benelli developed machines including the six-cylinder Sei range. Moto Guzzi had its distinctive longitudinally mounted V-twin engines and a loyal customer base. Under De Tomaso ownership, both companies attempted to renew their product lines while facing organisational difficulties and increasingly intense competition from Japanese motorcycle manufacturers.

In 1976 Innocenti was added to the wider business network. Known for small cars, including versions of the Mini with Italian bodywork and, later, models using Japanese components, the company brought Alejandro de Tomaso into an entirely different market segment. Affordable city cars depended on competitive pricing, sufficient production volume and reliable supply arrangements.

This activity exposed a central contradiction in the expanding group. A maker of Panteras or Mangustas could tolerate small runs, expensive hand assembly and exclusivity. Producing a city hatchback required low unit costs, stable contracts and predictable volumes. Managing both approaches under the same leadership was not impossible, but it demanded far more capital and organisational discipline than the prestige attached to the founder's name might suggest.

Ownership structures and periods of control differed among the various businesses. Nevertheless, by the end of the 1970s Alejandro de Tomaso stood at the centre of a substantial network of industrial interests. It was an entrepreneurial achievement on a scale quite disproportionate to the number of cars sold under the De Tomaso name itself. His career cannot be judged solely by Pantera production figures.

The strengths and weaknesses of the Italian-American formula

Using American V8 engines in De Tomaso road cars was more than an exercise in cost-cutting. It enabled the company to produce vehicles with an unusual combination of characteristics: Italian styling, driving position and chassis design on one side, American displacement and low- to mid-range torque on the other.

The advantages were tangible. Components for some Ford engine variants were easier to obtain than parts for specialised Italian powerplants. The engines were well suited to modification and delivered strong torque without sophisticated multivalve cylinder heads. Sourcing established drivetrains could also reduce development expenditure.

But a mass-produced Ford engine did not make the entire car inexpensive or trouble-free to maintain. Special bodies, distinctive cooling layouts, ZF transaxles, suspension parts and low-volume trim required specialist knowledge. Many manufacturing and quality-control shortcomings were unrelated to the inherent reliability of the V8 itself.

De Tomaso consequently occupied a position somewhere between Ferrari, Lamborghini and conventional grand touring manufacturers. It neither shared Ferrari's engine philosophy nor maintained a single engineering identity through its entire history. Its promise lay in assembling the best available elements into a car of strong character. When commercial partnerships worked, the strategy could produce striking results. When an investor or distributor disappeared, the small firm was left with an expensive business structure that was difficult to sustain.

Guarà and the original company's final projects

By the early 1990s, De Tomaso needed a successor to the ageing Pantera. The Guarà was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 1993. Designed by Carlo Gaino of Synthesis Design, it was a mid-engined sports car that drew more directly on the marque's racing traditions than the Deauville or Longchamp.

The Guarà featured a central structural element, independent suspension and a six-speed transmission. Early examples used a 4.0-litre BMW V8, with Ford V8 power arriving later. Coupé versions were joined by a very small number of open cars. In concept, it was lightweight, demanding and less concerned with everyday usability than the larger GT cars of its era.

Even with strong performance, the Guarà was unlikely to reach a large market without a dependable sales network, adequate finance and regular production. Only several dozen were produced; published counts vary according to how variants and individual examples are classified. It was the last series-offered sports car conceived by the original De Tomaso organisation during the founder's lifetime and under his direction.

A separate project was the Biguà, developed with Marcello Gandini as a front-engined sports car. American investor Bruce Qvale became involved in the venture. A dispute between the partners meant that the vehicle eventually reached buyers as the Qvale Mangusta rather than as a fully fledged De Tomaso production model. The later use of the design's foundations in the MG XPower SV further illustrates how a concept, a chassis and the right to a badge could follow separate paths.

Alejandro de Tomaso suffered a serious stroke in January 1993, restricting his involvement in the business. This coincided with Maserati's sale to Fiat and mounting financial difficulties across the remaining interests. The founder died in May 2003. In 2004 the original enterprise entered insolvency-related proceedings and its established operations ended. The marque nevertheless retained value as a name and intellectual-property asset.

The failed revival and a new Deauville

At the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, an attempt was made to revive De Tomaso. Entrepreneur Gian Mario Rossignolo acquired the rights to the name and announced a production venture intended to make use of facilities and expertise left behind by other Italian carmakers. His plans departed markedly from the old formula of lightweight, mid-engined coupés.

A Deauville concept was unveiled in 2011. With its elevated body and luxury ambitions, it reused the name of the historic saloon without being its engineering successor. The proposed vehicle addressed the market for premium crossovers and larger luxury cars rather than the Pantera's technical tradition.

The announcements did not lead to sustained series production. The business ran into financial trouble and a further insolvency followed in 2012. Investigations and allegations concerning people involved in financing the venture also arose; their existence should not be turned into an automatic assertion of guilt in every related case.

The distinction matters when assessing the marque's history. The 2011 Deauville was a project of a different company using the recovered name, not the last car in an uninterrupted development line from Alejandro de Tomaso's enterprise. A shared badge did not imply continuity of engineering, personnel or manufacturing infrastructure.

New ownership and the return of the P72

In 2015, following insolvency proceedings, rights associated with the De Tomaso name passed to Hong Kong investors connected with Ideal Team Ventures. The modern De Tomaso business began establishing its own design and development organisation while referring explicitly to the marque's Modena heritage. Norman Choi became closely associated with this new phase.

Its first major public result was the P72, unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2019. The name and some styling themes recalled the P70 prototype developed during Alejandro de Tomaso's collaboration with Shelby. It was not, however, a reconstruction of the historic car. Jowyn Wong designed its flowing, rounded body, while the structure used contemporary carbon-fibre technology.

The P72 deliberately takes a different direction from the increasingly electronics-driven world of extreme-performance cars. De Tomaso specified a 5.0-litre supercharged V8 and a six-speed manual transmission. In specifications disclosed in 2025, the company quoted 700 hp, or approximately 522 kW. This is a manufacturer figure, not a result established by independent road testing.

The car incorporates a carbon-fibre structure and independent suspension with manually adjustable dampers. The driving position, pedal feel, gearshift mechanism and throttle response are meant to be central to its character. The P72's declared aim is not primarily to set acceleration records but to deliver an involving, direct driving experience.

In May 2025 the company unveiled what it described as the first production-specification example, DT001. A series of 72 customer cars was planned, with DT001 designated an internal vehicle outside that allocation. In November of the same year, De Tomaso reported further development cars, DT002-DT004, and preparation of DT005 as the first example intended to meet customer specification.

A completed technical specification, the beginning of vehicle assembly and actual deliveries are different milestones. The company's statements demonstrate an advanced development and build programme, but they do not by themselves establish that the entire series has been completed or how many customer cars had been delivered by October 2026.

P900: a racing ambition for the new De Tomaso

The modern company also announced the P900 in late 2022. Conceived principally as a track-use car, it puts greater emphasis on aerodynamics, mass and performance than the road-oriented P72. Its name reflects the proposed scale of the project, but does not substitute for verified specifications of a finished car.

The planned powertrain evolved during development. In February 2026 De Tomaso announced the intended final specification for a naturally aspirated V12 developed in cooperation with the Italian firm ItalTecnica. According to the manufacturer, it has a displacement of 7.0 litres, a 65-degree cylinder-bank angle and a peak output of 900 hp, equivalent to roughly 671 kW, at about 9,500 rpm. Its stated rev limit is 10,200 rpm.

The announced engineering includes gear-driven camshafts, four valves per cylinder, titanium components and dry-sump lubrication. These are appropriate solutions for an engine expected to endure high speeds and substantial loads over extended periods. De Tomaso has also said that the complete engine should weigh less than 200 kg, a target or claim that should not be presented as independently confirmed.

The P900 is not simply a modern Pantera with additional cylinders. It is an attempt to create a much more specialised machine for a different kind of use. As of October 2026, it is more accurate to describe it as a track-car project in development than as a series-production model with verified circuit results.

At the same time, its emphasis on Italian design and a large, characterful engine links it to the philosophy of the earlier marque. There is one fundamental difference: historically, De Tomaso usually relied on engines supplied by major manufacturers, whereas the P900 programme stresses an engine engineered specifically for the project.

What remains of the original De Tomaso?

De Tomaso's history falls into several distinct phases that are easy to blur when reading a chronological model list. A small racing-chassis constructor became a producer of Italian sports cars with Ford engines. The Pantera then carried it into an American dealer network, while Alejandro de Tomaso expanded his interests to include other car and motorcycle companies. Financial crisis ended the original enterprise, after which the name became the centrepiece of two separate revival attempts.

Its engineering legacy cannot be reduced to a particular engine or chassis layout. The Vallelunga and Mangusta used backbone-type structures, the Pantera adopted a unitary steel body, the Deauville and Longchamp placed their engines in front, and the Guarà returned to a more overtly competition-inspired approach. What linked them was an effort to deliver distinctive design and strong driving sensations with the resources available to a small manufacturer.

The formula had clear weaknesses. De Tomaso repeatedly achieved more in design and engineering than the size of its organisation seemed to promise, but it struggled to establish consistent quality, finance and distribution. Its history is therefore as revealing about the industrial economics of post-war Italian carmaking as it is about the cars themselves.

The Pantera remains its most enduring symbol. Alejandro de Tomaso's most unusual achievement, however, may have been the industrial network he assembled: from the workshops of Modena through Ghia and Vignale to the management of Maserati and Innocenti. Today's P72 and P900 cannot automatically inherit that record. They can add a new chapter to it if their ambitions are realised in fully developed cars actually delivered to customers.