We have to admit that, upon learning about former Fiat marketing executive Gian Mario Rossignolo's plans to re-launch the De Tomaso brand with the Pininfarina-penned SLC crossover concept at the upcoming Geneva Show, we were curious to see what the famous Italian design house would come up with.
But our hopes of seeing something truly exciting were thwarted by this here video, which was filmed during a special presentation event held in Rome. No offense to VW Group's Spanish subsidiary, but the SLC crossover looks like a BMW 5-Series GT made by...SEAT.
The De Tomaso concept was designed to be fitted with a variety of engines including choice of either a 300-hp V6 or a 550-hp V8 gasoline units, or a 250-hp V6 diesel unit.
Just like Pagani, De Tomaso is another Italy-based sports car manufacturer founded by an Argentinean, more exactly by former racing driver Alejandro De Tomaso. Known for its quirky models of the 1960s and 1970s like the Pantera, the company eventually went under the radar and ended up filing for bankruptcy in 2004.
Fortunately, it was bought five years later by ex-Fiat marketing executive and Lancia CEO Gian Mario Rossignolo, who decided to revive the iconic brand. Now, it seems that the Italian businessman’s efforts have come to fruition, as the revitalized automaker is planning to unveil a Pininfarina-designed premium crossover concept at the Geneva Motor Show.
Codenamed SLC (Sport Luxury Car), the design study is said to rival the likes of the BMW 5-Series GT and Lexus RX-450h.
According to reports, the SLC will have an aluminum body, four-wheel drive and three engine choices: 550HP V8 and 300HP V6 gasoline engines, plus a 250-horsepower diesel unit.
De Tomaso plans to build some 3,000 units of the crossover annually, and if everything goes according to plan, it will be followed by a luxury sedan and a coupe, also built from aluminum. Projected sales for these two models are 3,000 and 2,000 units respectively.
The Italians are going to invest €116 million (US $172 million) into the project, with the cars being manufactured at a former Pininfarina plant, using an innovative technology called Univis said to considerably simplify the manufacturing process.
This purple-highlighted design study is Frederik Tjellesen's view of what a new vehicle for the on-again / off-again De Tomaso brand could look like if he were to be involved. Named the Ghepardo, it's a four-door coupe that draws from former DeTomaso vehicles like the Pantera and Mangusta, as well as the idea that fine Italian automobiles (burning to the ground or not), need to be custom-tailored much like a suit.
Power for the fantasy car, as with many former De Tomaso cars, comes from a Ford-sourced engine; in this case, it would be a 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 cranked up to 465 horsepower or four 80+ kW wheel-mounted motors (also good for a theoretical 450+ horsepower) that are powered by methanol fuel cells in the trunk.
Somewhere, the car has something called "bottom windows" for the purpose of "[increasing] the rear passengers' perception of speed", while the rear doors are gullwing units that also function as the boot lids.
One of the 270 or so Mangusta sports cars that were produced by Qvale between 2000 and 2002 is up for sale on eBay with the current owner asking $26,500 to depart with it.
The Qvale Mangusta has quite an interesting history behind it involving many different people and companies over the years.
Designed by Marcello Gandini (notice the signature shape of the rear wheel arches), responsible for the styling of many cars including the Lamborghini Miura and Countach, Maserati Quattroporte and the first generation BMW 5er, the 2+2-seater convertible began its life at the 1996 Geneva Motor Show as the De Tomaso Bigua.
However, due to various problems (chiefly financial), it never made it into production as the Bigua with De Tomaso selling the rights to the car to the Qvale family, a US importer for high-end European cars.
Qvalve went ahead and renamed the car after an older De Tomaso model, the Mangusta and begun production at a new assembly plant in Modena, Italy, in 2000.
The Mangusta features an odd roof system with a targa-like removable center panel and a separate mechanism that allows the rear section to electrically rotate into a dedicated space behind the seats, thus allowing the car to be a Coupe, a Targa or a Roadster.
Power comes from a Ford Mustang-sourced 4.6-liter V8 with 320-horspower and 314 lb/ft of peak torque that propels the Mangusta to 60mph (96km/h) in 5.5 seconds and to a top speed of around 150mph or 241 km/h, while returning 26mpg on the highway (all manufacturer figures).
Ford's pony-car also provided the five-speed manual gearbox, steering wheel system, the dashboard, switchgear and a whole bunch of other bits and pieces.
Most Mangustas were exported to the USA but Qvale never managed to achieve its sales target of around 900 cars a year and ended up selling the rights to the Mangusta to Britain's MG Rover Group in 2003. MG used the car's underpinnings to build the short lived Xpower SV from 2003 to 2005.
