Listen To The V12 De Tomaso P72 Scream Its Way Around Spa

We’d forgive you if the De Tomaso P72 had slipped your mind. Things have been a little quiet with the stunning retro-styled supercar since the revived incarnation of the De Tomaso brand revealed it back in 2019.

Never fear, though, because the company’s been working away getting the car ready for production. There’s a bit of a difference between the production-spec version and the prototype, though – while the former will use a Roush-tuned, supercharged 5.0-litre Ford V8, the latter, which is based on the even wilder-looking Apollo Intense Emozione, uses that car’s screaming 6.3-litre Ferrari-derived V12.

With the prototype coming to the end of its working life, the company was given the chance to go for one last full-bore blast in it ahead of last weekend’s 24 Hours of Spa. So, a naturally aspirated V12 supercar with a sequential manual gearbox, with arguably the greatest F1 track of all at its disposal. Sounds like the sort of recipe we can get behind.

Indeed, a video showing bits of the run on De Tomaso’s social channels shows us what the production version will be missing. While the Ford V8 is a perfectly good engine, we highly doubt it’ll sound anything as special as this shrieking 12-pot. Combine that with a driver taking to the absolute ragged edge everywhere, and you’ve got quite the spectacle as the P72 fires its way through Eau Rouge and Raidillon.

Just 72 P72s are planned to be made (funnily enough), each costing from around £1.3 million each. In production form, it’s planned to have around 740bhp, 664lb ft of torque, and a proper H-pattern six-speed manual. Its curvaceous styling is a throwback to the P70 sports racer from 1965, of which just one was built by De Tomaso in its original guise.

Those mourning the loss of the V12, though, can find some solace. De Tomaso is planning an even madder, track-only version of the P72 called the P900, which will use a V12 – although the company’s apparently developing its very own engine for this.