Plans to revive the De Tomaso sportscar brand have been revealed.
Italian businessman Gian Mario Rossignolo - a former Fiat executive - bought the De Tomaso name last month, and has now announced plans to build 8000 De Tomaso cars a year in a former Pininfarina factory near Turin.
Rossignolo, 79, says his company now plans to produce a three-model range of aluminum vehicles using the innovative Univis spaceframe construction technique. These will be an SUV, a luxury saloon and a coupe.
Although no details of which car will be built first have been revealed, Rossignolo has said the first will be shown at the Geneva motor show in 2011.
The De Tomaso sports car company was founded in 1959 in Modena, northern Italy, by former Argentinean racing driver Alejandro De Tomaso. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2004, a year after De Tomaso's death.
De Tomaso became an iconic brand for sports car fans in the 1960s and 1970s with three coupes - the 1963 Vallelunga, the 1966 Mangusta and the 1970 Pantera.
Thanks to: Autocar