Although not quite as pretty as anything that comes from the other side of the Alps, the Deauville was designed by Pininfarina, and is built in a Pininfarina factory leased to De Tomaso. The rebirth of the company is due to one man’s vision: GianMario Rossignolo, the formidable ex- Lancia, Zanussi and Telecom guru, bought the brand outright in 2009, took over the factories, employed Pininfarina, chose the best engineers and created the Deauville in six months. He is now in talks with the Italian government to take over Fiat’s factory in Sicily to produce the fourth of a series of new models, a luxury city car.
 
Like Rossignolo, original founder Alejandro De Tomaso worked relentlessly to promote his brand and cars, enlisting the help of both the local government and Italian factories. De Tomaso, once a prestigious brand, was founded in 1959 in Modena, ‘terra dei motori’, (engine land), also home to Ferrari and Lamborghini. The company was responsible for models such as Pantera and Mangusta sportscars as well as the Maserati Biturbo and Quattroporte (De Tomaso owned Maserati for over twenty years, from 1976 to 1993).

Now in Rossignolo’s capable hands, and with 116m euros being invested in it straight away, De Tomaso does not renege its heritage and brand equity: the Geneva stand shows sepia photos of the older De Tomaso sportscars of forty years or so ago. The Deauville, called so in homage to the homonymous four-door saloon De Tomaso of old, is only the first of three new models. ‘It’s a luxury sedan with a sporty soul. We are using the latest technology to make sure we deliver a uniquely modern car, but with significant history,’ says Rossignolo.

With a whiff of American heaviness about it, and a GM-sourced DOHC V6 300bhp turbo engine, the Deauville follows tradition: American influence was typical in De Tomaso, with the original Pantera and Mangusta models powered by Ford V8 engines. The car is entirely made in aluminium using a new system called UNIVIS, developed by IAI (Innovation in Auto Industry), De Tomaso’s holding company.

‘Spaceframe, panels and subframes are all in aluminium, with parts connected via cross-shaped joints and then welded,’ says Sergio Contesi, Prototypes and Testing director (ex-Abarth, Alfa Romeo Corse and Lancia Rally Martini). The rear LSD system is also in aluminium, with carbonfibre interiors, but the car still tips the scales at 1850kg, due to the four-wheel drive system and its overall size. Viscous coupling takes care of the power distribution between front and rear axles, with a standard 60%/40% traction split, shifting to 90%/10% if necessary. Front McPherson struts and multilink suspension at the back complete the GM-based ‘Powertrain Integration’.

When it goes on sale here, the left-hand-drive-only Deauville will cost from around 89k euros (£75k). Some 3000 cars a year are forecast, with between 5 and 10% of sales going to the UK. A new De Tomaso two-seater Pantera (the original is 40 years old this year) and a limousine are also on the cards.