Is this the New De Tomaso Pantera? Mystery Sports Car Caught Leaving the Italian Firm’s HQ

During the Geneva Motor Show presentation of the De Tomaso Deauville crossover earlier this year, the Italian automaker’s new CEO and the person responsible for bringing the brand back to life, Gian Mario Rossignolo, revealed that the company is planning to introduce a modern day successor to the Pantera sports car before the end of 2011.

Now, it appears that we have our first look at the 21st century Pantera thanks to a new video that made its way online. The footage shows a prototype sports car exiting the DeTomaso factory in Grugliasco, Italy. And even though the coupe is covered in black camouflage gear, the aggressive silhouette, together with the massive lateral air intakes and the intoxicating noise of the engine as the car accelerates let us know that we have something special here.

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Geneva 2011: De Tomaso Deauville Sincerely Flatters BMW's 5 GT [with Video]

De Tomaso's return in Geneva makes me ask two questions: 1) Why do companies think cars like this, the recent Lagonda, and Spyker D12 are necessary?, and 2) Who's buying them? According to the Italian company, they've already got a 1,500 unit backlog.

The production ready Deauville concept (previously known by its SLC and later SLS codenames), revives the name De Tomaso placed on its 1970's attempt at a luxury sedan; sadly, instead of an attractive Ghia saloon, this time around the Italian marque decided to emulate BMW's GT and create a Pininfarina-penned crossover.

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