All,
Seems we have been here before, as the latest group trying to revive De Tomaso is now named in a lawsuit filed by their former GM/CMO Ryan Berris.
Link :
Larry
Sent from me using a magic, handheld electronic gizmo.
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As Mike Drew posted on the email list, this Hemmings article has a little more depth of content. It wouldn't be De Tomaso without a little color!
Thanks for posting the link Joules. It's a better account of modern DeT history than any other I have read. So while it's sad to hear of the discord, it's nice to have a light shown on recent happenings.
Would anyone care to speculate as to how many P72's have been delivered to customers? The exclusivity is such that probably you will not see an owner show up on the internet to discuss the purchase. The exclusivity seems like a convenient screen to hide wrong doing.
I side with the plaintiff but one thing seems odd to me, the plaintiff (former CEO) had a big compensation package. Then voluntarily did not accept that compensation?
"While Berris claimed to have negotiated a $400,000 salary - along with a commission on all P72 sales, one of the P72s for himself, and later a 10 percent equity stake in De Tomaso - according to the lawsuit he deferred all but one month of that compensation "as a capital contribution" and paid for a portion of the Jorda marketing campaign out of his own pocket."
Another link from the Hemmings article-
I would hazard a guess that none have been delivered, the ones that keep doing the rounds are the same three cars, often rewrapped to appear different.
Not a bad guess. I remember the green one from Monterey car week. It got a parking ticket on the street and the photos of the ticket under the wiper made the rounds on the internet. No idea if it was privately owned or not. Possibly a factory car. “Factory” heh.
...in retrospect, very clear why Mrs. DeT would have nothing to claim or do with the Jorda marketing campaign--that what I read from her nephew, she wasn't even flattered. That yes, the identity and name had been traded as property, but the thing that she helped to create (the part that we enjoy in our cars) is not the same thing as the bespoke car makers of today.
Maybe the motivations were in fact to glorify the DeT name, but likely it was just more about the value of a brand...