As much as it would have been fantastic to see the mighty De Tomaso Pantera resurrected, it seems the dream that graced our news section last February is falling to shambles.

De Tomaso had a chance at revival, or so it seemed, when Chinese investment firm Hotyork announced that it planned to buy the automaker from its current majority shareholder, the Rossignolo family for 70 million euros. In the months that passed since then, it seems that cash failed to materialize and it seems the the Rossignolo family and its creditors patience is spent.

Perhaps the saddest part of this story is what’s become of the company’s workers in Italy who have been hung out to dry in the midst of a transition that never occurred. Left unpaid for months, the Italian government is finally interfering and offering compensation, but it only amounts to something similar to unemployment insurance — a far cry from the wages those workers would otherwise expect to earn. At a breaking point, one man chained himself to the gates of casa Rossingolo in protest.

At the project’s outset, Rossingolo projected to build some 3,000 units annually, but after failing to find investor capitol sufficient to pay rent on the former Pininfarina factory, the funds dried up and paychecks with it.

The fact that innocent workers are suffering at the hands of an irresponsible business owner is the clear tragedy in this story, but it’s hard not to sigh a little knowing there isn’t a new Pantera in the future.

For those who might not know or remember, the De Tomaso Pantera was produced as a combination of American muscle and Italian refinement. It featured a 5.8-liter Ford V8 mid mounted with wedge-shaped styling that looks a lot like a classic Lamborghini. When the news emerged that Hotyork planned to buy the company, a sedan, crossover and Pantera successor were also said to be on the way. Now that dream is dead once again.

A subsidiary of Chinese investment firm Hotyork Investment Group has reportedly purchased automaker De Tomaso.

The Italian automaker was recently revived thanks to the work of former Fiat CEO Gianmario Rossignolo back in 2009, but quickly ran into financial problems trying to launch three new vehicles.

There aren’t many details being released at the moment and no official statement has been made, but Qiu Kunjian recently said, “We closely considered the business plan and we believe in the opportunity to develop all the valuable potential of the company. We are working to finalize the last details and implement the agreement in the coming of days.”

De Tomaso has a promising future if their three new models make it to market. Currently in the works is a new sedan, crossover, and successor to the Pantera.

Should this come to be, we’ll be especially excited to see a morden Pantera hitting the road. For those who don’t remember, when it was produced, the Pantera was a mariage between American muscle and Italian style that used a Ford 5.8-liter V8, but looked very Italian.

[Source: WorldCarFans]

De Tomaso is planning to show a new Pantera, one of the most legendary cars ever built, at the Frankfurt Auto Show. Will it live up to the original’s badass demeanor?

Sticking to tradition, the new Pantera will feature American power with a Corvette V8, in the middle somewhere. With a curb weight of 2,645 pounds and more than 600 horsepower, the new Pantera should move like cowboys from hell. De Tomaso is banking on sales of the Deauville crossover—apparently somebody actually paid real currency for one—to fund development of the primal concrete sledge.

Of course one of the Pantera’s most famous owners, a legend befitting a legend, was Elvis. So will the next Pantera be more young Elvis, scandalous and sexy, or Vegas-era Elvis, gaudy and bloated? We hope it’ll be “Hound Dog” and not “Viva Las Vegas,” but judging by its last efforts, we may start booking shows at the Hilton.

[Sources: Autoblog, Carstyling.ru]

General Motors has officially announced pricing for the 2012 Chevrolet Sonic. The sedan has been priced to start at $14,495 and the five-door model will start at $15,395.

At that price, the Sonic will come with a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine producing 138-hp and 125 lb-ft of torque. The car will also come equipped with a five-speed manual transmission, 10 airbags, remote keyless entry and power locks. The automatic transmission will cost $1,070 more. A second engine option featuring a fuel-efficient turbocharged 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine and six-speed manual transmission will cost $700, and is part of the pricier LT and LTZ trims.

The Sonic’s rivals include the Ford Fiesta S sedan retailing at $13,995 and the Honda Fit hatchback will cost $15,870. The Toyota Yaris is also competing costing 13,915 and the cheapest of the pack is the Nissan Versa costing just $10,750.

Check out our first drive of the 2012 Chevrolet Sonic

Gallery: 2012 Chevrolet Sonic

On August 19th at Laguna Seca Golf Ranch, Monterey California, Concorso Italiano will open the traditional Monterey/Pebble Beach Weekend. The event will feature more than 800-1000 beautifully designed Italian cars on display. Enthusiasts can engage in conversations with fellow car lovers and enjoy Italian fashion, food and art. There will no doubt be an astonishing variety of Ferrari’s, Lamborghini’s, Maserati’s, Alfa Romeo’s, Pagani’s, and Lancia’s on display  The event will run from 9:00am- 5:00 pm and admission will cost $130 per person.

The legendary De Tomaso Pantera will be set to return in November of this year, a much-anticipated product after the disappointing Deauville (formerly SLC) introduced at the Geneva Auto Show last week.

The Pantera is the second part of the De Tomaso revival, and there isn’t much known about it yet—other than the fact that it will be shown at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, almost exactly 40 years after the original’s debut. With the Avenger-looking “are they actually going to sell that?” Deauville paving the way, it won’t be hard to top—but the original Pantera has some reputation as being the Keith Moon of crazy 70s supercar wedges, and there’s a lot resting on its heavy metal nameplate.

After all, it was good enough for Elvis.

[Sources: PistonHeads, Wikipedia]

There once was an Argentinian who started a car company in Italy, making products powered by American V8s. The company was called DeTomaso, which you may recognize as the automaker behind the Pantera sports car.

However, times have not been kind to DeTomaso. Their last production car was the Bigua about a decade ago. The company sold the production rights of this car to Qvale, which subsequently sold its underpinnings to the MG Rover Group that produced the SV-R sportscar on that chassis  – until they also went bankrupt.

It seemed that DeTomaso was dead for good, but then in 2009, a man by the name of Gianmario Rossignolo, who was formerly the boss of Lancia, bought the rights to the DeTomaso name and started talking about finding a new production facility.

Now it seems he has taken another step forward, as he is talking about revealing a new model at the 2011 Geneva Auto Show. In fact, he revealed to the Italian magazine Quattroroute that he plans on a three model range for the company, a luxury car, an SUV and a sportscar.

Let’s just hope DeTomaso makes a worthy comeback and this time will be back in business for good.