The luxury crossover project, which should hit the showrooms next year if the project gets the go ahead, is set to be the first of three cars that Italian entrepreneur Gianmario Rossignolo hopes to build in conjunction with Pininfarina, the Turin design and engineering firm having penned the SUV-style car, while he has also secured the use of its idled contract manufacturing plant in Grugliasco, which, in a somewhat complex deal, was bought by the Piedmont Region’s agency FinPiemonte-Partecipazioni from the ailing design firm, and then rented back to Rossignolo via Pininfarina.

Rossignolo, who was CEO of Lancia during a very successful period for the Italian carmaker from 1977 to 1979, has a highly ambitious targets of 3,000 units per year for the SLC.

From the initial interior peeks the SLC concept appears to reuse the cabin of the Cadillac SRX in its entirety, implying that Pininfarina could well have reskinned this large American crossover car. However the aluminium space frame technology that Rossignolo has been developing, dubbed 'Univis', will feature as the press release states it will be a fundamental part of the project and adds that "Univis requires just about 30 dies to build a vehicle." Univis technology was first used by Rayton-Fissore in the design of the Magnum SUV which debuted at the Turin Motor Show in 1985. That vehicle, which became the Laforza before going on sale in the U.S., was produced in small numbers up the early part of the last decade. The Laforza was based on an Iveco military jeep and used the Univis system to create a new tubular fame, which also added strength, fixed to the chassis via more than a dozen rubber mountings. In a twist to history the Magnum SUV was actually penned by legendary DeTomaso designer Tom Tjaada.

Originally 80-year-old Rossignolo, who is noted for having rescued Italian white goods giant Zanussi from financial disaster as well as serving for a year as CEO of Telecom Italia during what has been a long and impressive business career, had said the car would be called Tosca, after the famous opera by Giacomo Puccini.

The statement issued by DeTomaso to accompany the set of new images reads: "During the next Geneva Auto Show (1st March 2011) will be unveiled the new DeTomaso Car. The new DeTomaso company, chaired by Mr. Gianmario Rossignolo, will unveil a Pininfarina-designed concept for a premium large crossover, dubbed SLC (sport luxury car).

"The four-wheel-drive SLC is set to go into production this year using two gasoline engines, a 500-hp V-8 and a 300-hp V-6. It will not be sold as the SLC," the statement contines, "but the final name has not been decided. Rossignolo plans to build 3,000 units a year of the SLC, as well as 3,000 limousines and 2,000 coupes. The cars will be built at DeTomaso Automobili S.p.A. plant, a former Pininfarina S.p.A. factory near Turin and in the Livorno factory by the ex-Delphi workers. DeTomaso's business plan foresees for a three-model range of aluminum vehicles based on an innovative construction technology called Univis. Univis requires just about 30 dies to build a vehicle. During a 22-year career with Fiat Group, Gianmario Rossignolo was a top marketing executive at the company and CEO of the Italian automaker's Lancia brand from 1977 to 1979. In December 2009, Rossignolo signed a deal to rent Pininfarina's factory in Grugliasco, in the western outskirts of Turin, one of three Pininfarina plants. The new DeTomaso company will invest 116 million euros in its rebirth project. The Grugliasco plan currently employs 900 people and includes a body shop, paint shop and final assembly facility, while in the Livorno one will be employed 150 people."

The De Tomaso brand was founded in 1959 in Modena by former Argentinean racing driver Alejandro DeTomaso and became a famous sports car marque in the 1960s and 1970s with three coupes - the 1963 Vallelunga, the 1966 Mangusta and the 1970 Pantera. DeTomaso had a history of raiding American carmakers for components for his cars and the trip to the Callilac SRX parts bin will be keeping in with tradition.