Here’s Why the De Tomaso Pantera Remains an Automotive Rock Star
Alejandro De Tomaso was an Argentine industrialist whose early career as a racer fueled his passion for automobiles. Successful in business, he owned Maserati from 1976 to 1993, along with his eponymous company, De Tomaso Automobili, from its founding in 1959 until his death in 2003. The latter marque’s most well-known creation is the Pantera, whose aggressive style and raucous power expressed its era as only costlier competitors Ferrari and Lamborghini could.
The model attracted more headlines in 1984, when Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil crashed his Pantera on the way home from a beer run, killing Hanoi Rocks drummer Razzle, forever cementing the Pantera as the “bad boy” of Italian exotics.
This 1972 De Tomaso Pantera sold for $106,400 through RM Sotheby’s in 2020.
Darin Schnabel, courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
The Pantera’s predecessor was the De Tomaso Mangusta—even more beautiful and diabolical to drive—an ill-sorted beast of which a mere 401 examples were made from 1967 to 1970. The infinitely more successful De Tomaso Pantera, sold by Lincoln Mercury dealers in the United States for a then-lofty $10,000, is our more attainable subject.
Its dealer base suggested that the power plant lurking beneath the long rear hatch was not of European pedigree. The Mangusta and Pantera were true hybrids, which in no way refers to battery-assisted, Prius-type appliances, but to the expedient solution adopted by accomplished Italian engineers who couldn’t afford to put expensive Italian V-12s into their cars, and whose answer to practical power was an intimidating American V-8. Some of the most interesting sports cars and GTs of the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s were powered by eight-cylinder, stateside muscle—engines that cost less at the time than a set of Borrani wheel spinners cost today. The Pantera was one of them.
This Pantera retains the same interior it was given at the factory.
Darin Schnabel, courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
The Pantera was created by Tom Tjaarda, a U.S.-born designer then working for Ghia. His other designs include Fiat’s 124 Spider—under Pininfarina—and his Ferrari 365 California Spider, which was a tour de force, as was his first-gen Ford Fiesta, in its own way. The most flamboyant of his creations was the Pantera—Italian for “panther”—which hit the stage in 1971 with great fanfare. It enjoyed a long run in many iterations, culminating with the Marcello Gandini–refreshed 90 Si in 1990, which bore a striking resemblance to its progenitor.
Also original is the car’s 351 ci Cleveland V-8, with an Edelbrock intake and a Holley carburetor.
Darin Schnabel, courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
The mid-engine layout used a steel monocoque (essentially a unibody) design, the first for De Tomaso. A beefy 351 ci V-8 engine sits behind the driver, with a five-speed ZF transmission (like that in the Ford GT40) hung out arears. In the U.S., Lincoln-Mercury dealers featured the De Tomaso as Ford’s halo sports car, until, after selling about 5,500 examples stateside, Ford pulled the pin on importation in 1975. Europe, though, continued to get wilder and wilder versions of the Pantera, many of which are fair game for importation into the U.S. today. The Pantera even saw competition by privateer teams in Group 3, 4, and 5 racing, with largely unsuccessful results. Production of the model ended in 1992, with about 7,260 examples manufactured in total.
With its aggressive style and raucous power, the Pantera remains De Tomaso’s most well-known model.
Darin Schnabel, courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Purists appreciate the early Panteras with small chrome bumperettes, before the full-width rubber bumpers arrived to spoil the clean appearance of the front and rear ends. Values are determined more by condition than year or model variant, and range from $80,000 for a car in good condition to $150,000 or more for a concours-quality example. Buyers should recite the mantra, “Buy the best car I can afford.” Would-be owners should also recognize that a Pantera restoration is not a simple affair, despite Pep Boys–parts availability for the rugged V-8.
Rust is a big deal, as is the fact that many Panteras have been mangled by previous owners bestowing hideous enhancements (think bad celebrity plastic surgery) on otherwise desirable cars. The alternate take is that a Pantera is an Italian “supercar” whose relative affordability gives ample license to create a wicked restomod, bringing big hair and heavy metal into the 21st century.
Click here for more photos of this 1972 De Tomaso Pantera.
An example of a 1972 De Tomaso Pantera, which sold for $106,400 through RM Sotheby’s in 2020.
Darin Schnabel, courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Authors
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Robert Ross
