Born: 1971 Died: 1996The Ford Motor Company, anxious to have a sports car that would challenge the Chevrolet Corvette, acquired an 80 per cent stake in the De Tomaso carmaker in Italy towards the end of the 1960s.
Ford had been impressed by the sales performance of that maker's Mangusta, which used one of the American manufacturer's V8 engines.
An American stylist, Tom Tjaarda, was commissioned to produce a brand new car, subsequently launched as the Pantera in 1971. The car was a mid-engine configuration, the motor located behind the cabin. The car was the first monocoque construction from the Italian maker, and was built in Italy by Ghia and Vignale, which were controlled by De Tomaso. Trough the life of the car there was a choice of engines, from the 3-litre 290 to the 5.8-litre Ford-based unit used in the GT4 and the GTS. This latter engine was the one used at launch, outputting 330hp and giving it a 0-60mph time of 5.5 seconds.
A year after its launch that engine was modified somewhat, to help comply with more stringent emissions regulations. The result was a drop in available power, so the engineers compensated in part for that by modifying the cam characteristics. In addition a longer but less powerful "Lusso" variant was produced.
The company initiated race versions, available for both Group 3 and 4, the former being relatively unaltered variants and completely legal on the road. Though the engines were the same as the original European-spec V8s, changes were made to the gearbox ratios and the clutch and suspensions were beefed up.
The Group 4 cars were lighter, thanks to the drilling out of most of the chassis components, and the substitition of a number of alloy sections of the steel bodywork. Soundproofing was dropped and the Gruppo 4 cars also had roll cages, small steering wheels and full safety harness. They had substantially modified suspension which included adjustable shock absorbers. Massively wider wheels -- the 15-inch magnesium rims were 10 inches wide at the front and 12 inches at the rear -- added both presence and grip to cope with the Boss 351 engines prepared in the US. These were rated at up to 470hp. Just 14 were produced, but they won for the brand the prestigious World Manufacturers Championship races at Monza, Spa and Osterreichring in 1972.
For two years after its launch, the Pantera was very successful in the US, where it was marketed through Ford's Lincoln-Mercury division and sold in relatively high numbers. But from 1974, following a split, the car was built in much smaller quantities because De Tomaso had less resources to put into it. In 1980, a GT5 was introduced, with a deep front spoiler and sideskirts, and an optional delta wing. In 1984 came the GT5S with larger brakes and uprated suspension and a more refined looking body than the rather bulbuous predecessor. It had a choice of power outputs from the familiar V8, 300hp and 350hp.
The cars couldn't be officially exported to the US because they didn't meet emissions regulations, but in the mid-80s an Ohio sportscar enthusiast, Kirk Evans, was able to get around this by importing a number of Pantera GT5s without engines and installing local Ford V8s which complied with the rules.
All in all, the Pantera was selling very well, albeit with the kind of modest numbers in which exotic cars were produced. In 1989 a revision was planned, and the SI was launched a year later. Straight into the deepest recession in the supercar marketplace since the oil crises of the early '70s. But when production ceased in 1993, only 41 of the anticipated 225 units had been built. Four of these had the Pavesi Targa roof conversion. Still, the Pantera had achieved a much longer run than many exotic nameplates, and drove itself into its own niche in automotive history.