This is a 1971 DeTomaso Pantera and it’s a gorgeous, thrilling, and special exotic sports car. While the Pantera is often overlooked because it isn’t a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, it still has a lot of the right stuff. Today I’m reviewing this DeTomaso Pantera and I’ll show you the many quirks and features. I’ll also get behind the wheel and review the driving experience.
source.image: Doug DeMuro
The De Tomaso Pantera is a mid-engine sports car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer De Tomaso from 1971 to 1992.Italian for “Panther”, the Pantera was the automaker’s most popular model, with over 7,000 manufactured over its twenty-year production run.
The first 1971 Pantera models were powered by a 5.8 L Ford Cleveland V8 engine having a power output of 335 PS. The high torque provided by the Ford engine reduced the need for excessive gear changing at low speeds: this made the car much less demanding to drive in urban conditions than many of the locally built offerings.
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The ZF transaxle used in the Mangusta was also used for the Pantera: a passenger in an early Pantera recorded that the mechanical noises emanating from the transaxle were more intrusive than the well restrained engine noise.
