My 1972 De Tomaso Pantera

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I don't visit Facebook, so someone else must have posted pictures of it. Thanks

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F1Natic,
I haven't taken it to the mechanic yet as I've been unwilling to part with it for the weekend mornings. (It's cool enough in the mornings and traffic is light enough on the weekend so that I haven't had a problem driving it then.) This Sunday is the huge Best of France and Italy Car Show a few minutes from my house, and my Pantera will be displayed there with another large group of De Tomaso owners. After that show I'll give it up for a few days so that it can be worked on. I have a feeling that even though I have a brand new fuel pump (less than a month old), my guess is that it will need to be upgraded to an electric fuel pump to insure it stays pressurized. I met another Pantera owner who had made a similar fuel injection swap on his and told me that when he changed to the electric fuel pump most if not all of his issues disappeared. I'll take some pictures when I get home this afternoon.
Thanks again for your help.

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This is a weekend of great car shows a few minutes from my home here in Los Angeles. This morning is the vintage BMW show to which I am going in a few minutes meeting a group of motoring friends. And tomorrow the big Best of France and Italy Car Show at which I will be displaying the Pantera. There are always several hundred great cars at this show with everything from Ferrari to Peugeot and everything in between. I'll post pictures tomorrow afternoon. Fun weekend and an excuse to get the Pantera on the road.

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Well there were plenty of pornographic cars at the Best of France and Italy Car show this past Sunday, although the show seemed smaller than in the last couple of years. My favorites besides my Pantera were a couple of Alfas from the 1970's. And only Jay Leno could show up to a French/Italian Car Show with an outrageous Mercedes Benz. Beautiful warm So Cal day, beautiful old and new cars to stroll through and admire.

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irocfan,
That beautiful Alfa was the best car I saw at the show. It was simply gorgeous! Perfect paint, perfect body as showroom new, probably better.

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LeoSayer,
Thank you for the link to the video. I just happened to watch this same video 2 days ago so I was familiar with it.
Thanks again.

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v8muscle,
Can we see some pictures of your beast? Boy, that's a lot of grunt for a lightweight car, you must have a lot of fun with it. I had some surgery today and won't be able to squeeze into mine for about a month. I miss it already.

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Well, although I've had my Pantera back for about a year now, I really haven't had a chance to drive it in a very spirited fashion. Or I should say I haven't had the guts wondering if something would break down and leave me stranded. But, this past Sunday, I met up with a driver's group called Malibu Autobahn which first had a car show gathering for two hours and then an hour and a half drive through the Santa Monica Mountains on some incredible roads out to Pacific Coast Highway and down along the ocean back into Malibu where the second half of the car show was held at Zuma Beach. The speeds were rapid, lots of curves, about 200+ cars in procession. So, I'm happy to say that nothing broke down, I wasn't left stranded, and although I was not willing to do some of the crazy things that some of the drivers did (like passing at 100mph on a blind curve which nearly ended with a head on collision from a one nutty BMW M4 driver), I did open her up on some great stretches of road. I'm happy to report, she's bloody rapid, maybe not in Nissan GTR, McLaren territory, but thrilling nonetheless. The cool 45*F morning air made sure that no vapor lock issues arose, and I had some nerve wracking fun I found I could even chirp the tires on a fourth to fifth gear shift. I need to drive it some more to be more comfortable on tight cornering curves, but it was the most fun I've had with the big cat in all of the years of my ownership. It was just miraculous that there were no law enforcement officers anywhere along the route because there would have been 200+ citations for wreckless driving at speeds that double and sometimes tripled the posted limits on public roads. This was followed up by a lovely lunch on the sand at Paradise Cove Cafe, a longtime landmark restaurant on a hidden cove in Malibu, and an uneventful trip back over the mountains to the San Fernando Valley.

This week I'll take the Pantera in for some little things that need addressing (windshield wipers stopped functioning, turn signals blinking at twice the normal speed even after replacing the bulbs, slow window regulators, etc., plus one more look at the EFI vapor locking issue, but, all in all, the best weekend of Pantera ownership in 18 years.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL.

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I got contacted by a music video producer last month asking to rent my Pantera for a video shoot. It got canceled last month but is taking place tomorrow. Both me and my next door neighbor are taking our panteras to the shoot and we should have some interesting photographs afterwards. I'll post some as soon as I have them.

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Haven't visited this post for a while, however, Brucedog, it's always a good day when you wake up with a beautiful Pantera in your garage. Congratulations on your new addition. Ash, the music video was cancelled, however, about a month ago my Pantera was used in a video for a singer Ty Dollar Sign, and I took a couple of pics. I am in the hospital for a couple of days but will post them when I get out. And by the way, we were never able to diagnose the fuel injection issue, pulled it out, and replace with an Edelbrock carb and haven't had an issue since.

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Brucedog,
I haven't visited this thread for quite a while, so I'm sorry I didn't respond to your last post. Anytime you want to talk, send me a message and we'll get in touch. I bought the wheels probably 18 years ago from Pantera International Motorsports in Orange, California. A friend recently bought a set for his new to him Pantera so they are still available. Several other Pantera parts vendors also offer their own versions of the Campy clones. How are you enjoying your car now that you've had it for a few months? Are you getting used to driving it barefooted like most of us have to do?