My 1972 De Tomaso Pantera
Discussion
tberg, I must congratulate you on your car...it's beautiful.
I remember seeing a black GT5 at Brands Hatch in the early 90s with my dad. I grew up with performance cars, as my dad was a total petrolhead, but I was totally blown away by seeing the Pantera. I was lucky enough to enter the world of Pantera ownership a couple of years ago and purchased a very rare example.
In the 25-30 years since seeing the black one at Brands, I only saw one other on the roads until I purchased mine. I have a 1972 group 4 type pushing out in excess of 600bhp and 600 ft/lbs of torque. Similarly to yourself, I take mine out as much as possible, I believe it's an amazing car and kids (large and small) should be given the opportunity to see it and hear it.
Well done and enjoy!
I remember seeing a black GT5 at Brands Hatch in the early 90s with my dad. I grew up with performance cars, as my dad was a total petrolhead, but I was totally blown away by seeing the Pantera. I was lucky enough to enter the world of Pantera ownership a couple of years ago and purchased a very rare example.
In the 25-30 years since seeing the black one at Brands, I only saw one other on the roads until I purchased mine. I have a 1972 group 4 type pushing out in excess of 600bhp and 600 ft/lbs of torque. Similarly to yourself, I take mine out as much as possible, I believe it's an amazing car and kids (large and small) should be given the opportunity to see it and hear it.
Well done and enjoy!
tberg said:
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.
We're waiting v8muscle - We need to see this 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.
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.
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.
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.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0u9rlOSyFH5Hc-2DLG...
Hi All, apologies for the old thread resurrection but I’ve just become the proud owner of a Pantera. It’s a 1974 L model with 17,000 miles and is pretty much stock. It's never been restored and is in remarkable condition. I’ve now got the painful wait to get it UK registered before I can drive it.
Hope the above link works (first time I’ve attempted to add an image) and if so I’ll add some more photos.
Cheers
Andy
Hi All, apologies for the old thread resurrection but I’ve just become the proud owner of a Pantera. It’s a 1974 L model with 17,000 miles and is pretty much stock. It's never been restored and is in remarkable condition. I’ve now got the painful wait to get it UK registered before I can drive it.
Hope the above link works (first time I’ve attempted to add an image) and if so I’ll add some more photos.
Cheers
Andy
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