DeTomaso Pantera - A supercar of its era? Photos

DeTomaso Pantera - A supercar of its era? Photos

Author
Discussion

MDL111

7,201 posts

185 months

Wednesday 25th March 2020
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Took me a second there - welcome back
(the forum has changed ....)

diablo_pete

3,594 posts

203 months

Wednesday 25th March 2020
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Only 7.2 years lol

Shnozz

28,016 posts

279 months

Wednesday 25th March 2020
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Ah Pete - you are also a Hants man I recall. So I was right in my hazy memory it was Gavin. As I say, I remember meeting him about 1996/1997 when a friend asked me to give him a lift taking his cat to a cattery in Botley. On the drive was "just" a Freelander and only when we got talking cars he showed us his amazing collection including the De Tomaso and other bits (including a lovely NSR 250 bike, several Fireblades, an Aprilia 250 etc.

His GT40 was something else!

steveirl

278 posts

220 months

Wednesday 25th March 2020
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I recognise some of those cars, I believe one has been exported to Australia.
The De Tomaso Drivers Club partnered with the Lamborghini Club for trackdays for much of the 80's, although I am not old enough to remember smile
I bought my first Pantera around 2003 and owned it for 10 years, and always regretted selling it.
I now own one of the cars in the original post VKR15 although it looks nothing like that now.
Currently doing some service and overhaul work on it.

pantera rear by stephen burke jnr, on Flickr

tberg

625 posts

69 months

Wednesday 25th March 2020
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Those are great looking Panteras, still gorgeous and aggressive even in this era.

Trev450

6,445 posts

180 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
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I always had a soft spot for the Pantera. I nearly purchased one back in the late 80's for £12K, but it needed more work than I was prepared to undertake and there were no more on the market at the time. And with money burning a hole in my pocket I purchased an Esprit turbo instead.

Castrol for a knave

5,322 posts

99 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
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Love the Pantera, one of those cars I wish I had bought, along with the Fiat Dino spider when it was £15k.

I am sure they can be ruinous, but the Ford bits might help the pain. Didn't they have the fuel filler just above/adjacent to, the cylinder head?

The later models where for hose who thought the Countach a bit "conservative".

Great stuff.

David_T

Original Poster:

135 posts

88 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
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Great pictures diablo-pete.

That red Pantera 90 Si reg: J200 FAB is super rare. One source says that 41 were constructed with 4 of that number converted in construction to a Targa model with a removable top section. Wikipedia quotes only 38 being sold. One of the long term Pantera owners will no doubt confirm.

It looks like a light gold coloured 90 Si reg: H426 NLJ was on British roads at one point.

T4Tiv

137 posts

247 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
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Hi - Those numbers are correct (just checked with Gavin whose not on PH). Of the 41, two were crash tested and one resides in a museum in Italy.
I’m popping round this afternoon so will try and get a couple more pics of J200 FAB and 500 FAB. Wonderful cars btw. Another couple from Goodwood 2019.

Peter



rich888

2,610 posts

207 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
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Trev450 said:
I always had a soft spot for the Pantera. I nearly purchased one back in the late 80's for £12K, but it needed more work than I was prepared to undertake and there were no more on the market at the time. And with money burning a hole in my pocket I purchased an Esprit turbo instead.
Ha, that made me laugh, I'm nearly as bad in that I decided against buying a used Countach LP400S, and instead went out and bought a Range Rover, and invested the rest in technology shares, what could possibly go wrong!

Getting back on topic I attended several Lamborghini/DeTomaso test days, one notable meeting was (I think) at Bruntingthorpe, all sorts of cars were going out on the circuit along with a rather fast biker who was quite literally running rings round all the cars, well he was for a few laps until he disappeared. We waited and waited until eventually he returned, on chatting to him it transpired that he was flat out with pegs on the ground mid corner when a Pantera came up behind and overtook him on the inside such was the level of grip, this shocked the biker who promptly went off the circuit having lost his concentration, luckily he didn't damage the bike or himself. Apparently the Pantera driver had become a little fed up with the bikers antics so swapped his road tyres for some race slicks then went out for a bit of fun.

As always these days out were fantastic and it's just a shame that I didn't appreciate just how good the times were, just wish we had digital cameras and iPhones in those days.

Oh well...

Will take a look through my old photos to see what I can find and upload them on here.

In the meantime, am sure a Pantera turned up at last years Thoresby Park Classic Car and Bike Show, which made a welcome addition to the growing numbers of Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Porsches that have been attending. Sadly I fear that this year's two shows may well be cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak, though am pretty sure that the last show is on 31st August so fingers crossed it might still happen.

Castrol for a knave

5,322 posts

99 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
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T4Tiv said:
Hi - Those numbers are correct (just checked with Gavin whose not on PH). Of the 41, two were crash tested and one resides in a museum in Italy.
I’m popping round this afternoon so will try and get a couple more pics of J200 FAB and 500 FAB. Wonderful cars btw. Another couple from Goodwood 2019.

Peter


Is the later Pantera a Gandini update? I ask because it has that funny little spoiler under the windscreen, like the Shamal.

irocfan

42,418 posts

198 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
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I'm can't think of a supercar I'd rather have than a Pantera - just absolutely gorgeous

T4Tiv

137 posts

247 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
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Castrol for a knave said:
Is the later Pantera a Gandini update? I ask because it has that funny little spoiler under the windscreen, like the Shamal.
Was just sharing a Covid-19 compliant cuppa over at Gavin’s whilst admiring the Si. The windscreen spoiler serves no particular purpose although it looks just right. Apparently, this was just a Gandini signature feature shown better below.
A few more pictures from the Hampshire Italian car meet last year








There were 19 Gt5s 's built, and about 15Gt5's. Nine Gt5s's remain, and 6 RHD Gt5’s, with the Si 200 the only one in the UK. Of the earlier cars shown all are in the UK

Peter

andy97

4,742 posts

230 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
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irocfan said:
I'm can't think of a supercar I'd rather have than a Pantera - just absolutely gorgeous
But in the 80s and 90s ISTR they were not much liked.

andy97

4,742 posts

230 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
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Castrol for a knave said:
...one of those cars I wish I had bought, along with the Fiat Dino spider when it was £15k.
Oh, yes, me too.

Castrol for a knave

5,322 posts

99 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
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T4Tiv said:
Castrol for a knave said:
Is the later Pantera a Gandini update? I ask because it has that funny little spoiler under the windscreen, like the Shamal.
Was just sharing a Covid-19 compliant cuppa over at Gavin’s whilst admiring the Si. The windscreen spoiler serves no particular purpose although it looks just right. Apparently, this was just a Gandini signature feature shown better below.
A few more pictures from the Hampshire Italian car meet last year








There were 19 Gt5s 's built, and about 15Gt5's. Nine Gt5s's remain, and 6 RHD Gt5’s, with the Si 200 the only one in the UK. Of the earlier cars shown all are in the UK

Peter
Thanks Peter - I hit quote all just so I can bathe in those pictures

cloud9

Trev450

6,445 posts

180 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
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rich888 said:
Trev450 said:
I always had a soft spot for the Pantera. I nearly purchased one back in the late 80's for £12K, but it needed more work than I was prepared to undertake and there were no more on the market at the time. And with money burning a hole in my pocket I purchased an Esprit turbo instead.
Ha, that made me laugh, I'm nearly as bad in that I decided against buying a used Countach LP400S, and instead went out and bought a Range Rover, and invested the rest in technology shares, what could possibly go wrong!

Getting back on topic I attended several Lamborghini/DeTomaso test days, one notable meeting was (I think) at Bruntingthorpe, all sorts of cars were going out on the circuit along with a rather fast biker who was quite literally running rings round all the cars, well he was for a few laps until he disappeared. We waited and waited until eventually he returned, on chatting to him it transpired that he was flat out with pegs on the ground mid corner when a Pantera came up behind and overtook him on the inside such was the level of grip, this shocked the biker who promptly went off the circuit having lost his concentration, luckily he didn't damage the bike or himself. Apparently the Pantera driver had become a little fed up with the bikers antics so swapped his road tyres for some race slicks then went out for a bit of fun.

As always these days out were fantastic and it's just a shame that I didn't appreciate just how good the times were, just wish we had digital cameras and iPhones in those days.

Oh well...

Will take a look through my old photos to see what I can find and upload them on here.

In the meantime, am sure a Pantera turned up at last years Thoresby Park Classic Car and Bike Show, which made a welcome addition to the growing numbers of Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Porsches that have been attending. Sadly I fear that this year's two shows may well be cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak, though am pretty sure that the last show is on 31st August so fingers crossed it might still happen.
Lol - pleased to hear I'm not the only one to have made poor judgements in the past.

The Surveyor

7,584 posts

245 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
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Craig said:
NIJ5250, later 500FAB and now AGT379W is a well known car in the owners club. Originally owned by Phil Stebbings who started the De Tomaso Drivers Club back in the 80s and drove the car extensively on circuit including Castle Combe. It had a race engine in his ownership but since converted back to a Windsor spec V8. I owned the car a couple of years back - photo as below
I know one of the later owners very well, did an awful lot of work to the car and it was absolutely fabulous. This was us setting off to the 2012 Le Mans Classic, a very noisy pair.



I think its also the car that makes a very brief appearance in this advert:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWOGVWBBW6U


stevew277

6 posts

85 months

Friday 29th May 2020
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Imported this Pre-L Pantera from the States in 2017 . . . still in the workshop ! rolleyes

Slippydiff

15,163 posts

231 months

Friday 29th May 2020
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andy97 said:
I reckon I was at that same day at CC.
Me too !!
I have photos of the day, but they’re currently in storage. When I get the opportunity, I’ll liberate and scan them.
It was an awesome day smile