DeTomaso Pantera - A supercar of its era? Photos
Discussion
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!
His GT40 was something else!
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
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
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
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 FlickrLove 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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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. 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
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
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
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.
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
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