Sold 1973 De Tomaso Pantera 1475282866 Tweet

- Chassis # THPNMD04181
- Single Family Long Term Ownership Since 1973
- Believed Original Interior And One Glass Out Repaint
- An Honest And Well Kept Example

The De Tomaso Automobile group was founded in 1959 by Argentine-born Alejandro de Tomaso. They set up shop in Modena Italy where they would produce various prototypes and racing cars including a Formula One car, the 505/38, raced by Frank Williams Racing Cars during the 1970 season. De Tomasos first production road car, the Vallelunga, was introduced in 1963. The new car had many issues, ultimately leading to only 50 being produced before the newly redesigned Mangusta was introduced in 1967. The Mangusta, which was developed out of a failed can-am car project with Carroll Shelby, proved to be much more of a success for De Tomaso with around 401 cars being built from 1967 to 1971. It would be with the release of their new model in 1971 though, the Pantera, that De Tomaso would hit home and finally put out a car to sell in good numbers.

The Pantera (Italian for Panther) was designed by Tom Tjaarda of Ghia and debuted in Modena in March of 1970. About a year later the first production cars were sold and the new Pantera was being produced at approximately 3 units per day. Power for the car would come from the 5.8 liter Ford Cleveland V8 engine which was mated to a ZF transaxle. The chassis was a steel monocoque design and power-assisted four-wheel disc brakes, as well as rack and pinion steering, were standard equipment on all Panteras produced. As the Pantera was always meant to be delivered to the United States it also included many standard features that were rare in Europe such as electronic windows and air conditioning. The Pantera really took hold when in late 1971 Ford began importing the cars for the American market and sold them through its Lincoln-Mercury dealers. Ford continued to import Panteras through 1975, bringing approximately 5500 cars into the U.S. market before ending their importation. Although the halt on importation by Ford slowed De Tomaso down, the company would continue producing the Pantera for foreign markets all the way through 1992 with the release of the final edition Pantera Si, before the fabled model was replaced by the new, radical De Tomaso Guara in 1994. The Pantera would be the car that made the De Tomaso name famous and would remain in production for just over 20 years with approximately 7260 Panteras produced worldwide. To this day, the Pantera remains an excellent way to experience Italian design with the ease of maintenance that comes with an American built power-plant.

The example on offer here, chassis number THPNMD04181, is a 1973 Detomaso Pantera. It is believed to be a one, glass out, repaint car and maintains what we believe to be an original interior in great condition. Currently, the mileage reads as 35,157, however, the odometer currently is not working and we are unsure of how long it has been inoperable. This Pantera was purchased by its long term owner, in 1973 as a repo, shortly after the car was sold new locally here in Pennsylvania. The car remained with this owner for most of its life before the gentleman sadly passed away at which time the car was transferred to the gentlemans brother, who is the current consignor. During his ownership, the car was maintained regularly at Royce Automotive in the Allentown, Pennsylvania area. Unfortunately, records for the car have gone missing, but going off the word of the shop, it appears that the last maintenance on the car was done approximately 5 years ago before the passing of the long term owner. We were told that during the long term ownership, the car had the engine out once for a rebuild around 20 years ago, as well as having the heads off for a resurface and seal a little over 5 years ago. Royce Automotive did a good deal of electrical work on the car, as that is their specialty, which included wiring in override switches for the cooling fans. As it sits today, this Pantera shows as a well kept and honest driver quality example. The engine fires right to life and makes good power. It remains in great cosmetic condition, with the bright red paint having an excellent finish to it and the interior appearing in fantastic original and well-kept condition. It is our understanding that the car did sit for a bit since the passing of its long term owner and due to this could use some regular general maintenance items addressed in order to bring it up to the level of an excellent driver quality example that it could easily be. This Pantera remains a great driver quality example and thanks to its long term single-family ownership is an honest and quality example that would make an excellent addition to any collection.

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