1971-74 DeTomaso Pantera
The 1971-74 DeTomaso Pantera combined Italian exotic sports car stylingand a reliable, potent Ford V-8. The Pantera cost about halfasmuch as an Italian exotic Ferrari or Maserati sports car. In fact, itwas the first affordable mid-engine exotic.
Seem to good to be true? Well, yes and no. But mostly yes.
The Pantera was the result of a collaboration between Ford Motor andfiery, erratic, modestly successful sports car builder and former autoracer Alejandro DeTomaso. He had moved to Italy from Argentina with hiswealthy American wife, Isabelle Haskell, who backed his businessventures.
DeTomaso convinced top Ford Motor executive Lee Iacocca to have Fordback and sell the Pantera in America, with DeTomaso handlingdistribution elsewhere. The Ford-powered Cobra sports car was gone, andFord Motor wanted a sports car such as the Pantera to maintain itshigh-performance image in the early 1970s.
Such a car also would be a sexy addition to Ford Motor's staidLincoln-Mercury division car line. And chairman Henry Ford II hadwanted a sexy Italian auto to go with his new Italian wife since FordMotor failed to buy the Ferrari auto company in 1963.
The Pantera was based on DeTomaso's sleek but notoriously unreliable1967-71 low-volume Ford-engine Mangusta sports car, which should haveserved as a warning to Iacocca that the Pantera might be troublesome.
With Ford's major support, the Pantera's final assembly was done at theDeTomaso factory in Modena, Italy. Ford made sure the Pantera hadbetter detail engineering than the Mangusta and installed airconditioning, which was unusual in an Italian exotic.
The Pantera had a gorgeous low-slung body from Italy's Ghia exotic carstyling outfit and a race-style mid-engine layout. It gave up little topricey Italian sports cars with its dramatic, wedge-shaped lines,all-independent suspension, all-disc brakes, magnesium wheels andfive-speed ZF manual transmission.
The Pantera's 351-cubic-inch pushrod V-8 produced 310 horsepower,letting the 3,100-pound car reach 70 mph in second gear and hit about150 mph. The V-8 lacked the complicated overhead-camshaft V-12 enginesin Ferraris, but so what? A Ford pushrod V-8 in a Shelby Cobra sportscar beat Ferrari for the world manufacturer's championship in 1965 andwas much easier and cheaper to maintain.
The Pantera was flat-out sensational in the early 1970s. The only rivalU.S. sports car was the Chevrolet Corvette, which had over-the-topstyling and the same front-engine layout as the original1953 'Vette.
The Pantera was unveiled at the 1970 New York Auto Show and sent toselect Lincoln-Mercury dealers. It even had Ford Motor's normalwarranty. But quality of the first 300 or so cars suffered fromindifferent construction because they were rushed into production andneeded major fixes before being fit to sell. Arrival of the first onesto dealerships thus was delayed for months.
The largely hand-built Pantera seemed too good to be true at$10,295--about half the price of Italian exotic. The handsome blackleather interior was loaded with gauges, and attractive bucket seatsprovided good support.
Never mind that faults included a tight interior, offbeat drivingposition and indifferent construction. Wasn't that also the case with"pure" exotic Italian sports cars?
However, complaints soon surfaced about engine overheating andexcessive co*ckpit heat. And most Lincoln-Mercury salespersons looked atthe car as if it were from Mars. They didn't have a clue about how tosell such an exotic in showrooms alongside Mercury and Lincoln models.
While Pantera owners weren't gouged for service or parts, as wereFerrari, Maserati or Lamborghini owners, Lincoln-Mercury mechanics soondiscovered that the Pantera was more complicated than they thought itwould be and found it frustrating to work on.
For example, no two Panteras seemed to have the same wiring layout, andsomething always was going wrong with Pantera electrical systems.
Many Pantera owners were furious. They'd expected their car to be asrock-sold-reliable as a Mercury or Lincoln, which were about asconventional as they could get. Some bought the Pantera just because itlooked racy and was fast--and far less costly than a Ferrari, Maseratior Lamborghini. Owners of those cars expected problems, but Panteraowners weren't nearly as forgiving.
Ford Motor quickly got the message and for awhile had the special WestCoast shops of Ford racer Bill Stroppe do modifications to cure Panteraproblems.
By 1973, the car was much better, but had gotten a reputation for beingtroublesome. Then the 1973-74 gas crisis further hurt sales of thefuel-thirsty Pantera--along with sales of Italian exoticsportscars.
Curiously, the Pantera had been designed without regard for upcomingU.S. safety and emissions standards. The emissions rules causedhorsepower of the Pantera's V-8 to fall to 250 by 1973. AndFordknew from the beginning that the Pantera wouldn't meet stricter federalbumper standards after 1974. An ungainly looking black rubber noseguard and larger rear bumpers were put on 1973 Panteras to meet 1973-74requirements.
The 1975 bumper standards would have involved a major redesign of thecar, including a new powertrain. Ford Motor felt that would be toocostly--especially since the Pantera was a limited-volume auto to beginwith.
American imports of the Pantera thus were discontinued after 1974.However, the car continued to be sold with Ford of Australia engines atmuch reduced levels in Europe, where it was largely unchanged foryears.
Lincoln-Mercury said it sold 6,091 Panteras, but most sources said thefigure was 5,629 cars. In any case, many owners of surviving Panterasfixed reliability problems long ago.
The Pantera still looks great and is plenty fast. Glancing back, it wasa steal, and a good one remains a bargain.
