Vehicle Description
1973 DeTomaso Pantera
The DeTomaso Pantera is by any measure an exotic, a sleek wedge of
pure sex that surely confused the hell out of customers who saw it
alongside the Comets and Cougars and Continentals in
Lincoln-Mercury showrooms. Yet it doesn't get nearly the same love
as the Ferraris and Lamborghinis and other Italian supercars of the
early 1970s. That's a shame, because the Pantera is far more
affordable than anything else that rolled out of Maranello or
Sant'Agata Bolognese.
For consignment, a piece of sex in wedge form in a respray of the
original red, from its since 1976 California owner. A numbers
matching car which has been worked with either new or rebuilt parts
on nearly every corner, and a consigner stated 500 miles on the
engine since the rebuild. Essentially a new car from 1973. And it
drives and performs very much like it.
Exterior
An original red respray shows nicely on the exterior of this low
wedge shaped car. All panels are straight, and a black bumper leads
the way. Hidden headlights, sexy low profile panels with nicely
shined window trimmings abound. As we move rearward shiny chromed
mirrors hang from the doors and on the driver's side a gas filler
cap craftily hidden into a ribbed panel in black. Badging is nice
as well as a cloisonne Ghia badge to pay homage to the designer. A
sleek rear trunk lid actually opens up to a larger than you think
trunk due to the mid engine setup. The trunk is perfect with a wool
felt liner, and the engine slipped in between the trunk and
buckets.
Interior
Sporty comfortable utilitarian with a hint of extra would best
describe the all black interior. Dual black vinyl buckets flank a
center console with a shifter in a chromed grid style bezel. As the
center continues upward and at a rakish angle, a black textured
leatherette covered panel houses various toggles and a cluster of 4
vertical oriented gauges all aimed toward the driver. A vertically
mounted radio and temp and fan sliders above this are to the right
of the toggles and gauges. A simple instrument cluster with a
circular tachometer, and speedometer, mounted within square deep
set molded dash bezels are fronted by the original steering wheel.
Nice black clean carpet floods the floors and is covered by carpet
floor mats. Talk about slipping into something sexy...
Drivetrain
A numbers matching, professionally built 351ci Cleveland V8. The
orientation is a midship engine with the transmission hanging on
behind. This setup accomplishes perfect center weight distribution
and improves handling and drive-ability exponentially. On top is a
4-barrel carburetor, some additional feeding upgraded from the
original carb that came with the car, and still will, as it is in
storage. Backing this up is a ZF 5-speed manual transmission, which
has been totally rebuilt, and with rebuilt half shafts. All this
sits within a freshly painted black gloss engine bay. Up front
under the second storage area, complete with master cylinder and
radiator and even some extra space for storage...Oh God! baby!!
Undercarriage
The underneath is just beautiful with black frame and floor tubs.
All suspension has been stripped and repainted with new bushings.
Front coil springs and rear coil over shocks along with Power disc
brakes on all 4 corners. A chambered exhaust picks up spent gasses
from the headers attached to the V8, and dumps those out of the
rear of the car.
Drive-Ability
Going down nearly to street level, a climb in and lit this candle
and we're off in a flash. Rail like handling, and plenty of power
we will never fully realize on our test area. It ran very smoothly
and sounded like a champ. Interior has surprisingly lots of room,
but then again it was an American car.
This is a fine consignment, and a fine example of the American
Version of the Italian Version of a sports car. Let's just say the
Americans did a fine job and so did the consigner with all the
redux and careful attention to detail, even right down to the brass
gears for the windows and headlights...now that's caring!
VIN DECODE
THPNNJ05198
T-Detomaso
H-Modena, Italy Assy Plant
PN-Pantera
N-1973
J-January
05198-Sequential Unit Number
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 600 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display.
This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown,
Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia
on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is
www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914.
Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the
vehicle in person.