Favorite Images of De Tomaso Panteras

A list of my favorite images of De Tomaso Pantera sportscars.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Tomaso_Pantera

The Pantera (Italian for "Panther") was a mid-engined sports car produced by the De Tomaso car company of Italy from 1971 to 1991, the last one being delivered to a customer in 1992.

It was the automaker's most popular model, with over 7,000 units produced during its 20-year run.

The car was designed by the Italian design firm Ghia by American-born designer Tom Tjaarda and replaced the De Tomaso Mangusta.

Unlike the Mangusta, which employed a steel backbone chassis, the Pantera was a steel monocoque design, the first instance of De Tomaso using this construction technique.

The Pantera logo included a version of Argentina's flag turned on its side with a T-shaped symbol that was the brand used by De Tomaso's Argentinian cattle ranching ancestors.

The car made its public debut in Modena in March 1970 and was presented at the 1970 New York Motor Show a few weeks later. Approximately a year later the first production Panteras were sold and production was increased to three per day.

The first 1971 Panteras were powered by a Ford 351 cu in (5.8 L) V8 engine that produced a severely underrated 330 hp (246 kW; 335 PS).

Stock dynos over the years proved that power was more along the lines of about 380 hp (283 kW; 385 PS). The high torque provided by the Ford engine reduced the need for excessive gear changing at low speeds: this made the car much less demanding to drive in urban conditions than many of the locally built competitor products.

Power-assisted four-wheel disc brakes and rack and pinion steering were all standard equipment on the Pantera. The 1971 Pantera could accelerate to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 5.5 seconds according to Car and Driver.

Late in 1971, Ford began importing Panteras for the American market to be sold through its Lincoln Mercury dealers. The first 75 cars were simply European imports and are known for their "push-button" door handles and hand-built Carrozzeria Vignale bodies. A total of 1,007 Panteras reached the United States that first year.

The "Lusso" (luxury) Pantera L was introduced, in August 1972. For the US market it featured a large black single front bumper that incorporated a built-in airfoil to reduce front end lift at high speeds, rather than the separate bumperettes still used abroad, as well as a 266 Net hp (198 kW) Cleveland engine.

Ford ended their importation to the US in 1975, having sold around 5,500 cars. De Tomaso continued to build the car in ever-escalating forms of performance and luxury for almost two decades for sale in the rest of the world. In all, about 7,200 Panteras were built.

After 20 years of production, De Tomaso turned to Marcello Gandini to do a major restyling of the production model. 41 units were built of the Pantera SI until production stopped in 1993. In the UK, the model was sold as Pantera 90.