Ready for take off:’72 DeTomaso Pantera
We have seen quite a few DeTomaso Panteras but none that called out to us like this one. First, a short version on how the Pantera came to be. Henry Ford wasn’t satisfied with vanquishing Ferrari at LeMans. He still craved owning an Italian carmaker. He thought the Mangusta that DeTomaso built was very interesting but he liked the car that was in development better. It was designed Tom Tjaarda while he worked at Ghia. The 351 Ford Cleveland fit snugly amidships and a deal was struck. It was to be marketed by Lincoln-Mercury dealers with a volume ambition of 10,000. It was introduced in 1970 with really sketchy quality and reeked of being under developed. The early cars were plagued with problems. Happily, modern technology can fix pretty much all of those. So a really well cared for Pantera that hasn’t been cobbled up along the way can be made into a really interesting ride. Today’s find is just that car. This beautiful red Pantera has just 41,000 original miles. The seller tells us it had a repaint back in the ’80s. The cooling system was upgraded to help cure one of the nagging early Pantera problems. The interior on this one looks very nice with an appropriate amount of wear on the switch gear. The seller doesn’t specifically state whether the 351cid V8 is original so that is a question you need to ask. Prices on really fine examples have been marching up but we think the seller might be a bit ahead of the market at $59,000 even though this appears to be one to consider. Click here for the listing.
I think that looks to be a correct market price and would be a good buy as they continue to trend up in price.