At $89,000, Will This 1973 De Tomaso Pantera go Fairly Fast?

At this time’s Good Value or No Cube Pantera is an old-school hybrid with an Italian physique and an American coronary heart. Let’s see if it’s priced to set our collective hearts aflutter.

What do you assume would be the final sedan offered in America? Maybe the Mercedes S-Class? The BMW 7 Sequence? At one time, the four-door sedan was the large canine in automobile gross sales right here, with the Ford Taurus after which Toyota’s Camry main the pack for practically twenty years straight.

The 1996 Toyota Camry LE we checked out yesterday represented the mannequin that shifted the best-selling automobile crown from Ford to Toyota. In some comfort, Ford stored the general best-seller title due to the F-Sequence. That was then and that is now, and regardless of being extremely low-mileage and in very respectable form, few of you had been prepared to return to the Camry’s heyday. Effectively, not at its $12,900 asking, anyway. That doomed the automobile to a 78 p.c no Cube loss.

Now, a part of the Camry’s drawback is that it’s a reasonably boring automobile. Dependable? Sure, Thrilling? No. The identical condemnation can not, nevertheless, be made concerning the De Tomaso Pantera. That, the truth is, is one in all historical past’s nice butt-puckering, genital-engorging, head-banging brutes of a automobile. And by all that, I imply it’s fairly darn enjoyable to drive. And all of that most likely wouldn’t have occurred if Alejandro de Tomaso had really been any good at racing.

As an alternative, de Tomaso’s racing profession was just about a bust. Born in Argentina he fled that nation for Italy whereas in his late twenties after allegedly collaborating in an try to overthrow the Argentinian president, Juan Perón.

He raced in System One for a few years however confirmed little expertise behind the wheel. As an alternative, his forte, it appears, was in constructing automobiles, beginning with purpose-built racers, after which — with the painfully lovely Vallelunga — street automobiles with sporting pretensions.

Maybe probably the most well-known of de Tomaso’s offspring is the Pantera, which was produced for greater than 20 years and which for a short while supplied Ford — by the use of Lincoln Mercury sellers — a righteous competitor to Chevy’s homegrown sports activities automobile, the Corvette.

American designer, Tom Tjaarda, penned the Pantera whereas he was at Ghia, and the work is actually timeless, as the Pantera seems simply as badass at this time because it did upon its debut in 1970. Energy is made by a mid-mounted Ford 351C and laid down through a ZF 5-speed guide operated by way of a gated dog-leg shifter. Each driver and passenger are made conscious of the engine’s presence not simply by the over-the-shoulder growls and snarls but in addition by the bulkhead bulge between the seats that serves to maintain the ancilaries out of the cabin.

This clear title 1973 De Tomaso Pantera has been dressed up in GTS garb. That features the rocker panel graphics, black accent paint, wheel arch extensions, and even wider than regular Campagnolo wheels. These good-looking alloys put on brand-new (and certain very costly) tires. In keeping with the advert the automobile sports activities an unverified 36,000 miles on the clock.

Each the paint and bodywork beneath look to be in want of some love, with the vendor helpfully exhibiting areas the place corrosion is beginning to rear its bubbly head. Nothing appears too far gone, but it surely’s sufficient to point that some main work is on this automobile’s future. All the pieces appears aboveboard within the engine bay, as properly, and the automobile nonetheless carries its carpeted fiberglass boot insert above that. A lot of these have gone lacking on these automobiles.

This can be a transition automobile which suggests it has the later ’73 bumpers however the earlier twin-nacelle sprint. All the pieces seems to be in superb form inside, though the holes which have been minimize in each the door playing cards and the bulkhead cowl for some aftermarket audio system are a little bit of a disappointment. And sure, these footwells are extremely slender. You don’t drive Panteras in Doc Martins.

The vendor notes a lot of updates, together with rebuilds on the brake and clutch hydraulics in addition to a refresh of the steering rack. The automobile is claimed to be regularly pushed however does have a couple of flies in its ointment. The vendor notes these points to embody a non-working horn and parking brake and an A/C system that’s only for present. The vendor says of the automobile, “It’s not good, however it’s a superb high quality driver, and priced accordingly.”

That worth is $89,000 and we now have to resolve simply how correct the vendor is in figuring out worth. What do you assume, is that this Pantera price that a lot because it sits? Or, enjoyable because it possible is, will that worth show too excessive a ticket to journey?

You resolve!

Antelope Valley, California, Craigslist, or go right here if the advert disappears.

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