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De Tomaso Pantera L - American mass sport

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Created on January 17, 2018

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

37

Archiv

28

Daniel Reinhard

37

Archiv

28

De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - subtle dark green, almost blends into the landscape

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - certainly one of the most beautiful mid-engined sports cars of the seventies

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - thanks to folding headlights, the lights are at the right height

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - the trunk and engine compartment are concealed under the rear flap

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - Eyes closed

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - Eyes open

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - the Pantera already had wide rear tires from the factory, here they are a little wider still

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - this Pantera was delivered in America, the large bumpers were later converted to the European version

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - Flaps open

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - only 1.1 meters high, but 1.83 meters wide - that gives the right proportions

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - very flat front and therefore also folding headlights

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - Tjaarda wanted to convey where the engine is - and he succeeded

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - the folding headlights look better than on other sports cars of this type

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - sits wide on the road

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - you can also see that it is flat when it drives by

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - most people saw it from this perspective

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - the car was measured at over 240 km/h at the time

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - flat and compact - that's how a sports car should be

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - but you can't hear it in the photo

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - but you can guess the V8 rolling

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - the handling suffers a little from the stiff steering

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - View of the interior

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - the very American-looking standard steering wheel was replaced here by a Moto-Lita variant

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - red area from 5800 rpm

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - splitter gearshift and first gear at the left rear - that's what exotic car owners want

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - Instruments by Veglia

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - Seat covers

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - a transparent hood was not yet thought of back then

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - long rear hood

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - View through the rear window into the interior

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - where you can't see in, you can't see out either

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - behind the engine there is space for the (hopefully not heat-sensitive) luggage of two people

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - small, inverted triangular windows behind the B-pillar

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - "Side Indicators" for the American market

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - Folding headlights - a necessary evil

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - small lettering, big impact

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - the design was created at Ghia

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De Tomaso Pantera (1970) - pre-production version during development

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De Tomaso Pantera (1971) - Crash test results

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De Tomaso Pantera (1971) - Transparent drawing

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De Tomaso Pantera (1971) - Pictures from the production of the mid-engined coupé - from a factory documentation

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De Tomaso Pantera (1971) - Group photo of the newly introduced Pantera with 'predecessors' Vallelunga and Mangusta

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De Tomaso Pantera (1971) - silhouette of the newly presented mid-engined sports car - photo from the sales brochure

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De Tomaso Pantera (1974) - the Ghia design still looks attractive today

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De Tomaso Pantera (1972) - European version

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De Tomaso Pantera (1971) - exhibited at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show - with open hood

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1973) - on the cover of Road & Track in May 1973

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1973) - with the US bumpers

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de Tomaso Pantera L (1974)

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - the Pantera was the centerpiece of the Mercury stand at the 1974 New York International Auto Show

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - an early Pantera, without widenings and spoiler - factory promotional material

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - view from diagonally behind - factory promotional material

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - postcard used for promotional purposes

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De Tomaso Pantera L (1974) - Silhouette of the L version

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De Tomaso Pantera (1972) - The 2500th Pantera, a GTS, rolled off the assembly line in 1972

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De Tomaso Pantera (1971) - Production of the mid-engined coupé

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De Tomaso Pantera (1973) - Chassis construction - from a factory documentation

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de Tomaso Pantera (1971) - the Pantera equipped with Ford power is presented to the public at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show

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De Tomaso Pantera (1972) - exhibited at the 1972 Geneva Motor Show

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De Tomaso Pantera (1974) - the mid-engined coupé in 1974

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De Tomaso Pantera (1971) - early Pantera at the racing car show

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De Tomaso Pantera (1974) - Interior of the 1974 model

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De Tomaso Pantera (1971) - detailed views - from the sales brochure

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De Tomaso Pantera L - the cheapest version of the mid-engined coupé - at the 1974 Geneva Motor Show

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Summary

Before the Pantera, De Tomaso was only known to insiders as a sports car manufacturer. Although Alessandro de Tomaso's company had brought respectable mid-engined cars onto the market with the Vallelunga and Mangusta, the production figures remained modest. This changed dramatically with the Pantera thanks to sales support from Ford in the USA. After all, just over 7000 Pantera were built between 1970 and 1989, most of which went to the USA. This report portrays a De Tomaso Pantera L from 1974 that was originally delivered to America and tells the story of the fast mid-engined speedster.

This article contains the following chapters

Developed in record time
Self-supporting and with a mid-engine
Aimed at the American market
Also welcome in Europe
Very competitive
Accelerated maturation
From folk hero to exotic
For trained muscles
Further information

Estimated reading time: 8min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Before the Pantera, De Tomaso was only known to insiders as a sports car manufacturer. Although Alessandro de Tomaso's company had brought respectable mid-engined cars onto the market with the Vallelunga and Mangusta, the production figures remained modest. This changed dramatically with the Pantera thanks to sales support from Ford in the USA. No time was wasted! In September 1969, a development and production contract was signed between Ford USA, De Tomaso and Ghia. And as early as March 1970, the new De Tomaso Pantera sports car was presented to the trade press in Modena. The car was then presented to the general public at the New York Motor Show.

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