The De Tomaso Pantera on the assembly line
04/07/2011
Factory photos and pictures of vehicle assembly are among the most important contemporary witnesses, even if they may not have been very exciting at the time they were taken. Today, however, they allow us to recognize details and capture impressions that would otherwise have been lost.
The picture shows the production lines when the De Tomaso Pantera was built, around 1972. At that time, all Panteras were built at Vignale and finished by hand in de Tomaso's own halls. Approximately 380 units are said to have been built in this way between 1971 and 1974, which means that the picture shows around 1% of the total production in those years and, interestingly, all were sprayed in yellow.
The Pantera was the successor to the Mangusta and inherited many of the design elements of its predecessor, but was more spacious and generally more practical and had the 351 Cleveland Ford engine with four-barrel carburetor.
We will soon be publishing a detailed report on the Italian-US exotic.
