The De Tomaso Pantera is a very special thing. If you’re unacquainted, we can’t necessarily blame you; only some 7,000 units of the car were built during its 20+ year-long production run.
Suffice it to say, the De Tomaso Pantera is a mid-engined Italian supercar, powered throughout its lifespan by some Ford V8 or another, and imported to the United States from 1971 to ’75 (though it continued to be built until 1992).
Now that you’re up to speed, say hello to this SEMA show-stopper: a 1971 De Tomaso Pantera by Chip Foose.
Being an early example of the car, this 1971 De Tomaso Pantera shipped with a 351 cubic-inch Cleveland V8. Mr. Foose didn’t do away with that, instead simply massaging it for more power. The ZF transaxle is also the original unit, although like the engine, it’s been rebuilt and detailed. As a matter of fact, we can’t seem to find much of anything that isn’t original, or at least retro-inspired. The wheels are a custom Foose design, but they look perfectly at-home on the vintage Italian supercar; the MagnaFlow exhaust and the contemporary Ford Performance engine valve covers seem to be about the only truly visible aftermarket equipment.
But then, perhaps that’s all right. If the exotic Italian supercar already survived 20+ years of miniscule sales with no real change to its design and equipment, maybe the De Tomaso Pantera was already near-perfect to start.
(Source: Mustang360)
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