Coming hard on the heels of the head-turning De Tomaso Mangusta, the De Tomaso Pantera was a successful combination of Italian aesthetics and breeding with a nice big and easy to maintain Ford V8 engine mated to a proven German ZF transaxle. The Pantera was designed by Tom Tjaarda (then working for Ghia), and became a design classic which still looks great today.

This early example is completely restored to concours standard, and is finished in the bold but stunning colour combination of red paint with a petrol blue hide interior. This is a real headturner, not only because of the colours : the Ford V8 engine produces an amazing sound - even at idle. A Pantera is quite an easy car to drive, and the driving position is surprisingly good for a seventies italian sportscar. The interior is beautiful with De Tomaso branded Veglia gauges, and the ZF 5-speed gearbox is a delight to use. In fact, it is amazing that the values of these Italian thoroughbreds are still quite behind compared with the Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini contemporaries. And probably is the De Tomaso the more reliable car as well...