Description
Having established himself as a serious automobile manufacturer with the Mangusta coupé, Alejandro De Tomaso commissioned Lamborghini designer Gianpaolo Dallara to produce the chassis for his new mid-engined supercar, the Pantera. Dallara opted for unitary construction for the steel chassis/body – abandoning the Mangusta’s backbone frame – and competition-specification double wishbone/coil-spring suspension all round.
Exceptionally long-lived for a supercar, the Pantera was still around in the 1990s having undergone a series of upgrades. The first of these had appeared on the ‘L’ model of 1972, which featured ‘impact resistant’ bumpers and improved cooling and air conditioning systems. Flared wheelarches distinguished the GTS model of 1974, which in European trim came with a 350bhp engine, larger wheels/tyres and other performance enhancements.
Introduced at approximately the same time was the GT/4, a development of the Group 4 competition cars of 1972/73. The first major revision of the Pantera’s body style occurred in 1980 with the introduction of the GT5 which, with its deep front air dam and delta-wing rear spoiler, represented one of the earliest examples of these aerodynamic devices being applied to passenger car design. Introduced in 1985, the GTS5 incorporated further revisions to the bodywork while its interior was significantly upgraded, rivalling that of many a luxury limousine. In 1990 the Pantera was completely redesigned by Bertone’s Marcello Gandini, stylist of Lamborghini’s Miura and Countach, emerging as virtually a completely new model. Production of the world longest-running supercar finally ceased in 1993.
Registered in 1974, this lovely original example has been with the same owner since 2015 and is presented in excellent condition in all respects. Finished red over black with a matching interior, this a superior example of one of the most desirable variants of the De Tomaso range.
