Reply to "1982 DeTomaso Pantera GT5 in North of the Border"

Okay 393, seeing as how you are a #4 or #5 guy here's my advice:

Buy a solid car. Any year. Any model. These can be had for 35 to 40 with no rust, a strong chassis and basic drivetrain ready to enhance. You're going to spend 50 to 75 more on it anyhow over the years, so you might as well spend it only on those things you want, in the order you want, and end up with more than your money's worth when you're done.

Except for the red one on PIs site, all the others are pretty stock and will require lots of upgrades to get it where you want to go. Buying an already done up beast is okay, but you'll spend a lot more than you want and probably will find out that you would have done it different if you were in charge of the build. And you will likely start redoing a lot of the investment that the prvious owners already made.

So start with a solid chassis and go from there. You will add all your own preferences over the years. There are so many options, parts and vendors and so much expertise on these Pantera sites. Take your time. Getting there is half the fun.

Oh yeah. In my humble opinion, aside from an open top, a 600 HP Cobra kit doesn't hold a candle to a Pantera.