Isabelle DeTomaso was a Haskell. Her father was Amory L. Haskell (A VP at General Motors and founder of Triplex Auto glass) and mother Annette Tilford (her father was Henry Morgan Tilford - President of Standard Oil. The Haskell family owned(s) a large horse farm in Red Bank, NJ. Amory and Isabelle were very involved in the Monmouth Park horse racing park in Oceanport, NJ. It is their wealth that was used to establish and fund the DeTomaso marque and that wealth had plenty of political influence. Isabelle's brother was killed in a plane crash in 1970 while attempting to land in the fog at Newark airport. Shortly thereafter in 1971, the Haskell's (Rowan Industries) sold out to Ford only to have DeTomaso buy in back in 1974 once Ford no longer wanted anything to do with it (having acquired it primarily for the Ghia studios name).
It's a wonder the Pantera was ever made and found its way to the US.
I believe Isabelle is 93 or 94.
OBTW, Henry Morgan Tilford, a founder of the Standard Oil Company is portrayed as "H.M. Tilford" in There Will Be Blood (2007). The movie is about the early days in California looking for oil and doing anything to acquire the rights to it.