Reply to "Sale prices high, 3 cars leaving the country!"

We all have opinions on this issue but I'm pretty certain that the Panteras that are worth the MOST money are the ones that have had ZERO drivability upgrades or "improvements".

There are virtually no un-modified, un-molested Panteras out there any more. Excepting a handful of extraordinarily well modified Panteras, the only cars that I personally am aware of having sold for high dollar amounts (I'm excluding the obvious GR4, GR3, GT5-S and SI Panteras) are ones that were truly original cars. The buyers for large high-end collections usually value originality above all else and need to pay a high premium because the selection is non-existent.

As a driver-grade car, upgrades improve reliability and add value to guys like us who intend to actually DRIVE our cars. And guys who DRIVE their cars are usually on a budget. I know I am.

As for this specific Pantera; it LOOKS original, but it's for sale in Michigan, the heart of the rust belt. The photos are too small to be sure, but it looks like overspray on the door-seal gaskets at the sill. The rockers are yellow and should be black, so were they bondo'd-up? Who know without a close inspection. I would guess that the car is NOT as solid and original as it appears in the few small photos shown. The fact that it was repainted in 1974 almost screams it had a major accident (on a snow-covered road?). I think that a clean, rust-free, accident-free Pantera without upgrades is worth at least $44K. I'm just not certain that that is what we are seeing here without a personal inspection.

While I am not a historian (others here can/will correct me if I'm wrong) it is my understanding that Ford didn't discontinue the relationship with De Tomaso because the cars were poorly built, but PRIMARILY because of the mid-70's fuel crisis that essentially killed off many big V8 American muscle cars of the day. It aggravates me when people (Pantera owners especially) perpetuate the myth that the cars were (or are) crap fraught with over-heating and other reliability troubles. Compared to near-equivalent Italian sports cars of the day, the Pantera fared extremely well reliability-wise. Only when compared to an every-day driver did it show some weakness. I think the biggest problem was in the 70's, people expected their Ferraris to break down but not their Fords.

Mark