Reply to "SOLD!: 1973 Pantera GTS (Euro)"

Below is a blurb I wrote about the car several years ago. I think now that the paint isn’t original factory but was done when it was “restored” back in the 90s by the second owner. The paint is just too good to have come from any factory. At least it was until the lead underneath work hardened and cracked. I still love the color and shininess of it though and if I was ever to get it repainted I would have it exactly like the paint it has only no lead body filler.
THPNMS04903
This car is a 1973 DeTomaso Pantera GTS. Although it was made in the Ford era of Pantera construction it was constructed specifically for the European market. The GTS model was meant as a performance and appearance upgrade to the standard Pantera of the time. As such it was a more expensive and desirable car for the time. It is not known for certain just how many Euro spec GTS were made in this time frame, but I would speculate it would be at most a few hundred. These cars reputations in Europe lead the dealers in America to request Ford also import this specific model. However due to the bumper requirements, and the fact that these vehicles would require additional crash testing and emission modifications, Ford decided to make an American spec GTS that was a cosmetic only upgrade. There were one hundred of these imported to the United States.

The upgrades on the European GTS include the following. Large diameter front and rear Girling disc brakes, larger diameter rear sway bar, an 351 Cleveland engine rated at 350 HP which had 11.9 compression ratio closed chamber heads, a Holley 650 CFM 4777-4 carburetor specifically for this car, an aluminum intake manifold, again specific to this car, lower restriction GTS exhaust system, 8 inch front wheels and 10 inch rear. They also had a roof antenna as well as fiberglass fender flares and GTS decals on the door sill as well as GTS badges on the rear deck and dashboard. The single pod dashboards were also unique to the Euro-GTS both in shape and finish. The vents for this dash are also unique to the euro-GTS. The euro-GTS also had a different 4th gear ratio than all the other Panteras. It was at .9 instead of .8. This made for a slightly closer ratio in the upper speeds. Magazine articles at the time put the performance of this vehicle at a top speed of 159 MPH, but a mid twelve second quarter mile. These cars also came with a two toned paint scheme. The front hood and rear deck were painted black as well as the lower half of the car all around. All trim was also black instead of chrome. They had the half bumpers also. They had unique tail light lenses as well. They also came with a clock mounted in the dash as well as seats that had a cloth insert for keeping ones rear end firmly planted in spirited driving. These were the Ford era GTS and this model continued after Ford pulled out and evolved somewhat from there.

Now for what makes 4903 unique amongst the much rarified euro-spec GTS. Firstly it was painted black. Not just the bottom but the entire car. Black was not a color option for American imported Panteras. And to my knowledge this may be the only Pantera ever painted entirely black, from the factory. Secondly it came with gold anodized Campignelieo wheels, which again, to my knowledge was not put on any other production car. This may have been to emulate the group four race cars that had Gold anodized wheels although these wheels were more of the street car design. The rear wheels are also very unusual as they have a very deep offset for ten inch wheels. These seem to mount the tire very deep in the rear wheel well. These wheels came with Pirelli P7 rally spec tires. Another unique item on this particular car is the auxiliary driving lights. These look very much like the lights that were installed on the Pantera that ran in the 1972 Lemans and I suspect they were installed as to customer order from the factory. This car also has the very first vents cut into the hood. Later post Ford GTS had a grill put in the same location for additional cooling. However this may be the first vehicle in which DeTomaso experimented with venting the hood. The dash clock is unique in this car as well, being it is a rectangular shape and a quartz movement, and it is wound by the battery and uses a main spring. This has proven to be the most accurate clock I have ever witnessed in any vehicle. This particular car came with a factory equipped stereo. It is a Blaunkampt AM/FM Cassette player. For 1973 this was the best stereo money could buy.
All gauges in this car are labeled in Italian. Of course the speedometer is in kilometers as well as the odometer. The carpet is gray, the headliner is cream. This car also has the leather tool kit as well as the euro-spec airless spare.
The side reflectors on this car were added at a later date for import purposes. This car was ordered by an Italian originally who owned the car for one year. It was purchased from him by a man named Yoder from New York who had the car imported. He owned the car for twenty years and he sold it to a man from Ohio and I bought the car from him ten years ago.

The car appears to have been restored sometime in the 1990s. At that time several modifications were made. The intake manifold was changed to an Edlebrock Performer, the distributor was changed to a Mallory Unilite, the exhaust was changed to a Hall big bore, headers and exhaust, a Hall Delta wing was added to the exterior. The car also appears to have been repainted a high gloss black at that time. A Previous owner also procured Hall Ultra wheels for this vehicle.