I'm selling my red with black interior '74 Pantera that I've had for over 6 years now. The reason for the sale is that I've stepped into an '86 GT5-S last year and my intention was only to keep one Pantera.
It has a 450hp full roller vavletrain Cleveland motor with a new dual friction clutch assembly. The motor has a couple of thousand miles on it at most. It is a very strong motor with more power in it yet to be unlocked. It idles at 750 RPM with no problems. It is a 6500 RPM street motor. The ZF shifts like butter. I've never heard an errant sound from it. The engine bay has been painted, but needs some cleaning by now. All of the wires and hoses have been rerouted and none show, not even the plug wires. I had an aluminum panel made to mirror the gas tank heat shield for the passenger side and all of the bottles and electronics are hidden behind it, even the hoses. When you look into the engine bay your eyes feast on the engine, with no distractions.
The car drives, rides, and handles very well. As far as I know, it has all rubber bushings that I believe were all changed shortly before I purchased the car. The car is very smooth and quiet, the only thing you hear when driving is the exhaust note. It is an easy and fun car to drive. It goes straight as an arrow. It has gold Enkei 5 star rims on it. They are 15x7 and 15x10. The tires are brand new Dunlops. The sizes are 215/60 and 295/50.
The interior is mainly stock in average to good condition and has a 13" LeCarra steering wheel. The speedo recently stopped working because the 90 degree elbow at the trans broke internally. The tach needs a tach-adapter to work because of the MSD. I removed the a/c components, but I have them all. I was going to move it up front. This car has a removable glass sunroof that just about takes up the entire headliner area! I did it myself, it came out perfect, and I always thought it was the best modification I made to the car. In fact, I bought my '86 5-S only because it is a targa, based on my experience driving my '74 with the roof out. It is an awesome feeling when you're driving down the road with almost no roof over your head. It gave the car an entirely different feel! I still have the steel roof panel cutout if a return to a stock roof would be desired.
The car has been in a body shop since last fall. The body shop closed it's doors, and I was unable to retrieve the car until recently. Unfortunately, no work was performed, and worse than that, the car was left outside for months. When it went in, it was on the edge of it's paint job. There are now parts of the paint that have flaked off and there is some surface rust forming in those areas. There is a small spot that rusted through on the roof. There is also a small spot that is about to come through on the passenger side quarter panel by the door. There is also some minor denting below the passenger side tail light and on the decklid. It looks like someone at the shop may have backed into something. This car is NOT a rust bucket. It was looked at by Mike DeGonnis of M&D Engineering in Queens, NY in it's current condition. The car looks awful with it's current state of paint, but Mike was impressed that it is "a very solid car". Mike DeGonnis has been fixing Panteras for decades, and has broken records at Bonneville with his some years ago.
The bottom line is that I'm ready to cut my losses with this car and sell it as it is. I really like this car, so this is hard for me. This Pantera just needs some bodywork and paint to look awesome! It doesn't need anything major. You can put 5k or less into the paint and body and be well ahead of the game. The engine is already done. Everything else is minor.
I'm asking $23,000 for the car as-is. Once out of the body shop, you can enjoy this car without having to do anything else to it! It is a very reliable driver. I can be reached at 203-380-1298, Cyboman@optonline.net, or right here. I have a couple of pictures of the exterior now. I'll be taking many more pictures over this weekend. Thanks for your time, and have a great day!
Michael
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