Hi all,
My name is Niall and I'm a new member, recently signed up.
A couple of weeks ago I got the opportunity to drive a 1972 Pantera. I was really excited as I'd never driven before or seen one in the flesh (they are a rare sight over here in the UK). They are one of my favourite cars from the 1970s and I think they've been underrated for far too long. A great design by Tjaarda and an awesome V8. I run a classic car website and make films of classic cars so I knew it was a great opportunity to drive a Pantera and review it.
Here's the link to my review film and article:
http://www.taketotheroad.co.uk...2-de-tomaso-pantera/
The car itself has recently come over from Utah and was acquired through the Beverly Hills Car Club. So some of the members here might recognise it. The owner is planning a strip down restoration on the car. Its best described as a nice driver with a few imperfections. The day I got to drive was actually its first proper shake down drive and it performed very very well, especially for a car that had spent time in storage and then sat on a boat across the Atlantic. I didn't have a benchmark to compare it against but it felt powerful and it probably had a lot more than the 320-380BHP range they are supposed to have. I expect the 4 barrel Holley and the Hall exhaust system and headers give it a few extra horses and allow it to breath better. It sure sounded fantastic and it was so addictive burying the throttle. As for the rest of the engine the owner isn't sure what has been done. He's getting it checked over while be restored so will have a better idea of what has been done to it.
So was I hooked? Yes! Did the Pantera live up to my expectation? Oh yes! I can't afford one now but some day I will get one. Hopefully by then they won't have sky rocketed in price.
Anyway I hope you enjoy the film. It was my first attempt at a driving review so if I did it again, I would do it a little differently. The owner has invited me back to drive it after its restoration so I will be doing another review of it at some point next year. I'm filming a Mangusta in the next few weeks as well so it will be an interesting comparison to the Pantera.
Cheers,
Niall
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