De Tomaso Pantera

The Pantera was a sports car produced by the De Tomaso car company of Italy from 1971 to 1991,[1] the last one delivered to a customer in 1992.[3] The word "Pantera" is Italian for "Panther". The car was designed by Tom Tjaarda and replaced the De Tomaso Mangusta. Unlike the Mangusta, which employed a steel backbone chassis, the Pantera was a steel monocoque design, the first instance of De Tomaso using this construction technique.

Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil killed his friend Razzle after crashing his Pantera whilst drunk.[4]

The first 1971 Panteras were powered by a Ford 351 in3 (5.8 L) V8 which produced 330 hp (246 kW). The ZF transaxle used in the Mangusta was also used for the Pantera. Another Italian exotic that shares the ZF transaxle is the Maserati Bora. Power-assisted four-wheel disc brakes and rack and pinion steering were standard equipment. The 1971 Pantera could accelerate to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 5.5 seconds according to Car and Driver.

Late in 1971, Ford began importing Panteras for the American market to be sold through its Lincoln Mercury dealers. The first 75 cars were simply European imports and are known for their "push-button" door handles and hand-built Carrozzeria Vignale bodies. A total of 1,007 Panteras reached the United States that first year. Unfortunately, these cars were poorly built, and several Panteras broke down during testing on Ford's own test track. Early crash testing at UCLA showed that safety cage engineering was not very well understood in the 1970s. Rust-proofing was minimal on these early cars, and the quality of fit and finish was poor, with large amounts of lead being used to cover body panel flaws. Notably, Elvis Presley once fired a gun at his Pantera after it wouldn't start.