Mark in Baltimore

How much is the Pantera going for and where is it?

TomF

They go fast, but only in a straight line. They are really fun cars to look at, however...

Yellow is perfect for a Pantera! There sure aren't many of them around anymore.

mpgandco

Mark
$35,000 18,000 miles.German ZF 5 Speed transaxle Original Calif Blue Plate Car.Located in Central Calif I have many photos,if interested.Email me @ mpgandco@sbcglobal.net

Mark in Baltimore

Thank you. I was really just curious how much one of these sell for. I am not looking for another vehicle to maintain right now.

<edit> 8,000 posts! Wow, I need to get a life!

Peter Badore

I can't imagine any 351 Windsor engine in a Pantera it was never stock for the 1970 to 1974 model years cars sold by the Lincoln Mercury division of Ford. Only the 351 4V was used by the factory and all engines were made in the Cleveland Engine plant and then were shipped by Windsor Export to Italy. The stock 351 Windsor was not a high performance engine due in part to the poor flow of the cylinder heads. Panteras were interesting cars for the period. My sister department worked on the still born Pantera II program with a 400 4V engine. The car was killed by John Betti Ford's chief engine engineer at the time only because it required a unique 50,000 mile EPA certification test. Is there any wonder why Ford is in so much trouble today? Also, I still have my 73 L but don't drive it very much as there is a serious rust problem with the all of the Pantera's rear chassis body structure supporting the upper control arms that makes me wonder when mine will collapse.

Michael_Philippi

Mark:
I had a 1972 Pantera for a while. As someone already said, they go fast in a straight line. Much faster than the Ferraris of the early 70's. It looks from the picture, that the one you are considering does not have the cooling update. If you are going to drive the car during the summer months, you may want to consider getting this done. I believe you can buy a kit, with hood grills, fans and all associated pieces from Hall Pantera. Rust is something you need to be aware off. Have the car checked out. Also, have the motor mounts checked. They were known to fail if the car was launched hard repeatedly.
Someone mentioned that the transaxles were weak. Don't know where they got that information, but I've never heard of a transaxle failure. They are fun, sexy cars. I've often thought about looking for another one. Incidentally, if you decide to get one, I believe I still have a service manual laying around somewhere. Those are really hard to find.
Oh, does this one have the drop in trunk?
Michael

chris walrod

The ring gear bolts were weak and known to shear. Gary at Hall Pantera turned us on to that tip, which led us to have a look inside the trans -- sure enough, four bolts heads were sheared-off. Luck for us, no other damage.

Other typical trouble includes rust (like mentioned above) as well as subtle body creases that tend to get sanded away during paintwork in the hands of inexperienced bodyshops.

We ended-up trying four different water coolers (radiators) before finding one that would cool half a damn. We reversed water flow, increased and decreased water flow rates, push fans, pull fans-- we tried all kinds of stuff.

I remember it to be a fun car!!

Peter Badore

If you are going to get a Pantera I would suggest that you buy the Ford TSB booklet that identifies many of the original service problems and modifications. Cooling system problems were common--my 73 L had a new short block installed under warranty by Ford because of overheating and the root cause of the problem was not found until I read all the TSBs. The factory fans were wired backwards causing the cooling fans rotation to blow air the wrong way through the radiator. The Italian wiring harness connectors would permit the fans to be connected reversed or correctly with no fool proofing of the design for assembly plant installation. There is also a radiator header end tank modification to change an internal baffle that works well. In the end, the problems of the Pantera are much to do with how Mr deTomaso did business-very creative mind but he never finished anything and Lee Iacocca let him get away with it--both at Ford and Chrysler. We tested the deTomaso's Maserati Biturbo at the Chelsea proving grounds and found much to like but it broke its differential case twice by grounding on the typical winter heaved roads found in the northern US (the Biturbo had 40 or more design problems identified by this test-more than any car ever). There were many other problems and stories that in retrospect seem unbelievable including why my 73L Pantera is rusting internally (It is called spray priming or no priming before painting). It is small wonder that almost all Italian cars have disappeared from the US market.