I think I'm falling in love with the Pantera. Help me.

Mine blew a water hose in the fast lane yesterday.
Right now I'm not that into Panteras.

 

My Pantera is now for sale. After over six years of ownership that has been more rewarding than any other car I have owned by a mile, I have decided to try for another car on my "life wishlist". Hence the reluctant decision to sell the GT5S. Life is only so long.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1197737.htm

 

Cool. Pics?

 

Steve, what is the car on your wishlist??? you aren't coming over to the darkest side, the show stopping Mangusta??? enquiring minds are curious

 

Another De Tomaso-no, the darkside............Yes

 

Countach!!!!???? COME CLEAN!!!

...I hope I am right!

 

Say it isn't so!! I've been following that car for some time! I've always liked your car. Unfortunately for me the steering is on the wrong side. Good luck! I hope you don't miss the brutality!!

 

..if it is a Countach OR Diablo, he will have plenty of "brutality"

 

Afraid it is so. That is the reaction I am getting from my friends too. I love the car, it is a blast, even just starting it is an occasion, and the sound makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. But the time has come to try something else.

Yep
Diablo SV or 6.0VT

 

i did not expect you to sell it...
really a great looking DT and if only it was LHD ...you know i have a soft spot for this car and its color...well i would be already pming you

if you can keep them both do it...otherwise go for the diablo

you will like it, it is last of the brute lamborghinis (but still more user friendly than a countach )

the 6.0 is nice, handles better than almost any diablo, has a good looking interior, a fault? may be a little too refined to my taste (audi made it better...may be too better for some...)

if you like some rawness, i would suggest SE30 or SV (the first one being slightly quicker and more collectable, the second is more usable since it is higher from the ground)

(of course also the roadster if you like the open top...and the sound from the open top is worth to try it alone )

 

My God I love all those Panteras.........keep them coming guys

P.S. Does anyone have a pic of one in Matt Black....Thanks.

 

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looks a very nice US GTS

yours?

 

Sadly no. I did get a ride in it that day though

Car is fantastic and amazingly clean.

 

that is a great look....narrow body, 8" and 10" campy's.....matte black (40 years before it was trendy, lol)...sweet Pantera!

 

Guys i hear some of you referring to the push button version? what does that mean?

 

Mangusta's and the (early) first generation Pantera's came with a 'pushbutton' door mechanism for entry into the car...very small and simple and rare and preferred and aesthetically nice and collectable!

 

I see, thank you for the info

 

I think the pushbutton Panteras are kind of neat, but I tell ya, those first 100 cars--I would not own one. There are simply too many little variations of gotchas that did not make it into the production cars making work a little more complicated when looking to other Pantera owners for advice. The 1971 Panteras in general have some strange things different than the rest of the years.

 

there are also doubts on the build quality of these very early cars....i'd like to have someone with knowledge chime in but i heard they tend to rust more and have some more issues

 

Prototype three seater.
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Ugh, I totally have the Pantera bug now. Anyone know of a good original one out there? Don't want a souped up or body modified one. Prefer the early ones with chrome bumpers. Thanks.

 

There are variations in cars for sure they were hand built. The 'pushbutton' cars were early pre-Ford involvement. I guess like any handbuilt car; the Mangustas are also very different even in the VIN sequential sense. I was looking at a very early pushbutton car 20 years ago and was discouraged by one of the vendors ( I kick my butt when I think about it) Today, in the information age it does not make a difference. These are toys, they are different yet very similar and the comunity is a tight one. Answers are a posting, or an email away.

My reccomendation is if you like a pushbutton car look for one. Note that it has a different dash than the later cars, the transaxle is an early one and has ONE rear mount instead of two (so if you want to boost that HP, get a later car) There are also another 2 other sub-groups : GT5 and GT5s . GT5 were post Ford units, a little more modern , have factory flares on them - their giveaway are the square rear inner fenders and finally the GT5s have the swoopy rear fenders with the large side grills (a select few of these came as factory Targa and you can store the roof under the rear deck lid)

A modified car is not necessarily less in demand, same guys have done amazing modifications ( funny they all keep the original pieces though). Price wise the pushbuttons command a little more and the GT5, then the GT5s. In today's economy there are several for sale in all price ranges. IMOHO their demand and proce may increase later this year as a TV studio just bought several for a film currently in production

Check ou their forum, Nice buch of guys http://pantera.infopop.cc/eve

Denis

 

DenisC, Thanks for the link: great website!

 

Mine has zero rust. Never has. Although, it has very low miles (about 6500) and was in California in a sea going storage container since 1975. The early cars did have some problems, but most were getting the car to pass the warranty work that Ford had to cover. Imagine the complaints Lamborghini would have had if they had to stand the same ground as Ford. The push button does have many differences, but nothing that would make it stand out as a problem compared to later models. Some differences are pretty cool, besides the door button. The bumpers are more squared off, and the quality of them is higher, if you take one off & look at its constuction from behind. Mine has a aluminum gas tank as well & it came that way. Ford covered it up in fiberglass as a recall. Almost all others have a steel tank covered in the fiberglass. It's also completely hand built car in a different plant than the other cars.