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This auction is for a 1971 De Tomaso Pantera restoration project that was started and never completed. This Pantera has been in New Mexico since 1986 (and possibly earlier) and was driven less than 700 miles in 27 years.

Here is a photo of the car taken in 1986:

The engine was rebuilt about 400 miles ago by a well known and respected Ford engine builder in Albuquerque. New Mexico. The cam card shows a slightly warmer than stock cam was installed.

After the engine was rebuilt the previous owner had the paint stripped to bare metal by a local paint and body man. Initially. the work went smoothly but then the Pantera was set aside while more urgent work needed to be done by the body man. The paint project would start and stop again over several years. There were always excuses for why the paint project had stalled. Finally. after nearly 4 years (!) the former owner had enough and went to collect his car from the painter. The body had been sprayed with primer and a guide coat but that was about the extent of it. The owner went to retrieve the car and it backfired badly (more than likely the carb went bad after all the sitting) and he decided to not risk damaging the engine and had it towed home. Disgusted. the former owner lost all interest in finishing the project and it was just stored in his garage.

Pantera Rescue

I have owned several Pantera's since 1986 and have been over every inch of my own 1971 Pantera so I know what to look for when purchasing a Pantera and the one I am offering in this auction is a very solid car.

Before I purchased the Pantera from the former owner. I inspected it for rust in the rocker panels. rear inner fenders. undercarriage and frame areas and found it to be rust free. as I suspected it would be since it had been in the dry Southwest United States for so long. I did find some very minor rust in the drivers side door and edge of the underside of the rear deck lid but nothing that had made it to the outside of the car. The former owner had told me that he had seen the car when it was in bare metal and there was no rust visible. You can place your fingers in the chassis mounting holes underneath the car that Vignale used to push the cars around the assembly plant on dolly's and it is clear of any rust.

Unusual Details

Knowing Pantera's the way I do. I noticed right away that there were some unusual features involving this Pantera. First of all. this Pantera was produced in July 1971. the same month that my personal car was produced. The VIN number of this Pantera is actually 80 units past mine but has features that only some of the earliest Panteras produced had.

The most unusual feature is that the battery is located in the engine compartment. in front of the right rear tire. Once again. this is a feature that only the very earliest Panteras had. The windshield trim is of a two piece design which only the earliest Panteras had. There is a pull knob on the console located to the right side of the radio which operates a door for the heating/air conditioning controls which direct air down to the floor. Once again. only the earliest Panteras had this feature. The seat upholstery design has a vertical pattern which only the earliest Panteras had.

Why does this car have these unusual features? It is fairly well known that the Pantera is very much a hand built car. Whenever there were issues with a particular car being produced. the car would be pushed off to the side to be addressed and then "reinstated" in the assembly process as time allowed. Therefore. a car which started production early in it's life might have taken several months to complete which would make for a car with these unusual features. I believe this is one of those cars.

Why does this car have a "L" front bumper? I believe that has nothing to do with the assembly process (simply because the "L" front bumpers weren't produced until mid-1972) and has much more to do with an accident that car had later in life. A little detective work makes me believe that the car suffered front end damage at some point in it's life (prior to the previous owner) due to the fact that the front splash shields located in front of the front wheels are crinkled and no longer welded to the front valance at the bottom. I believe that when the front end damage happened. the original chrome bumperettes were damaged beyond repair and were replaced with the "L" bumper. probably for cost and availability reasons.

I also believe that the rear of the car had been damaged at some point due to the work (poor work) done on the underside of the trailing edge of the deck lid. You can see a large amount of filler on the underside of the deck lid in the photos. I can't see any reason for it being there and it would sure look nicer with it removed. The rear tail light panel is slightly concave in the middle just above the license plate area that should be pulled out to match the rear edge of the deck lid.

The original color of the car was red as evidenced by the red paint shown beneath the undercoating in the engine compartment.

The brakes are locked up due to non-use but the car can be moved.

There are only a few parts that I know are missing from the car. They are as follows: Screen cover for the engine. rear Detomaso and Pantera script on the rear tail light panel. both kick panels on each side of the console at the footwells.

The front windshield has been replaced with a new one but the painter cut the windshield rubber to remove the windshield trim. I do have a new windshield rubber that will be supplied with the car.

The title to this Pantera is free of any liens and is issued in the State of New Mexico and is in my possession and is issued in my name.  

This Pantera project that would make a great start for a "stock" restoration. I love these incredible exotic cars and enjoy talking about them so feel free to contact me with any questions you might have.

I will be happy to supply any further photos that are requested to show further detail. Simply contact me by email with your requests.

A $1000 deposit is due through Paypal within 24 hours of the end of the auction.    Balance due by bank wire in 10 days of the end of the auction.   Inspections of the car are invited and encouraged.   I will do enverything to insure that the car is represented truthfully and if anything I stated in the auction is found to be untrue. I will happily refund the deposit and cancel the auction.   Shipping costs are the responsibility of the buyer.  

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