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De Tomaso Pantera Reborn As Huracan-based Ares Design Project Panther

In addition to being a design icon, the De Tomaso Pantera also happens to be quite a wild ride thanks to the Ford V8 engine hiding under the hood. A little over 7,200 examples were produced from ‘71 to ‘92, and Elvis had one, which the King of R’n’R shot on more than one occasion.
Ares Design Project Panther 4 photos
Photo: Ares Design
Ares Design Project PantherAres Design Project PantherAres Design Project Panther
Italian styling, American power, and popular with the rich and famous of the day. That’s the spirit of the Pantera boiled down to its core, and Ares Design is bringing sexy back with Project Panther. “The what?” The car featured in the photo gallery, which is a work-in-progress affair right now.

Mostly known for mad tuning jobs, the company founded by ex-Lotus head honcho Dany Bahar intends to bring the project to production-ready status in the first half of 2018. Later on, Ares Design hopes to commence deliveries, more so considering that deposits have already been placed.

Beyond the bite-the-back-of-your-hand beautiful styling that harks back to the best the 1970s gave us in terms of automotive design, the Panther sports pop-up headlights. That’s right, ladies and gents, pop-up headlights! Photos of the interior have yet to be published, though don’t expect to find anything more than a Lamborghini Huracan cabin with minor flourishes.

The underpinnings, including the naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V10 and seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, are all sourced from the Huracan. There’s no confirmation as to how potent the engine is in this application, though it’s safe to assume the Panther has 600-plus ponies at its disposal.

“Our new Modena facility allows us to move above and beyond this normal personalisation service, bringing together new design and engineering technologies, teams of skilled craftsmen, and passionate experts who have joined us from local supercar businesses,” said Bahar, which is a reference to Ares Design poaching talented people from Italy’s premier supercar-making companies: Ferrari and Lamborghini.

A Pantera lookalike without the original’s problems? That doesn’t sound half bad. More importantly, the Panther looks miles better than another Huracan-based supercar: the in-your-face Italdesign ZeroUno.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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