Of all the cars that have driven through Jay Leno’s Garage, the most recent episode of the show has an ominous start when he calls his 1971 De Tomaso Pantera the most misunderstood, undervalued supercars of the 1970s. To give us more insight behind this Italian-American supercar, Jay welcomes the editor for Pantera Club Magazine, Mike Drew.
Jay calls the Pantera undervalued since most supercars from the 1970s are selling well into the six-figure price range, while he says that you can still buy a decent Pantera for around $25,000. As for owning a Pantera, it is quite surprising to learn some of the intricacies of this car, including the fact that stock, unmolested examples are less desirable than those that have had “sensible modifications.” There also seems to be a plentiful ownership community for the Pantera along the same lines as Porsche and Corvette.
In talking with Drew, Leno points out that the Pantera was the first mid-engine street car by an American automaker, which of course doesn’t take into account the Pantera was made in Italy or that the Ford GT40 was produced in street-legal versions in extremely limited numbers. The Pantera was definitely an odd mix even for today with 5,244 Panteras imported to the U.S. from 1971 to 1974, and all were powered by a Ford 351 Cleveland V-8 and sold at Lincoln-Mercury dealers.
After a fairly extensive walk around and discussion about the Pantera with Drew, Leno finally takes his car out for a spin where its true beauty is revealed. The powerful V-8 rumbles to life behind the passenger compartment, and Drew says that the car featured special tuning that combined some of the best exhaust notes the U.S. and Italy offered at the time.
It doesn’t look especially comfortable to drive a De Tomaso Pantera, but it is hard to ignore the car’s beauty or the place it holds in automotive history. Check out the full episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, whcih gives plenty of information on both.
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