An old-school review of an Italian exotic with American elements.
We are taking it back a few decades to the late-'80s with this retro review of the 1987 De Tomaso Pantera GT5-S, which means "Panther" in Italian. The Pantera shares the same heartbeat with the Ford Mustang, but the two could not be any more different. With an ultra-aerodynamic body, sloped nose, and a large rear wing, there's no mistaking the Pantera for anything else but an Italian exotic. However, if one were to break down, it could be easily fixed at any Ford dealership.
The Pantera's current cosmetics are the work of American distributor Kirk Evans, a man who turned his passion for the Italian sports car into a business. This business, Amerisport Inc., began importing Panteras back in 1986. Before that, he was well-known for restoring the first-generation Panteras that were distributed by Lincoln-Mercury back in the early 1970s.
These cars started life at the De Tomasa headquarters in Modena, Italy where the chassis, body shell, and interior are completed. Then, Amerisport would add the powertrain, exhaust, bumpers, and cosmetic parts including the large rear wing, giving the '87 Pantera a more aggressive appearance than previous models.
A Cleveland 351cui V8 engine powers the Italy-produced sports car, an engine that could also be found in the Ford Mustang and Fairlane models. In Pantera trim, it produced an output of 300-horsepower and 333 lb/ft of torque. With that much power under its belt, the car could sprint from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 5.5 seconds and dominate the quarter mile in 14.7 seconds at 96 miles per hour. With heavy-duty disc brakes on all four corners, the car has no problem stopping all that power. The inside of the car had a love-it-or-hate-it interior complete with analog gauges and wood trim.
The Pantera isn't as easy to drive as the Ferrari Testarossa, but it was much more obtainable at $71,950 brand new compared to the Ferrari's price of over $120,000.
Source: MotorWeek
