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De Tomaso Pantera

Tom Tjaarda · 1971

An Italian sports car built to sell in American dealerships—not to win races or set lap times.

Worth your time?3.5/5Yes.Drive the whole thing.What works, what does not, who it is for ↓
9:45in productionCh. 1 · What It Is/ 9:45 · ceiling 15 min
4 chapters · 9:45Ceiling 15:00

The brief is written and checked. The video joins this page when it is cut.4 chapters · 1 min read · 9:45 planned

Read the brief

The De Tomaso Pantera is a mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive sports car designed by Tom Tjaarda at Ghia in 1970 and built by Italian manufacturer De Tomaso from 1971 to 1992. Its steel monocoque chassis was the brand’s first use of that construction. Over 7,000 units were produced—the most of any De Tomaso—with more than three quarters sold through Lincoln-Mercury dealers in the US between 1972 and 1975.

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Chapters & takeaways4
  1. 0:52
    What It Is

    The Pantera was De Tomaso’s first mid-engine, steel monocoque sports car—and its longest-running model.

  2. 2:34
    Who Drew It

    Tom Tjaarda designed it in 1970 at Ghia—son of a Dutch designer who shaped the Lincoln Zephyr.

  3. 4:08
    How It’s Built

    Its steel monocoque was De Tomaso’s first use of that construction—replacing the Mangusta’s backbone chassis.

  4. 5:45
    How It Sold

    Over 7,000 were made—the most of any De Tomaso—with more than three quarters sold by Lincoln-Mercury dealers from 1972 to 1975.

1 more chapterFewer chapters
Worth your time?

Yes. Drive the whole thing.

3.5/ 5
What works
  • The steel monocoque gave rigidity and safety over the older backbone chassis.
  • The Ghia styling—clean, low, purposeful—gave instant presence without ornament.
What does not
  • It does not isolate the driver from mechanical noise or heat.
  • It does not offer adjustable suspension, power steering, or modern crash structures.
Drive it if
  • It is for people who care about industrial alignment—how design, engineering, and distribution intersect.
  • It is not for those seeking driver aids, refinement, or documented performance figures.
Skip it if
  • It is not for those seeking driver aids, refinement, or documented performance figures.
Who should drive it, and who should skipHide who it is for
The written brief1 min read

What the car is and where it came from

A mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive sports car designed by Tom Tjaarda at Ghia in 1970 and built by Italian manufacturer De Tomaso from 1971 to 1992.

How it works, in terms someone would actually use

It places the driver behind a large V8, mid-mounted in a steel monocoque chassis. The layout demands constant attention: weight sits low and central, but the engine is long and heavy, dictating packaging compromises.

What it gets right

The steel monocoque gave rigidity and safety over the older backbone chassis. The Ghia styling—clean, low, purposeful—gave instant presence without ornament.

What it does not

It does not isolate the driver from mechanical noise or heat. It does not offer adjustable suspension, power steering, or modern crash structures.

What it changed

It shifted De Tomaso from niche boutique to volume producer. It proved a mid-engine sports car could be built with mass-market Ford power and sold via Lincoln-Mercury showrooms.

Who it is for, and who it is not

It is for people who care about industrial alignment—how design, engineering, and distribution intersect. It is not for those seeking driver aids, refinement, or documented performance figures.

Is it worth your time

Yes—if you want to understand how an Italian sports car was made to sell through American dealerships, not just how it drove.

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10:04
De Tomaso MangustaGiorgetto Giugiaro · 1967De Tomaso Mangusta (1967) — a Giugiaro-designed mid-engined sports car built on a modified P70 steel backbone chassis, with Ford V8 power and a distinctive gull-wing bonnet. 401 units produced. Suffered from handling instability, cramped cabin, and low ground clearance.
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Fiat 124 Sport SpiderTom Tjaarda · 1966The Fiat 124 Sport Spider is a convertible sports car designed by Pininfarina and styled by Tom Tjaarda. It debuted at the November 1966 Turin Auto Show. It used monocoque construction and a front-engine/rear-wheel-drive layout. Fiat marketed it from 1966 to 1982. Pininfarina continued production under its own name until 1985.
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De Tomaso VallelungaFissore · 1964The De Tomaso Vallelunga is a foundational mid-engine sports car. Its aluminium Fissore body, Ford Kent engine and Volkswagen transaxle formed a lightweight, race-derived package—built in just fifteen examples before production shifted to Ghia. It is historically significant but physically sparse: no performance data, no driver testimonials, no surviving service history. Its value lies entirely in its architecture and provenance—not its execution.
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Chevrolet Corvette C6Tom Peters · 2005The C6 is the sixth generation of the Chevrolet Corvette, built from 2005 to 2013. It was the first Corvette since the 1962 model with exposed headlamps, and it brought a larger passenger compartment and a 6.0 L LS2 V8 rated at 400 hp, followed from 2008 by the 6.2 L LS3. Z06, ZR1, Grand Sport and 427 Convertible versions were also built.
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De Tomaso Vallelunga

Fissore · 1964 · 9:52

A mid-engine experiment so raw it had to be scrapped when no one wanted it.

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9:52