3D Puzzle: 1973 DeTomaso Pantera
A certain segment of our readers will have wanted a DeTomaso Pantera for a long, long time since seeing their first one in the 1970s. Considering that Panteras combine beautiful Italian design with an American V-8 (a formula that has been tried many times over the years with mixed success) I can’t say I blame them! This project car needing complete assembly can be yours for an asking price of $55,000 and is listed for sale here on eBay. It’s located in Dallas, Texas, and is being sold by a classified ad (fixed price, non-auction).
If you know anything at all about Panteras, you’ll know that rust is often a huge issue with project cars. Where is it? Okay, sure, there’s some (surface?) rust apparent on this side, and there’s the issue that you don’t truly see good views of any of the parts that have been removed–just the boxes that they have supposedly been meticulously stored in. I’ve had some good experiences with what other folks consider “well-stored”–and some not-so-good ones.
I wonder what paused the restoration? We’re told the car was originally the bright blue, similar to Ford Grabber Blue, that does look great on a Pantera as well as highlighting the Ford connection. By the way, the robust rolling frame goes with the car to facilitate transport at this point.
Parts, parts, and more parts! I hope it all has stayed dry during storage, and I wonder how long that storage has been. The good thing is that many parts are now available that weren’t in the past! A quick Google search yields a list of comprehensive parts suppliers, at least one of which has been in business since 1976. However, with an average condition car valued at ~$83,000 on a typical price guide, do you think assembling this car is worth that much of your time?
Assuming this is the original Ford-sourced V-8, it will be a 351-cubic-inch version. Remember, when new these cars were available at your local Lincoln-Mercury dealer, of course that’s one of the main attractions of Panteras–no overhead cams or six-digit engine overhauls here! What do you think about this 3D puzzle of a car, and are you willing to put it back together?
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Comments
Hope it comes with a instruction manual..$55,000 seems like a lot though.
Man, that rolling frame is clean. Not an iota of rust on it. Now, as far as that Pantera?
25K sounds a lot better! At least give you some room for new parts!
I’m with Kevin here. $55k is EXTREMELY high for this total project. I’ve seen complete, rolling garage finds selling in the $40ks in recent years.
$25k would be reasonable.
You just showed everyone that your comment is pure BS and you know not one thing about Pantera’s lol.
You seem to be alone here !
The price doesn’t make sense compared to the completed cars up for grabs , getting a car painted or painting it yourself takes more that a few minutes and if done by a pro will cost many thousands and then there is reassembly and possible mia parts that will cost money and time …fiat parts aren’t the best quality and these are now 50 year old parts …ask me how i know !
Nice and they’re only asking 50,000 too much for it 🤷♂️ guess it’s a keeper for them…
IKEA Pantera?
Yep….it’s been listed before and a little more together.
IDK by time you pay $ 55,000 and put it back together between labor, a Paint Job, maybe the interior having to be reupholstered, sourcing parts that may not be in thus Basket case boxes. You’ll have more into it than it’s worth. The only way someone someone would take this on would be a labor of love, and the desire to own one !
@ Claudio I might be alone that’s because a bunch of uninformed people that don’t know a thing about Panteras are commenting. You have one fool saying it’s worth $5000 a couple other fools you being one of them saying it’s worth $25000 lol. I own 2 of these and you couldn’t touch them for under $200,000 some like a GTS will be all over $250,000 to $300,000. This page has turned into a bunch of negative Nancy’s always posting nonsense and putting down the owners of the cars and crying about how the ordinary Joe has been priced out of the market. The ordinary Joe only wants to work 35 to 40 hours a week and spends $300 a month on fast food and $500 a month getting drunk that’s why he’s broke. If he’d work 60 hrs a week and watch his money he could buy a car to fix up and have something. You’ll see comments like look the fender doesn’t line up it’s a rebuilt total beware lol. or look he’s asking $55000 that’s crazy it’s a asking price you might get it for $40K who knows until you ask. I now come to this page for humor there is only a handful of serious car folks on here. Now move on to the next car with your brilliant car knowledge and enlighten us some more lol.
I don’t know this seller and with a deal like this trust is key. How can you know it’s all there? The asking price may be fair but how can you know? If every part were unpackaged, neatly arranged, and photographed, OK.
FORD – Fix Or Repair Daily, for many many more Days
First on Race Day
found on road dead
Crazy but I remember a few Pantera I would see around town and they looked ok definitely not in pristine condition. I also remember seeing them for sale generally for around 7 to 9k and I never thought about them much except they were different. Now days it’s a whole new ballgame and the prices certainly reflect that. I have over the last few years seen some incredible examples and they look bad ass!
Maybe you could mate the body to a C8 Corvette chassis. Ok purists, go ahead and freak out 🤣
body’n orig chassy there? Many were equipped w/a truck motor I have (80 more cubes).
“…is worth that much of your time?…”
”Yes”
AND
“@ much lower cost.”
One minor issue is the view for backing up (97% of my leave-from-stops is forward).
Where can we get a dictionary to decipher your posts?
Ahaha, i simply skip his comments !
This listing ended on Sun, Apr 21 at 11:33 AM.
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