Euro Styling and American Horsepower in This 1972 Pantera

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Two-thirds Italian sports car and one-third American muscle car makes the Pantera unique in the hot rodding world.

It was the early '70s and American muscle cars were ruling the U.S. highways, but as evidenced by the design of the second-gen Camaros, the cars from Europe were also getting noticed. It was in this age before oil embargos and soul-crushing government mandates when anything was possible. It was just the right time for something new, different, and fast to the hit the market: the De Tomaso Pantera. The Italian-American mid-engine exotic featured a gorgeous body designed by Tom Tjaarda at Ghia and a monocoque chassis engineered by Gian Paolo Dallara. The partnership with Ford brought to the table a dealer channel in the U.S., production advice, and a great engine, the 351 Cleveland.

Launched in 1971, in partnership with Ford, the Pantera (Italian for Panther) was a melding of Euro styling and American power. The first Pantera hit the U.S. in 1971, and production continued into the early '90s. But, the heyday was from 1971 to 1975 when Ford sold around 5,500 cars into the U.S. market. Of course, gray market cars were brought over from Europe, but most of the ones in the U.S. were sold during the partnership between De Tomaso and Ford. When Ford discontinued the 351 Cleveland after 1974, De Tomaso sourced them (until the '80s) from Australia, where they were still in production. Around 1990 that supply dried up and Panteras fielded 351 Windsor mills.

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Keep in mind that these cars were low production with only a few, at best, built each day at the De Tomaso factory, but the design kept getting improved and refined. In late 1972 they introduced the Pantera L model (Lusso, which is Italian for luxury), which fixed many of the shortcomings of the early models. The updates and options were enough for it to getRoad Testmagazine's 1973 Import Car Of The Year award, beating offerings from Maserati, Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Porsche. Other models were introduced over the years including the hard-to-find GTS version and the later GT5 variants. There was a time when you could find used Panteras for a great price, but recently the prices have been skyrocketing.

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This brings us to Vincent Palazzolo's 1972 Pantera. As he told us, "In 2015, my neighbor drives up in a 1963 Plymouth Savoy with a big-block 426 Wedge motor. I stopped him and asked him where he picked up the beautiful car. He told me about a lady in La Crescenta, California, that was selling her husband's car collection due to his passing away. My neighbor proceeded to tell me that she still had several cars available. So of course, I asked for her phone number so that I could find out what was available. When I called the owner of the car collection, she mentioned that she had a 1970 Mustang Fastback, with a 428 Cobra Jet and four-speed manual transmission, for sale.

"I drove down to La Crescenta with a buddy of mine thinking I was going to purchase the Mustang, but we couldn't come to terms on a price. As I was leaving, I saw a taillight of a red Pantera in her garage. I asked her if that car was also for sale, and she told me yes. In her two-car garage on the right, was this beautiful red Pantera. On the left was a lift sporting a black 2005 Ford GT with 1,500 original miles and underneath the lift was a Porsche 930 Turbo Carrera." Her late husband obviously had excellent taste.

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But it was the Pantera that captured Palazzolo's heart that day. Turned out it was the husband's favorite car, by far, in his collection. He had bought the car in 1998, and the paperwork had it listed, at that time, as a GT5, so our guess is that the owner previous to him added the newer GT5-S bodywork to the '72. The car was then completely restored to better than new status between 1998 and 2008. It's no wonder it was the husband's favorite, but that also meant it had the most sentimental value to his wife, and she wanted to make sure it went to a good home and not some broker or uncaring corporate entity that wouldn't cherish it the way her husband did.

Which brings us back to Palazzolo's quest to buy this stunning Pantera. "I made her an offer to purchase the Pantera and the Mustang as a package deal, and she told me she would think about it and let me know. My buddy made an offer on a Cutlass Oldsmobile that was also in the driveway, thinking it would be a good car for his son. Needless to say, we left that day with no cars. A week later, I reached out to her to see if we had a deal, but we still couldn't agree on a price. Now I really wanted the Pantera, and every month I would call to see if she was ready to sell, but it just wasn't happening.

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"Fast-forward 11 months later, I asked my buddy to call her and make one final offer on my behalf as I was not having much luck. He explained to her that if the deal didn't happen that night then the money was going to be used to purchase another car the next morning. I told my wife that if she didn't accept my offer that night, even if she drops the price in half, I'm done. I went to bed that night defeated and totally disappointed.

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"The next morning at 7 a.m., my phone rings, and it's my buddy telling me that she accepted my offer! I know that money can't buy happiness, but it can buy a De Tomaso Pantera, and that's close enough. I bought the car that day, and of course my wife Robin still makes fun of me to this day about the way I was going to hold my ground if she didn't call that night," recalled Palazzolo.

"My detailer comes over and also falls in love with the car. After the detail is complete, he goes to his next customer and shares photos of the Pantera with him. This customer has an extensive collection of cars and says he wants the Pantera. My detailer then sends me a text asking me how much I want for the Pantera. I told him, 'I just got the car, and it's not for sale.' Of course, he comes back with the 'Everything is for sale, name your price' line. I threw out a price of double what I paid for the car, knowing that was an absurd amount. One minute later, my detailers says, 'Done deal, bring the car over and get your cash.' Needless to say, I turned it down and I still have the car 6 years later, and love it more than ever," continued Palazzolo.

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The 1972 "GT5" Pantera still fields its original (although rebuilt and modified including aluminum heads) 351 Cleveland mill as well as its five-speed ZF manual gearbox. It also has all the creature comforts, most likely added post purchase, such as power windows and A/C. It's like someone took all the right parts from the various Pantera iterations and combined them together in one stunning red package. The only thing Palazzolo has done to the car was to have Don, at Full Throttle Panteras, fix a carburetor issue. Hey, the car had already won first place at the Palos Verdes Concours D'Elegance, so why mess with perfection?

Palazzolo has kept in contact with the lady that he purchased the Pantera from and considers her a friend. She was pretty excited when she heard HOT ROD did a photoshoot on her husband's Pantera. As Palazzolo told us, "Her response was, 'Oh my goodness!!! That brings tears of happiness! Yes, I'm sure he's smiling from heaven knowing the Pantera has an owner that cares for the car the way he did. '"

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