Packing a powerful 351 Cleveland motor, the Pantera had little to no chance of ever taking on the Italians at the sports car game.

It didn’t take long for Ford to give up on the project with relatively low sales numbers by their standards, De Tomaso persevered and continued to produce the Pantera right up until the early 90s in low numbers. It took them some time to figure out what kind of people they needed to market the car to, but once they figured that out, they went on to become a legend in their own right.

With more than two decades having passed since the last Pantera was produced, most of us have forgotten these 10 facts.

10 Initially Launched As A Ford

De Tomaso Pantera cornering
Vintage Planet

With Ford part numbers on everything, it was essentially a Ford, sold in their showrooms, marketed by them, and with over 80% of their shares owned by them too. The only thing that was not Ford was its badge.

De Tomaso Pantera on the road
Via pinterest.com

It was their way of taking on the Italians and the sports car that they pretty much owned in the late 60s, so unlike the GT40 this was built in Italy. That was possibly the biggest problem for them, they were expensive to produce and the build quality of the final product was poor.

9 Muscle Car Dressed As A Sports Car

Pantera
via pistonheads.com

It certainly looks the part, especially the GT5 model with its classic 80s body-kit. Once you get in, it still looks and feels like an old Italian sports car, with an awkward driving position and lack of rearward visibility.

Pantera
via Hemmings

Once you turn the key, the whole experience changes. With the big, heavy pushrod Cleveland V8 burbling to life right behind you.

8 Plainly Not A Sports Car

Here's Why A Classic De Tomaso Pantera Is So Expensive
via Mecum

Once you rev that V8 a little, you know pretty much exactly what you are in for as your visual senses get overwhelmed by the soundtrack. It is a muscle car.

de tomaso pantera
Via: Car and Driver

That soundtrack is then followed by more power than the car is able to really make use of, the engine getting mounted in the back makes it rather tail-happy and quickly affirms your suspicions that it’s a muscle car!

Related: Here’s Why The DeTomaso Pantera Is The Most Forgotten Muscle Car Of The ’80s

7 Rear-Mid-Mounted V8

1971 De Tomaso Pantera with Ford's engine
Via Hotcars

It was supposed to be a mid-engine sports car, sadly the nature of the heavy old Cleveland pushrod engine is that it needed an equally heavy transmission.

red De Tomaso Pantera on the road
Via pinterest.com

Thus, the combined weight ended up right above the rear wheels, making it a handful in the corners. It left most people disillusioned with a car that just kept on trying not to be the sports car Ford told them it was going to be.

6 Early Build Quality Woes

A Classic Yellow 1971 De Tomasso Pantera Parked In Front Of The Stairs Of A Building
via WSupercars

If you're going to have a car built in Italy, you are rather logically going to get Italian build quality. So, panel gaps and rust should come as no surprise.

Pantera
Via: Bing

It was still nonetheless disappointing for those who bought the car expecting better value than the better-known rivals, in this case, cheaper was just cheap, not better value.

Related: Check Out This 1972 DeTomaso Pantera With A Blown Coyote Motor

5 Highly Collectible

Pantera
via gerlingracing.com

If you look at the value of the cars, they have seen something of a spike in recent years, especially cars from the 80s that were never destined for the US. These cars are now fetching six figures all day long.

Pantera
via gerlingracing.com

There was a good reason for this, by the time the 80s rolled around, the build quality and overheating issues were a thing of the past. De Tomaso was also able to get all the power they wanted out of the now-low-volume Pantera without the hindrance of emissions restrictions other brands had to adhere to.

4 Top Selling De Tomaso

Pantera
via RM Sotheby's

With over 7,000 cars produced, nothing else from the marque even comes close. It is somewhat ironic that Ford dropped them primarily because of low sales.

Pantera
Via fastlanecars.com

When they signed a contract to receive 6000 engines, they pretty much figured that would be it. At the other end of the Atlantic, the company supplying those engines had delusions of grandeur.

Related: 9 Greatest V8 Cars To Come From Italy (1 Everyone Regrets)

3 Produced For Over 20 Years

Pantera
Via partsopen.com

The Pantera had a remarkably long production run for a performance car, and at the end of the day it is pretty easy to see why.

Pantera
Via StangTV

It had an almost unintentionally timeless design, pretty much cut and paste from the best parts of the very best 60s supercars. After starting production in 1971 the last Pantera rolled off the assembly line in 1993!

2 Sourced Engines From Australia

351
Pinterest

After the Cleveland engines stopped actually being produced in Ohio all the way back in 1974, Ford still had to fulfill a contract De Tomaso had no intention of breaking.

351-Cleveland
Race Car Network

It would do so by tapping Ford of Australia, still making the Cleveland for their Falcon V8s right up until 1982.

1 Ultra-Rare Special Edition

De Tomaso
via De Tomaso UK Drivers Club

Made between 1990 and 1993, the Pantera 90 Si is by far the rarest version of the car, and also arguably the most unique and most beautiful.

90 Si
via WSupercars

Gandini did the partial redesign and a more modern fuel-injected 302 engine took the place of the venerable Cleveland. Only 41 were ever made, two of which suffered the crash testing death, and one stays put in the De Tomaso private museum, leaving only 38 out in the wild with untold value.

Next: 10 Of The Most Brilliant Car Designs By Marcello Gandini