The combination of Italian style with American muscle rarely goes wrong, as is clearly displayed by another solid find listed on the Hemmings Motor News. This De Tomaso Pantera is a relatively late 1986 model-year car that looks like it's in about as perfect condition as possible. The listing highlights many details that make this perhaps one of the best Panteras out there, as if anyone needed another reason to lust after that quintessential design.
One of Just 183
This particular Pantera wears GT5S badging, indicating that it features steel fender flares, as compared to the fiberglass units used on preceding GT5 models. The GT5S replaced its forebear for the 1985 model year. The car's selling dealer, Gateway Classics of Alpharetta, Georgia, claims the Pantera Owners Club of America has recorded fewer than 183 examples of the GT5S built for the 1986 model year.
Clean As A Whistle
The car presents well with little more than a few creases on the thickly padded seats to indicate its age. Perhaps that pristine sheen can be attributed to the car's single owner, who is claimed to have imported this car to the United States on July 27th of 1986. That particular exterior paint tone is Coral Red, while the interior is shod in black leather with matching steering wheel and shifter details.
Ford Under The Skin
Outside of the striking exterior, perhaps the highlight of the De Tomaso Pantera is the Ford-built 351ci Cleveland V8 mounted longitudinally behind the passenger compartment. A ZF five-speed manual gearbox routes power to the rear wheels through a Posi-Traction rear end. And those rear wheels are aluminum aftermarket pieces wearing Pirelli P Zero tires measuring 245 up front and a massive 335 out back.
Come And Get It
Hemmings has the car listed at $224,500 at the moment, which can be attributed to the single-owner history, low production figure, and also the car's startling low odometer reading of only 11,826. While it may be safe to assume that a test drive is out of the question without funds in hand, the car can certainly be ogled at by most mere mortals through the windows of Gateway Classics' Atlanta showroom.
Sources: Hemmings, Gateway Classics