In a number of Barn Finds stories, I have recommended the De Tomaso Pantera as a sensible purchase for those who want to have something that combines nasty fast looks, exotic lines, and simple reliability. Well, let’s admit that “sensible” is a bit of a leap when we’re talking about a car that runs the range of cost starting well above the high threshold that many of us use as the separation line between normal-people money and rich people money. The same difference might be noticed in the dichotomy between these claims: “I can afford that GTO” (for $40Gs) and “I have supercar money” (into the hundreds of thousands). Anyway, if you’re keen on a supercar and can come up with some major scratch, the 1971 Pantera shown here on ebay is one to consider. TJ is our tipster—thank you!—and the car is sitting in Dallas if you want it. There’s no bidding involved. The ad simply says that you should make an offer. So what kind of number would be in your comfort zone?
This is not just any Pantera. It’s an early one, a model nicknamed the “Push Button” Pantera. These were manufactured—or, better word, “crafted”—at Vignale Coachworks in Turin. The rest of the run of Panteras was made at the DeTomaso factory in Modena. You can distinguish the Push Button by looking at the door handles, which will be a round, chrome, push button. Of the Pantera’s run of approximately 7200 cars, under 400 were PB’s, so something like five percent. That might be a bit of a geek-out stat, but it’s something that will make this car special at marque shows.
But this one is not going anywhere without some effort. Look at the front end. The hood (and trunk for that matter) are literally rusted off this car, something I’ve never seen before. The seller blames poor cover during storage, but who keeps a car like this outside for decades? Did the owner not have any idea of the value of it? Or to say it the opposite way, did that former steward of the car not realize that damage to this unit was going to cost a lot more than damage to, say, a 1966 Mustang? Anyway, you’ll be on the hook to fix the rust and to give the rest of the sheet metal, bottom side as well as top, lots of love, and to do pretty much everything else, including remaking the interior and mechanicals, for which no claims of fitness at all are made. Good thing the engine is a common Ford 351-CID.
The seller gives some advice at one point, indicating that he thinks the car could be nicely on the road for the price of another recent, similar, project. That was $165. So do the math backwards. Could you restore the Pantera for $100K? Then your offer should be $65,000. Is that worth taking a chance on?
I’ve said before, looking at a derelict Pantera is like looking at your favorite TV actress today,,,how can that turn into this? I mean, you just didn’t see these at the Pig N’ Whistle, like the actress,,unattainable, by most youthful standards. I never thought I’d ever see a “parts car” Pantera.
The seller states that it could be bought and restored for the amount that one recently sold for. If that was so why isn’t he taking it on. The reality is that you are hoping to break even at the best and in this market that’s a huge risk, investing almost $200k on the “hope” of breaking even isn’t much of plan. Hopium is a dangerous drug.
“Hopium”, that was great! This site is inundated with that.
If the seller can truly live up to their name “classics-rescue”, then they should have the ability and money to restore this one. However, their definition of rescue might just be removing the worn out tarp and backing up a flatbed.
Restore it: Nope. Parts car: Maybe but limited on what parts could be saved. I’d give this one a hard pass.
De Tomaso Patina
Rustina
De Toomessy Crustina.
It pushes my buttons alright. No way. This is going to be a money pit for all but the well heeled.
This car needs a total nut and bolt teardown to do it properly. That labor plus new interior, go through all of the drivetrain and mechanicals, electrical, replacement body parts and a top tier paint job that such a car demands, you’re easily at $150k and probably more not counting the purchase price, wherever that falls. Maybe for the guy that wants a 10 year garage project and can spread out the costs over time. Otherwise, buy a nice one and come out ahead. Absolutely criminal that anyone would leave a car like this to the elements!
Even if they gave it to you it would still be too much.
Oh man. That’s just sad. The seller is asking $79,000. $7,900 might be too much. It does have the unique early wheels. It looks like a decent GTV in the background.
Old Cars Price Guide shows a 1971 Pantera that’s between #6 and #5 condition a price range of $4,200 to $12,600.
That’s a loooong way from $79,000.
The Hagerty (inflated auctions) price guide has a #3 at 69k.
Unless you can do the body and mechanical yourself, this is too much ask for what’s left of what once was a great car. There’s a sad story that involves an “I’m gonna” that never happened. I’ll take that silver gray E Type in the back.
If i remember right this has been for sale for a long time, and we all can see why.
What a shame to let this kind of sports car to get this way and then ask a ton of money as a restoration. It does have a common 351 Ford engine in it. Good luck finding other parts for it such as brakes, suspension fuel system, interior and everything else.
Kinda rough…
It will buff out…………..
It pushes NO buttons for me. 15k car at the most. Junk.
The only button it pushes for me is the one on the top of the toilet tank, so I can flush this turd down the dumper, LOL! Parts car, for sure. You could restore it, if you are a charter member of the “More Money Than Brains” club, but you will never, I repeat never get your money back!
Stumbled into a Ford dealer in the ‘70’s. Brand new Pantera had a $10,000 sticker price!
For our younger readers, to put that into perspective, a fully loaded T-Bird, the top-of-the line Ford at the time, went out the door for about $5,000, about half of what a Pantera cost! The Lincoln Mark IV was about $5500, IIRC. This was when Ford’s two (2) cheapest cars, the Maverick and the Pinto had a base list price of just $1995, LOL! Oh, and BTW, regular gas was just $0.259 a gallon, and Premium gas, a.k.a. “Hi Test”, sold for between $0.309 and $0.359 a gallon (pre OPEC Oil Embargo).
The cheapest new car in America these days lists for about $20k, or so, so prices have gone up by about a factor of ten since then, just due to inflation!
prices up not all to inflation since 1971, todays cars all have AC ps pb disc brakes as standard & are loaded with complex fuel systems, electronic ignition, computer controls, expensive stereos, emission equipment, crash features, etc etc
And cars last a lot longer, so you’re buying a car that should reasonably offer 10+ years and 200K miles of trouble free service, with basic maintenance.
That Pinto in 1971 was lucky to last 5 years and 20K without needing something major done to it, not to mention major rust concerns.
We call those “government” options.
To PRA4SNW: Most cars back in 71 will mechanically last over 200k if maintained properly, except pinto’s & Vega’s. I was a mechanic in the 70’s & noticed most people didn’t take care of their cars then, maybe because cars didn’t cost as much percentage wise, biting into their earnings, say 7k for 2 cars but earnings 20k for my wife & I back then. Today most couples I know spent 100k on both their cars but earn 80k combined. I noticed people today take much better care of their cars, look at all the quick lube places today doing a large volume. Here in the northeast, they all rusted out in 10 years but still ran well if maintained properly. I welded rear quarters & floors on my Chevy’s & Oldsmobile’s & drove them all over 200k. I still have my 1967 Nova & wife’s 75 Cutlass, both over 200k & Cutlass has original engine & trans. I street-raced my Nova & blew the trans & sold the 327 which still ran well, so I could put in a 1971 LT-1 my friend had from a wrecked Camaro. One more thing: most of my friends own pickup trucks & they seem to rust out just as fast today as back then!
Ten thousand 1971 dollars is eighty thousand 2026 (so far) dollars. Still a pretty good price, for a mid-engined V8 “super”car.
And that’s close to what a low option C8 Corvette costs and they are pretty much what this was, a exotic mid engine chassis with a pushrod V8.
Give it to the Ring Brothers to ruin! They couldn’t hurt this one! Oh wait, they’ve already ruined a good one!
The Ring Brothers’ ADRNLN Pantera is a masterpiece.
What in the world is wrong with throwing the hailmary? Na just kidding 79K is about 10 times too much for this poor car. Not that some very capable person couldn’t repair it in their own garage. It’s doable but they will be on this project quite a while. The owner must have watered it and covered it hoping it would repair or multiply, these cars are prone to rust and yeah looks rough, but squint through one eye. These are beautiful cars! Italian metal and American power.
like to get the drivetrain ……
The ZF transaxle is a bit rare I guess, but the engine is just a 351 Cleveland, isn’t it? I recall the ZF being desirable for various kit builds, back in the day, but I think the Porsche G50 is the goto now.
True. The ZF transaxle has appeared in several super cars, including this Pantera, but more modern versions under different part numbers are also available. Wikipedia has a complete list of applications, for various types of ZF manual and automatic transmissions (see link below).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ZF_transmissions#Manual_transmissions
The 351C in the Pantera has a wide variety of performance upgrade parts available, but if you’re not concerned about numbers-matching originality, then a modular Coyote engine would be a possible upgrade path.
Just sad! Another head scratcher, how did this happen. The seller is aware of the cost of restoration and is just trying to dump the car off.
Oh, I’m sure you can hop on over to your local junk yard and get a pristine hood for that fairly cheap. If not, how hard could it be to repair that in your garage after supper some night?
Depends on how early supper is served, doesn’t it?