De Tomaso Pantera
| De Tomaso | |
|---|---|
 De Tomaso Pantera (1972)
|
|
| Pantera | |
| Production period: | 1971-1993 |
| Class : | Sports car |
| Body versions : | Coupe |
| Engines: |
Petrol engines : 5.0-5.8 liters (224-257 kW) |
| Length: | 4255-4370 mm |
| Width: | 1803-1900 mm |
| Height: | 1092-1100 mm |
| Wheelbase : | 2515 mm |
| Empty weight : | 1382-1600 kg |
| Previous model | Mangusta |
| successor | Guarà |
.jpg)
De Tomaso Pantera is a sports car produced by the Italian car manufacturer De Tomaso .
concept
The Modena- based company Automobili De Tomaso, after initially designing racing cars for Formula 1, began manufacturing street sports cars in the mid-1960s. The 1963 Vallelunga, which was produced in 55 copies, was followed three years later with the Mangusta De Tomasos, the first sports car, which was equipped with a large US eight-cylinder Ford engine. 400 vehicles were built by him in four years. In search of a larger sales market, the company entered into a relationship with the Ford group in 1969 . In connection with a larger deal, which also included the takeover of the body manufacturer Ghia, which belongs to Alejandro de Tomaso , Ford was ready to sell a revised, everyday version of the Mangusta in large numbers on the US market. De Tomaso then further developed the Mangusta into the Pantera, which had an independent body and an improved chassis, but conceptually largely resembled its predecessor. Ford drove the Italian-built Pantera 1971 in the United States through the network of Lincoln - Mercury dealers.
Right from the start, the Pantera was to be sold in larger numbers than had ever been possible with the Mangusta. The Pantera got off to a good start, 2506 copies were built in 1972, 1604 in 1973, but then Ford-USA failed to support it due to poor workmanship and the energy crisis. After peaking in the early 1970s, the production rate of the Pantera dropped to less than 50 pieces per year by the end of the decade. A Pantera II model planned as a successor did not get beyond the prototype stage.
technology
The Pantera was in many ways an improved version of its predecessor, the Mangusta .
Gian Paolo Dallara developed the chassis of the Pantera, in which the weight was better distributed than in the Mangusta : 57% were on the rear axle. In addition, the interior was more spacious and there was a larger trunk . An air conditioning and power windows were standard since Mangusta all De-Tomaso vehicles.
Furthermore, instead of the 289/302 engines (4.7 / 4.9 l) of the Mangusta, the 351 Cleveland (5.7 l) with four-way carburettor - 4V, derived from racing, was installed. This engine stayed with the vehicles until the late 1980s. The last GT5-S Pantera were equipped with the Ford 351 Windsor imported from Australia . The gearbox was interlocked with the limited slip differential and mounted behind the rear axle .
The Pantera was available in a wide variety of power levels: in 1971 the Pantera was available in America with 243, 228 or 206 kW (330, 310 or 280 hp). In 1972 the choice had shrunk to 209 or 196 kW (285 or 266 hp ) due to new emissions regulations . In 1973 and 1974 only the 196 kW version (266 hp) was available.
In Europe, the Pantera L developed 221 kW (300 PS) in the 1970s, the GT3 had 243 kW (330 PS), the GTS (with wider fenders ) had 257 kW (350 PS), and the rare GT4 was 368 kW ( 500 hp). In the 1980s, as with the De Tomaso Deauville and the De Tomaso Longchamp, 198 kW (270 PS) were specified, there was also a GT5 and a GT5S. All versions had the Ford 5.8 liter V8 engine.
Various figures circulated about the true performance of the cars, also because of the indication of high gross SAE HP instead of lower DIN HP figures, Auto, Motor und Sport , for example, named 241 HP in 1972 for the normal Pantera and 285 HP in 1975 for the GTS.
body
Unlike many other sports cars of its time, the Pantera had a simple but stable self-supporting body . At the presentation in New York, Alejandro de Tomaso claimed that his friend, Milanese fashion designer Giulia Moselli , designed the body of the Pantera. In fact, both the design and the detailed elaboration were made by Tom Tjaarda , who was the head of design at Carrozzeria Ghia at the time. The wedge-shaped line was independent; it lacked the curves that were characteristic of Pininfarina's contemporary creations, for example. The interior was - not least with a view to the targeted American customers - generously dimensioned, but the vehicle suffered from insufficient noise insulation and heating of the interior.
The baseline was maintained for over twenty years of production. In the course of time there were various body attachments such as fender flares and spoilers. It was not until 1990 that a thoroughly revised second series appeared.
The first series
As usual, the de Tomaso plant in Modena did not completely build the vehicles itself. In Modena, only final work was carried out; the bodyshells were built in a number of independent workshops:
- The prototype was created at Ghia in 1969.
- The series vehicles were produced by Vignale from 1971 to 1974 , and fully until April 1971; 382 units are likely to have been created here. From May 1971 de Tomaso had its own production line in Modena, in which the bodies prepared at Vignale were completed by hand. The change between the Panteras produced by Vignale and the later models completed by de Tomaso can be seen on the outside of the door handles. The pure Vignale models have push-button door handles like those of the Mangusta predecessor; they are known as push-button panteras in the USA. The panteras completed at de Tomaso had rectangular door handles. After the alliance between de Tomaso and Ford broke up in 1974, de Tomaso could no longer fall back on Ford-owned Carrozzeria Vignale for other vehicles. In 1975 and 1976 de Tomaso therefore did not process or sell any newly manufactured Panteras, but rather processed a number of body shells that had been manufactured by Vignale until 1974 and had not yet been sold. These were the Panteras, internally designated as Post-Ford, with chassis numbers 7381 to 7505; there were 125 copies in total.
- From 1977 to 1978 de Tomaso had the Pantera bodies manufactured at Carrozzeria Maggiora in Turin. Significant manufacturing defects meant that de Tomaso quickly ended the connection with Maggiora.
- From 1979 all Pantera as well as the de Tomaso Longchamp and its sister model Maserati Kyalami were produced at Carrozzeria Embo in Turin.
Second series: De Tomaso Pantera GTSi (1990 to 1993)
Twenty years after its appearance, the Pantera has been thoroughly redesigned. In 1990 the new version of the Pantera was presented in Turin ; sales began immediately afterwards.
The chassis and brakes from Brembo were new designs; the exterior had been redesigned by Marcello Gandini , who had already designed classics such as the Lamborghini Miura and the Lamborghini Countach twenty years earlier and at about the same time developed the design for several Maserati , namely the Maserati Shamal or the new edition of the Maserati Ghibli . The car now looked rounder without losing its character. It had widened fenders, a tiny spoiler at the bottom of the rear window and a very large Ferrari F40- style wing at the rear of the body. The first models were built with sheet metal parts from the predecessor and shaped with panels made of GRP. After a while the body was made entirely of sheet metal again. The spoilers were partly made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic. Under the somewhat softer shape, there was still a V8 mid-engine, but now with a displacement of 5.0 liters a little smaller and taken from the current series of the Ford Mustang . Through skilful tuning and a precise fuel injection system, the engine achieved 224 kW (305 hp). A version with twin turbochargers and 331 kW (450 hp) was planned, but was never sold. He had bigger wheels (8.5 "× 17 inches ET64 / 12" × 17 inches ET26 rear metal alloy wheels) and larger brake discs, which had grown to the increased performance. The steering was still not power assisted. Four vehicles were delivered as Targa after conversion at Carrozzeria Pavesi , two of them with a Getrag six-speed gearbox, which was later used in the De Tomaso Guarà . Like its predecessors, the Pantera of the 90s was a snappy car with enough character to be an individualist. However, the legacy of the 1960s was clearly recognizable, because the car lacked many high-tech extras that had long been standard at Ferrari. De Tomaso didn't care and said: “We would like to make the Pantera for another 300 years. The market will decide ... ".
Production numbers
The Pantera is by far the most frequently produced model by de Tomaso. De Tomaso reported 9500 units produced. This number is likely to be exaggerated. Today there is talk of 7,260 panteras actually produced. The production figures are inherently very inconsistent. While de Tomaso achieved well four-digit annual production figures in the first few years, when sales of the Pantera in the USA were guaranteed by supply contracts with Ford , the output dropped dramatically from 1975 onwards. Three-digit annual emissions were only rarely achieved. In the 1980s, when Alejandro de Tomaso was completely busy with the restructuring of Maserati, fifty Panteras could be sold annually with difficulty; of the last model series, which was produced between 1990 and 1993, there were finally only a dozen per year. In detail:
- Between 1971 and 1974 Vignale produced a total of 6,380 panteras of the Ford specification (382 of them so-called pushbutton panteras).
- Between September 1974 and 1976 a further 125 Panteras with Vignale body were built from unused remaining stock.
- Between 1977 and 1978, 74 Panteras were built near Maggiora .
- Between 1979 and 1990 Embo built a total of 463 Panteras of the first series.
- From the last series, the so-called Pantera GTSi, a total of 41 copies were made by Embo between 1990 and 1993.
Variants of the Pantera
In the course of 22 years of production, various modifications of the Pantera were created. These included:
- In the 1970s, de Tomaso built the prototype for a three-seater Pantera. The third, rather narrow seat was installed set back and did not offer acceptable travel comfort. For reasons of space, among other things, the 3.0-liter six-cylinder engine from the German Ford subsidiary was installed here. This car called De Tomaso Pantera 290 remained a one-off.
- A total of 14 vehicles were delivered as Targa after conversion by Carozzeria Pavesi in Milan . In addition, Pavesi is said to have retrofitted several Pantera coupés to Targas.
- Regardless of the numerous factory options for customizing the Pantera, the car was the object of various tuners on the European and American markets who made changes to the body and drive technology. One of the most successful among the European tuners was Xaver Jehle in Schaan , Liechtenstein . In addition to extensive body modifications, Jehle also offered intensive engine tuning. With one or two turbochargers, outputs between 600 and 1,000 hp (441 and 735 kW) could be generated. On request, Jehle also delivered almost all conversions with a catalytic converter and thus achieved another technical advantage over the factory cars. Jehle's activities ended in 1992.
Technical data (1971)
Engine: V8
Bore × stroke: 101.6 × 88.9 mm
Displacement: 5769 cm³
Output: 243 kW (330 PS) SAE gross
Power transmission: five-speed manual transmission, rear-wheel drive
Chassis: none, self-supporting body
Wheel suspension: individually on double wishbones at the front and rear (an additional toe-in handlebar at the bottom), coil springs, telescopic shock absorbers, rack and pinion steering
Brakes: disc brakes
Body: sheet steel (coupé)
Top speed: 256 km / h
Test values
Test of the De Tomaso Pantera GTS (5763 cm³, 285 hp at 5000 rpm) in cars, motors and sports 18/1974:
- 0-60 km / h 3.1 s
- 0-80 km / h 4.4 s
- 0-100 km / h 6.7 s
- 0–120 km / h 8.8 s
- 0–140 km / h 11.8 s
- 0–160 km / h 15.3 s
- 0–180 km / h 20.3 s
- 0-200 km / h 26.2 s
- 1 km with a standing start: 26.4 s
- Top speed: 250.0 km / h
Technical data (1990)
Engine: V8
Bore × stroke: 101.6 × 76.2 mm
Displacement: 4942 cm³
Power: 224 kW (305 PS)
Power transmission: five-speed manual transmission, rear-wheel drive
Chassis: none, self-supporting body
Wheel suspension: individually on double wishbones at the front and rear (an additional toe-in handlebar at the bottom), coil springs, telescopic shock absorbers, rack and pinion steering
Brakes: disc brakes
Body: sheet steel (coupé)
Top speed: 270 km / h
Competitors
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Frank Oleski, Hartmut Lehbrink: Gericke's 100 Years of Sports Cars: 1905 - 2005; one hundred years of sports car history in one volume . 100 years of sports cars, 2004, ISBN 3-938118-00-8 ( google.de ).
- ↑ Manuel Bordini: De Tomaso visto da vicino: intervista a Tom Tjaarda. www.vitadistile.com, November 10, 2015, accessed February 8, 2017 .
- ↑ http://www.panteraparts.com/info/suspension.html ( Memento from November 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- Halwart Schrader, Georg Amtmann: Italian sports cars . 1st edition, 1999, ISBN 3-613-01988-4 .
Limousines: Deauville
Sports car: Bigua | Guarà | Longchamp | Mangusta | Pantera | Vallelunga | Zonda
Prototypes: Zonda | Mustela | Pantera II | Montella | Deauville (2011)