Total Restoration
The De Tomaso Pantera was a mid-engined sports car penned in 1970 by Tom Tjaarda, a designer at the automotive design firm of Ghia in Turin, Italy. They were powered by high performance Ford V8 engines and sold in the US between 1971 and 1975 through the Ford Motor Company’s dealership network. Unfortunately, the cars suffered from extremely poor build quality, quickly earning a reputation for horrendous reliability issues. Elvis Presley famously shot his De Tomaso Pantera when it wouldn’t start! Probably the biggest problem with the Pantera was its fragile electrical architecture. Having said that, when running well, they were very high performance machines for the period.
Despite the poor build quality and legendary unreliability, more than 7,000 Panteras were sold. With the earliest models now very nearly fifty years old, they enjoy a loyal following in the classic car arena. Over the years, owners and specialist aftermarket firms have developed a host of much needed reliability upgrades, particularly with respect to the electrical systems. Panteras are commonly modified and customized by their owners, perhaps more than any other classic car. In some collector car circles, any departure from ‘originality’ is frowned upon. This is not the case in the Pantera community, where customization is the norm.
The subject of this restoration log is a 1971 De Tomaso Pantera owned by one of the most successful Ford dealerships in the South Western United States. I am proud that Team CJ has been selected to build this very special Pantera, a car that will eventually be displayed in FMC showrooms alongside Ford’s latest models, effectively turning the clock back 45 years.
The finished car will remain true to Tom Tjaarda’s original design. Aesthetically, other than a color change from yellow to black, it will look very much as it did when first built in 1971. Mechanically, however, everything will be significantly upgraded. It will feature a 640 HP 7L alloy engine courtesy of Ford Racing, as well as numerous performance and reliability upgrades. The result will be a stunning De Tomaso Pantera of virtually stock appearance, but one that is 100% reliable and among the fastest road legal Panteras in the world.
I was privileged to listen to the late Tom Tjaarda talking about his Pantera design a couple of years ago at the Concours Italiano event in Monterey, California. It is my sincere hope that our finished car is something of which the great man would have approved.
May 20, 2024
Suspension and brakes installed
May 20, 2024
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March 13, 2024
March 13, 2024
Front and rear suspension parts refinished and ready for assembly
May 20, 2024
March 13, 2024
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March 13, 2024
February 27, 2024
February 27, 2024
February 27, 2024
October 16, 2020
We are entering the finishing straight with this project!
February 27, 2024
October 16, 2020
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August 13, 2020
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July 17, 2020
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July 17, 2020
We have finished the rust repairs to the main structure and the monocoque will now be placed on a roll around jig so we can start hanging the outer panels. All of the bare metal has now been sealed with fresh epoxy primer.
July 17, 2020
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June 23, 2020
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April 11, 2020
Anthony has been making good progress with the Pantera body restoration.
June 23, 2020
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April 11, 2020
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April 11, 2020
I am delighted to report that we now have the Pantera body restoration back underway.
April 11, 2020
April 11, 2020
Darien has now rebuilt the Pantera ZF transaxle.
Fabricating and installing a new driver's floor pan and braces.
Old trunk floor has now been removed
LH trunk sidewall fabricated
Both trunk sidewalls will also be replaced
Fabricating the RH trunk sidewall
Welding the LH sidewall in place
Cutting away corroded forward section of frame
New left and right front support frames
New trunk floor is now ready to install
Rear firewall brace repaired
Fabricating a new panel for the outer B post
Fabricating a LH rear firewall panel
Installing a new driver's kick panel
New panel then spot welded in place
Oscar trial fitting the new panel
Reconstructing a lower A pillar, modifying floor pan support brackets to work with the dropped floor pans.
Lower portion of driver's side A pill is rotten
Fabricating a replacement trunk floor
Trunk floor is in very poor shape
Fabricating extension brackets which enable the
pan support brackets to work with new floors
New drop floor pans mean the support brackets
beneath need to be modified
Trial fitting and modifying the floor pans, and of course cutting away more rust.
Modified support bracket can now cradle the
dropped floor pan
Trial fitting the new bracket with the drop floor pan
in place
This home made firewall extension will be removed
Cutting away the front wings
Cutting away more rusty panels
Extensive previous patch repairs at the front right
of the chassis
Brackets are constructed of heavy gauge steel
Oscar removing the first of the brackets
The following sequence of photographs show how Oscar fabricated a pair of new engine support brackets. These heavy duty brackets cradle the engine and form an integral (and structural) part of the frame. These brackets are not available new and having been quoted almost $7,000 for a used set from one of the Pantera parts specialists, we decided to make our own.
Making card templates
The first bracket disassembled on the bench
Starting to fabricate the new brackets on the
Pullmax machine
Trial fitting the first of the new brackets
Harvesting hole supports from the old brackets
Transplanting the hole supports to the new bracket
New panels ready to be welded together
Comparing the old and the new
Fabricating and installing the first of many replacement panels.
Trial fitting replacement lower frame panel
Inner box section neutralized with acid
Inner surface of new outer panel is also sealed in
epoxy then coated with Wurth Body Wax
Sealed with epoxy then coated with Wurth Body Wax
Not a pretty site behind the LH wheel house
structure
We can now start the process of installing
the wheel house repair panel
Spot welding the new panel in place
Treating the inner box section with to a generous
Ospho acid bath
Trial fitting and modifying the first of the wheel house repair panels.
Replacement tubes are much deeper than
the originals
Trial fitting wheel house repair panel threw up
a fit issue
