While modern cars equipped with substantial aftermarket parts and custom body bits are often deemed feature-worthy, few share company with this particular one-off creation. In fact, forget what you thought you knew about custom cars, because this Pantera redefines the segment. Every panel, bolt, nut and clip is replaced or fabricated, which makes this beauty more rolling artwork than car.
“”I’ve been fascinated with cars since I was in diapers and was raised in a household with classic cars, since my Dad was actually a partial owner of a restoration shop,”” owner, Marc Campolieto said. “”During the early 80s the shop started doing restoration work with that’s and Panteras where I seriously fell deeply in love withOf course we don’t have to let you know how wicked the De Tomaso Pantera is, because as you know, it was actually designed by American designer Tom Tjaarda and built in Italy at the De Tomaso factory. The steel monocoque design was ahead of its time back in 1971, as was the well-appointed interior with such luxuries as power windows and a cigarette lighter.
Was the pushrod American V8 that sat behind the driver, though what wasn’t quite so cutting edge. Oh yes, for those unaware, the Pantera is really a mid-engine it’s and supercar got plenty of grunt thanks to a 5.8L Ford V8 under the bonnet good for 400hp. The 3100 lb rockets were harnessed by a ZF transaxle, and other magazines recorded -60 times of just 5.5sec with a top speed of 160mph. Don’t forget, this is 40 years ago!
After poor reliability and small sales numbers, Ford discontinued its sales partnership in 1975, though early Panteras were sold at Ford dealers. After Ford dropped the Pantera from showrooms, only a handful of shops imported grey market examples, which meant US production numbers were minimal at best. The last Pantera rolled off the De Tomaso assembly line in 1991, ending the era of a unique supercar using the chassis of any European sports vehicle and the heart of an American hot rod.
I didn’t want just any example, I was looking for a project having a colorful history,”” Campolieto said, even though “”I’ve owned many nice European cars and currently own an Aston Martin Vantage and a modified Shelby Mustang GT500, however the desire for any Pantera never died.a tip from a fellow Pantera enthusiast at PI Motorsports (a renowned Pantera shop in Orange, CA) that Pantera International (another shop dedicated to these rare cars) had recently acquired a former racecar. The vehicle had been baking in the Las Vegas desert for years and was begging being rescued.
“”The guys at Pantera International bought it coming from a gentleman who acquired the vehicle when his father passed away,”” he explained. “”It had been a racecar in the late 70s and also at one point it had a built 351 Cleveland motor, Weber carburetors and Group 4 wide fenders – it was eventually put out to pasture in Vegas where it sat for many years.””
Just days before Pantera International was to start using the weathered ex-racer as a parts car, Campolieto rescued it with a deposit. A few weeks later he arrived with an empty trailer and started what can become one of the more intense restorations we’ve ever seen.
1972 de tomaso pantera detail
1972 de tomaso pantera battery
1972 de tomaso pantera grill
“”It absolutely was in rough condition from sitting in the desert for so many years and it lacked an transmission and engine, but as they say in the hot-rod industry, it was straight and it was all there – including the remains of your dead bird,”” he laughed.
Even though road ahead was long, Campolieto set out down the lonely path to renovation with countless nights in the garage and hundreds of hours in labor. The car was painstakingly stripped down to a bare core and then methodically sandblasted to get rid of blemishes and bits of rust.
Since Panteras are known to have rust problems, the former racer received a lot of attention such as POR15 sealant. This amazing stuff actually seals in rust and prevents it from spreading. We’re not just speaking about sealing the fender wells either, we’re talking the undercarriage, firewall, interior and anythingTalking about paint and powdercoat, the firewall and engine bay were sealed, smoothed and painted in PPG Gloss Black to get a show-car touch. As for the powdercoat, every suspension piece was coated with all the shiny stuff before receiving plenty of top-shelf parts like Polygraphite bushings-but more on that later.
After the bare shell was prepped and sealed, it received a good amount of chassis stiffening braces on all corners.
“”The Pantera might have a monocoque construction, but when you run them hard with a powerful motor they are able to flex a lot, so modern chassis stiffening pieces do wonders to brace them up,”” Campolieto explained.
By now it was time to slowly increase the amount of pieces into the bare shell and here is where the plot further thickened.
“”I wanted the very best suspension available so I added custom billet coilover adapters with Koni shocks, custom spring rates and I even had the rear axle bearings converted to oversized Timken units since it’s a known weakness around theit was the beginning of a lot more custom work that also included new bearings and races for all suspension pieces together with a PI Motorsports steering rack upgrade, rebuilt factory brake calipers, CNC machined rotors and stainless brake lines.
Since the motor that was being built for the project was slated to become rather rowdy, a hefty cooling system was needed. Similar to most mid-engined sports cars, the Pantera carries its radiator in the nose. While this setup places the radiator in the way of airflow, in addition, it necessitates painfully long coolant hoses to circulate the coolant between the front mounted radiator and the mid-mounted motor. A sizable Fluidyne lay-down aluminum radiator with twin Spal electric puller fans from Pantera International as well as polished stainless lines and silicone hoses, a thermostatically controlled electric water pump and exterior body mods to assist with airflow were included with keep the beast underneath cool.
1972 de tomaso pantera rear engine
1972 de tomaso pantera rear left blur
1972 de tomaso pantera rear left far
Factory Pantera wiring is yet another weak point on the vintage supercars so Campolieto set out with the same attention-to-detail when rewiring the entire car – yes, the entire car.
“”I re-did the entire wiring system starting with a master fuse to stop damage to the harness and circuit board plus a Pantera Electronics blade fuse block kit with LED fuse loss indicator and a lot of relays for theRe-engineering the wiring system, even with an older car is no small feat, however it allowed him to run such modern amenities like the Pantera Electronics HID headlights along with the aforementioned electronic cooling system modifications.
Now past the aim of no return, he had to make the big push to view the car to fruition. It was definitely worth it since I finally built the vehicle of my dreams,”” Campolieto said, though “”It was a huge undertaking that took a few years and nearly $130,000.
Like the impeccable underpinnings, the source of motivation is surely an utter part of artwork, albeit a powerful one.
“”I had the Windsor Ford shortblock bored and stroked to 408 cubic inches (that’s almost 6.7L), full of forged internals like Keith Black pistons, a TrickFlow cam, RHS heads ported by MadCap Racing Engines and topped with a ported Victor Jr intake manifold and a Holley 750 carburetor,”” he explained.
When fired by the MSD ignition and hooked for the custom PI Motorsports headers and exhaust system the large beast is good for 500 and 587hp lb-ft on the crank. If that’s insufficient, he’s also plumbed a 125hp shot of nitrous that’s fed by two giant bottles mounted within the engine compartment.dealt with with a Milodon 7-quart baffled oil pan while the fueling system is made up of a refurbished tank, plenty of Aeromotive components and stainless braided lines.
With the built bullet ready for blastoff, the last two loose ends were the inside and exterior bodywork. Outside, the car received a show-car treatment that started well beyond the flawless paint.
“”The whole body was assembled with stainless steel bolts and washers, the panels were gapped to perfection and every body piece was smoothed for a mirror-like finish – the work underneath is just as significant as the paint,”” Campolieto explained.
The concours quality Tangelo Pearl paint with a gloss black stripe was laid over steel Group 4 fenders that swallow the ultra rare and ultra wide 17×10″” front and 17×13″” rear Boyd Coddington wheels. On the deck lid you’ll find a custom LED third brake light and the patented “”sugar scoop”” synonymous with the De Tomaso Pantera. Another touch of class came in the form of ram-air ducts that took the place of the rear quarter glass, oh yeah, they’re functional too.
Life on the inside of this rocket is additionally out of this world thanks to a lot of A-grade craftsmanship, especially the leather wrapped and contrast stitched dash and console reworked by Auto Weave. Of course only a keen eye would catch such details as Corvette C4 seats, the factory gauges painstakingly rebuilt by Redline and filled up with VDO internals along with the Ford Taurus window motor conversion and the array of new-old-stock accessories, switches and buttonsthe inside to be as classic as it was modern and tidy, so I mixed modern touches just like the dash and console treatment with the reworked original gauges and the other period-correct pieces,”” Campolieto said.
After a multi-year restoration with countless hours invested and a serious pile of money spent, we are able to safely state that no bolt, nut, clip or the like went untouched during the flawless rebuild. The proof is within the pudding because not only was it perfectly executed, however it was also tastefully done, there’s no way around it. Do you have taken your car or truck down to a shell only to modify each piece that lands back on it? Campolieto has.