Pantera in NOVA

[Sig]

The other night I was driving on Fairfax County Pkwy and saw what looked identical to a 80s Lambo COuntach. I got on the accelerator to catch up. The first thing I noticed was his license plate. 4RE KILR. What a great plate! Keep in mind that my NSX was in the shop getting some suspension stuff installed, so I was in a loaner INtegra. No fun for me with this guy.
Anyways the light ahead goes red and an audi TT (in stock trim, so I assume no mods)is in the right lane, the Pantera and I are in the left. When it turned green the tt and the Pantera took off fairly strong maybe 3/4. Then they both got on it hard. The pantera squated under the torque the Audi was revving high. Believe it or not the TT started to walk away at around 80 or so (est). Obviously, they pulled away from me handedly, but I could see everything well. In the end this particular pantera looks a lot faster than it is. I have never seen one before thought this may interest everyone.

[This message has been edited by Sig (edited 18 May 2001).]

 

[justin hall]

Originally posted by Sig:
....the end the pantera looks a lot faster than it is......

Andrie, wasn't that a Pantera up at thunderhill?

Maybe you should tell the stories....

 

[David]

I haven't looked it up, but I believe the Pantera did 0-60 in about seven seconds stock. A lot of the muscle cars that we remember from the 60's and 70's were fast for their time, but cars have gotten a lot better.

 

[Lud]

Panteras were produced for quite a while with various amounts of power. If you initially confused it for a Countach from the rear, it was probably a GT5 model which had the big wing mounted on the rear deck. Stock for stock a Pantera GT5 would dust an Audi TT, all else being equal.

 

[Schatten]

I believe they were only produced (at least to be imported to the US) for four years, back in the early 70's. still a great looking car - Italian design, powered by a Ford 351 Cleveland.

A friend of mine here in Austin has one, he swapped it with a 351 Windsor because of the various aftermarket stuff you can do with the heads, intake, etc. at least, much more so than the 351C.

Performance? Not sure about that, but if you looked at the entries on the Silver State Classic, I'm sure you'll see quite a few more entries of the Panteras on there because of their design.

Its a great car, reliable? Well, at least until the transaxle fails on you. But competing against a TT - its two different cars, and you can easily squeeze A LOT of HP out of the Pantera with a Ford engine (lots o' bang for the buck - but I didnt' say it wasn't efficient by any means). But we're also talking about 30 years difference in technology, design and horsepower trends more than anything else.

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2001 S2000
http://www.buymeaferrari.com

 

[Schatten]

kinda bugged me for a while 'panteras look like a coutach from the rear', but after looking into it, I believe it does, but once you see the stance, hear the sound, you know which car you are dealing with. both influenced out of Italian design, but I no nothing of the Pantera history, only Lamborghini's - which was basically a car company formed to create 'luxury' Ferrari-type cars - all "out of spite" for Enzo. and to think S.Honda started his company because he was influenced by Enzo's passion. ahh, Ferrari is in everyone's blood. =D

anyways, a few pics I found to show the comparisons from the rear. I hope you don't get to see this view on the road *chuckles* - but beware whats in the motor - you might just see this view on the road!


pantera from rear
shot 1

shot 2

countach from rear

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2001 S2000 http://www.buymeaferrari.com

[This message has been edited by Schatten (edited 19 May 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Schatten (edited 19 May 2001).]

 

[Lud]

Panteras were only imported by Ford for 4 years but they were produced for almost 25 years.

The big delta wing on the rear deck is from the GT5 model I mentioned which is the only model likely to be confused with a Contach from the rear.

 

[Edo]

So all you need on a Pantera to confuse it with a Countach is a big rear wing???
Hmmmm..
So if I put one of those Dinner table/Work bench type wings on my Civic...
MAYBE people would think it was an Exotic car like the Countach??
--Excerpt from "Musings of a Riceboy"--

 

[David]

Most Panteras are pretty slow. The GT5s were reasonably fast, but that only confuses the issue. Only a few GT5s were ever imported, but a LOT of people stuck the GT5 body work on older cars to 'update' them.

 

[1972DeTomaso]

I own a 1972 DeTomaso...

Gotta tell ya....

fun as hell. The question most asked is not what kind of Lanborghini is that? But, who makes that kit car?

And yes, it is very fast.

Crash Test Dumba$$
#3988 1972 Pre L

 

[Mike Dailey]

If you would like to really learn more about Panteras stop by http://www.PanteraPlace.com Most Panteras today are 0 to 60 in less than 4.5 seconds and a very fast up to 160 or faster. 160 mph is only 6200 in 5th gear. Not many have the old stock engines that only did 0 to 60 in 5.5 seconds in 1971. The land speed record for a Pantera is 202.875 mph and the same Pantera did the 1/4 mile in 10.4 seconds. They can stop fast and can turn too, pulling big Gs!

[This message has been edited by Mike Dailey (edited 04 April 2002).]