Pantera: an Italian-American exotic

If you do it right, owning a Pantera is a great thing. It's not like owning an equivalent vintage Ferrari or Porsche, where every aspect of the car must stay as close to "numbers matching" — matching the serial numbers of major components — as possible. Instead, a Pantera is a blank slate. Owner Jerry Brubaker added more than a few custom touches to this deep-green Pantera L. The "L" is for Lusso, a luxury edition that had signature black bumpers for the U.S. market and a 248-horsepower Cleveland engine. Check out the attention to detail in the hood vents and the carefully chromed engine bay, which features glass-plated throttle bodies.

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One needs look no further than this red and black example to see that the Pantera is a "look at me" car. It's painstakingly detailed, yet manages to come together in a distinctly muscle-car way, forgoing any Italian flavor in favor of big chrome, big wheels and an utterly wild wide-body kit. Custom fixed headlights reside amid the vast swaths of fiberglass. Note that the oversized, Lamborghini Jota-style intake scoops in the rear windows are functional, effectively ramming air into the engine.

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Here is a Pantera that you can take seriously. It's rare, it's flared, and best of all are the gorgeous Campagnolo wheels, which fit 285-width tires on the front. This one is in pristine condition, with gaudiness minimized; in fact, it's one of few that remain practically chrome-free. Dare we say that we dig it?

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This is a perfect example of a well-kept, U.S.-spec car; the big black bumpers and large side-marker lights are the giveaway here. Original wheels and an unmolested narrow-body design also make this car one of the cleanest in the bunch. It's a great addition to our list as a rare example of what these cars looked like on the showroom floor 40 years ago. This 1973 model would have had a lower-compression engine to meet U.S. emissions regulations, as well as more aggressive cam timing and a factory-equipped header to try to gain back some of that horsepower.

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This is a ridiculously clean example of what the first Pantera looked like. Note the chrome in place of the blacked-out plastics and rubber found on later Panteras. It's a subjective thing, but this may be the one instance of chrome on Panteras that we can get behind - that is, chrome from the factory. The rare, green paint is sublime, too. And it is in fantastic condition, considering the Pantera's minimalist rust-proofing. The 1971 model had a higher-compression engine — 11.1:1 versus 8.6:1 — which necessitated high-octane fuel. It was reportedly a better drive, however, netting around a 5.5-second zero-to-60 mph time.

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We couldn't find out the year of this car's production. We'd guess a 1974, but as you can see, the fields of fiberglass have rendered the vintage mostly irrelevant. On its deck sprouts a rear wing like that on a Lamborghini Countach — these found their way atop many a Pantera — and on its flanks is a wide-body setup rare to the U.S. What isn't chrome or polished in the engine bay is anodized, complete with purple accents, and the chrome-and-black, knock-off-style wheels are nothing if not unique.

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This one, though beat-up, is one of our favorites. It looks like a car would look if it were bought in 1973 and driven for 38 years, which it was. It has racked up around 200,000 miles — find another pseudo-exotic that can make that claim — which is easy to tell from the paint and the condition of the wheels. Even the exhaust remains unchromed. What discipline! What restraint!

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It seems only too appropriate that this 1972 Pantera is painted in what looks like Grabber Blue, a hue popularized on the Ford Mustang. It's in Concours condition, even with its chrome wheels coming in a hair under tacky, thanks to the distinct lack of other "personalizations" to the body. We like the black wing, and there's nothing like the smaller bumper of the earlier cars to sharpen the lines up a bit.

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OK, fine, the engine bay has more chrome bits than a Harley Davidson and a powerboat smashed into one. But the incredibly clean presentation of this car just can't be denied. The throttle bodies are perfect, the giant wheels fill the wheel wells just right, and the angular mirrors fit the era's styling flawlessly. Love it or hate it, the pinstriping in the two-tone paint is incredible, a perfect match for the car's giant fender flares. Spend this kind of money modifying and perfecting, and you could have had a Ferrari.

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You're looking at the epitome of what Pantera ownership encompasses. We're not talking trash, just making an observation. The car has a giant wing — chrome, of course — mounted beneath the rear bumper and checkered-flag graphics on its underside, and it's finished with a skull-and-crossbones sticker in the rear.

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James Tate cut his teeth in the business as a race team crew member before moving to the editorial side as Senior Editor of Sport Compact Car, and his work has appeared in Popular Mechanics, Automobile, Motor Trend and European Car. When not writing, Tate is usually fantasizing about a vintage Porsche 911.