Auto Italia 2015 - De Tomaso Pantera and Longchamp

No Italian car show would be complete without the streetfighter of the italian car world - the De Tomaso Pantera. And there was a small but impressive lineup of these, and one lone Longchamp, at Auto Italia 2015.

The Pantera was built between 1973 and 1993, with a rear mounted 351 Ford Cleveland V8 engine. In the 1980's these incredible engines were all Australian made versions.

As there was a 20 year run of the Pantera, there were quite a few running changes and there are some comparison photos of the more obvious external changes on this page. Of interest are owner modifications such as better cooling and massive engine modifications.

Enjoy the photos.

Summernats 2012 - De Tomaso Panteras

The De Tomaso Pantera is an iconic Italian sports car, with a bit of Australian/American power. Built from 1971 to 1991 it was designed by an American for an Italian company, and used an American engine - the legendary Ford Cleveland 351 cube V8. When supplies of this engine were no longer available from the U.S. the engine was sourced from Ford Australia. 

This year two of these cars were seen at Summernats. One was used by a vendor as a static display, with a beautifully detailed engine bay open for all to admire, the other was driven by an entrant, and was seen cruising all weekend. It looked magnificent in deep gloss black. 

Oh yeah, Elvis was so infuriated by his Panteras failure to start that he shot it, three times. 

See also:

Summernats 2012 - GM cars that arent Holdens

Summernats 2012 - Victor Brays 57 Chev TUF 57 

Summernats 2012 - How to get banned from Summernats - NUKINFUTS Gemini burnout

Summernats 2012 - Holdens

Summernats 2011 - Mad Max MFP Big Boppa replica Falcon 

Summernats 2012 - Fords!
Summernats 2012 Supercruise
Summernats 2011