Ford’s Sleeping Beasty

The Pantera was legendary for either killing famous owners or inciting them to violence—Elvis pumped a .38 caliber slug into his

by Rob Sass

By the late 1960s, Ford seemed to be concentrating more on holding grudges than building cars. Still smarting from its failure to acquire Ferrari, Ford grabbed a weak consolation prize when it acquired the DeTomaso organization, along with past-their-prime coachbuilders Ghia and Vignale.

At the time of its acquisition by Ford, Alejandro DeTomaso’s concern had yet to build a professionally executed, successful sports car. The 4-cylinder Vallelunga was largely stillborn, and the gorgeous Mangusta made a Lamborghini Miura look like a reasonable daily driver.

The Pantera was to be different—Ford’s own Ferrari sold through Lincoln-Mercury dealers. The same Lincoln-Mercury dealers, who at the time had a sizable percentage of their customer base born in the 19th century, were charged with selling a two-seat Italian sports car with a $10,000 price tag. Not an insubstantial sum in 1971, it would buy a new Porsche Cayman today.

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