[ CHASING CARS ] Nigel Boothman’s market headliner
One of just 12 right-hand drive GT5 models looks superb value next to rivals
This 1984 Pantera GT5 should be right in the generational sweet spot that’s driving the classic supercar market. For the most part – with Lamborghini Miuras excepted – out go the pure curves and elegant sleekness of the Sixties and Seventies, and in come the body-kitted, bat-winged facelift models of the Eighties and Nineties. The obvious example is the rise of the Countach 25th Anniversary to match the prices achieved by the earliest LP400 Periscopio models, but you could track a similar trend with the Lotus Turbo Esprit catching up with the Esprit S1, or the last Porsche 928GTS models out-doing the first, spoiler-free 1978 cars.
The Pantera had a similarly long lifespan to the Countach – 1971-1992 versus 1974-1990 – but was always a cut-price option, and initially a mass-market one thanks to Ford’s purchase of the rights and distribution through the US dealer network. Here was a car that undercut the junior supercars – Merak, Urraco, 308GTB – yet trumped them all in power and performance and aspired to the image of their senior siblings: Bora, Countach, 365/512 Boxer. Apart from the Ford V8 in place of an exotic, multi-cam engine, it was a credible package.
The chassis was a Giampaolo Dallara design giving high levels of roadholding and driver satisfaction, while Tom Tjaarda’s pert styling was just as pretty as the all-Italian rivals. The ZF transaxle was the same as that of the Bora and the performance was there; 160mph was reachable, even if the higher Countach-esque numbers sometimes claimed for the GT5 – introduced in May 1980 – were wishful thinking. Still, with 0-60mph possible in 5.5 seconds, the GT5 could look the costlier Porsche 911 Turbo in the eye.
‘This Pantera GT5 should be in the generational sweet spot driving the classic supercar market’
It's now more aligned with the 911/930 Turbo in market value than it ever was with the senior mid-engined Italian rivals. The 930 is arguably another undervalued supercar (see Hot Tips, p16) and like the Pantera, its high production run of 21,589 is against it. De Tomaso only sold around 7300 Panteras, closer to 308GTB numbers than to the 589 of the Bora, or the fewerthan-2000 Boxer or Countach. Yet it’s the Seventies Pantera, especially those made before Ford bailed out in 1975, that make up the bulk of the numbers. The GRP ’arches of the GT5 were never a common sight and total production was fewer than 200.
Where does this leave values? Heading up, surely, but there was a later, run-out Pantera called the 90Si, with a re-style by Marcello Gandini to include a Ferrari F40-style rear wing. With only 41 built, it has the best claim to being the investible Pantera. But a fully restored rarity like this rhd GT5, in excellent Rosso Fuoco should have no trouble hitting its £150k-£180k estimate with Iconic Auctioneers at its Race Retro sale on 21 February. That would out-do Seventies Pantera prices. The next step is overtaking the Pantera’s predecessor, the delectable but evil-handling Mangusta, currently trading at £250k for the best.
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