Owning a De Tomaso Pantera]
Steve Butler
‘I bought my first Pantera in 1991, and since then I’ve owned 16 examples. Over the last 30 years I’ve restored all sorts of projects and still own two, one of which is the GT5 pictured that I co-own with Taz (see below). It’s unlikely that I’ll buy or restore any more of these cars because they’ve now all been done. Many of the really good Panteras have been exported to Australia, leaving fewer cars in the UK. In the Eighties and Nineties these cars were bought for some cheap fun; the cheapest I ever bought was a £12,000 Pantera L modified to GT5 spec. I used to take part in track days all the time, but nowadays the cars are too valuable – many are bought by collectors who rarely use them. But I still use mine – it’s far too much fun to leave it in the garage.’
Taz Zembashis
‘I was working with Steve Butler 25 years ago when he showed me his Pantera. I fell in love with it and bought one of my own. Since then I’ve owned another ten of them, including the GT5 pictured here, which Steve and I bought to restore between us.
‘The car was a total basket case, but as the last GT5 made it had to be saved. The original buyer really wanted a GT5 although the model had been superseded, so in 1989 this car was made specially for him. It took four years to restore and the bill came to £120,000. The car is worth around twice that now – but if it were to sell, it would almost certainly be as an investment or collector’s piece, which is a shame.
‘It’s easy to see why Pantera values have shot up in recent years. These cars are utterly usable yet very fast, they look amazing, yet running costs are very manageable.’
Michael Fisher
‘I bought my 1972 Pantera L five years ago. It had been stored for years in a barn in California and needed restoration. I looked at a few other cars before buying this one, but most of them had been modified – I wanted one as close to original as possible.
‘I’ve averaged about 1000 miles per year with nothing more than an annual oil and filter change required so far. This, with an MOT and check over, costs me about £200, although I did pay £340 for a new Holley carburettor to fix a running issue. I’d say that’s pretty good value for a car that gets attention like nothing else on the road.’
Michael has bought a Mangusta, so his Pantera is now for sale (see ad below) – email michaelfisher@linney.com