Taming An Italian Panther

            There are a lot of big cats in the automobile world. Some people show their mettle by becoming lion tamers. Chip Hascher, though, has tamed a different cat: a panther. In fact, he’s tamed an Italian Panther.

            According to legend, Henry Ford wanted desperately to buy the classic Italian sports car company, Ferrari. Enzo Ferrari, fearing that the racing heritage of his cars would be compromised, refused. So to get even, Ford unleashed a Panther.

            Ford went to the heart of Italy’s sports car industry in Medana and made a deal with noted manufacturer DeTomaso to create a car for import into the USA. The plan was to sell the Pantera in the USA and hopefully lure away some of the people who would be tempted to buy a Ferrari.

            The plan went into effect in 1971 as Ford began selling the Pantera in, of all dealerships, Lincoln Mercury. But due to sagging sales along with the gas crisis and new efficiency laws and regulations, Ford pulled out of the deal after 1973.

            Slightly more than a thousand Panteras arrived in 1971 but many were riddled with problems. 1972 saw a number of changes which brought the Pantera up to true sports car ranking. One of the major chances involved the engine as a 351 cubic inch 4 Bolt Main Cleveland engine was installed.

            Chip is one of those lucky people who currently own one of the 1972 Panteras. He bought his seven years ago. “They were the hot car when I got my license,” he said. And indeed, they were not only hot but very eye catching.

            Not by design but rather by complete coincidence, Chip’s Pantera is unique to him. “It was built the month and year that I got my license,” he said.

            When he decided that he wanted to buy a car he went looking for a Pantera and found one in Las Vegas. The car has since been completely restored.

            “Parts are pretty easy to find,” he said. “There are four or five places on the west coast where parts are available.”

            In addition, Chip explained that when DeTomaso went into liquidation in 2004, Italian law prohibited them from completely shutting down right away. And even though they had stopped making the Pantera for the U.S. market in 1975 when Ford pulled out of the agreement, the car was still made for Europe through the early 1990s. Plus, they continued to make parts through the liquidation process. (The company was bought in 2009 and is producing a limited number of sports cars, limousines and crossovers for the European market.)

            This has helped bring the cost of some parts down, Chip explained. He said at one point he went looking for front ball joints and found them for $450 each. “Now you can get all four complete with bushing for $300,” he added.

            Initially the car cost around $10,000 which was considerably cheaper than the Ferraris of the day.  Your $10,000 got you a standard Pantera.

            “There were no options,” said Chip. “It came with a five speed transmission, air conditioning and power windows.” He added that there was a plate in the dash where the dealer could install a radio.

            Still, the “bang for the buck” that came with the Pantera didn’t stop Ford from pulling the plug in 1975. Ford backed out of the agreement due to underachieving sales figures and new legislation that would have greatly hampered the performance of future Panteras. The low sales figures were not the fault of the car. Ford was selling this amazing brilliant sports car through Lincoln Mercury dealers.

            “Not the kind of place you would normally be shopping for a sports car,” said Chip. “People would go in looking for a Lincoln and see this sitting in the showroom. They didn’t know what to think.”

            Nothing against the quality of a Lincoln but the Pantera didn’t exactly run in the same category as a Continental. It ran in the fast lane.

            De Tomaso claimed a top speed of 156 miles per hour but Chip said he hasn’t had the car quite that fast.  “You can really push it coming out of third gear at 105 with two gears left,” he said, adding that he has topped it out over 120 before.

            The original claim by De Tomaso was that the Cleveland 351 generated 330 horse power, Chip figures that in the right situations he’s probably getting closer to 375. With a curb weight of about 2800 pounds, that’s a lot of engine pushing a light car. Plus, with the engine sitting up behind the driver the weight distribution is about as close to 50-50 as possible.

            All of these things add up to one thing for Chip: he likes to drive the car.

            “I drive it any chance I can. Usually I can drive it 10 months out of the year,” he said. “This year I could have driven it every month but I missed out by one day in January.”

            Why wouldn’t you want to tame this panther any chance you get.