DeTomaso Pantera power: why this Italian-American icon is surging in value after setting a new auction record
Published on Nov 13, 2025 at 9:15 AM | By Alessandro Renesis
The DeTomaso Pantera is perhaps the best example of an Italian-American car done right.
Low-slung wedge Italian flair with a snarling American heart.
A car that once sold for the price of a loaded Mustang yet was capable of embarrassing Ferraris on the boulevard.
That’s the De Tomaso Pantera.
Born in 1971 from a Modena skunkworks and Dearborn muscle, it spent decades as the ‘affordable exotic’ nobody quite trusted.
Today, the same car that Elvis Presley famously shot in a fit of rage is crossing auction blocks for quarter-million-dollar sums and inspiring carbon-fiber restomods that look like they teleported from 2035.
The underdog has become the alpha.
Here’s why the Pantera is roaring louder than ever.
Born from two worlds – the Italian-American collaboration
Argentinian racer-turned-mogul Alejandro de Tomaso had a dream.
He wanted to build a mid-engine GT that could outrun Maranello while costing half as much.
In 1969 he shook hands with Lee Iacocca at Ford, who needed a halo car for Lincoln-Mercury showrooms.
This was a collaboration made in Heaven.
Ghia (freshly bought by de Tomaso) penned the steel monocoque while Tom Tjaarda drew the knife-edge lines.
Elsewhere, Dallara engineered the chassis and Ford shipped boatloads of 351 Cleveland V8s across the Atlantic.
The result was a cultural mash-up no single country could have birthed.
Performance and presence – the Pantera on the road
Drop into the zinc-plated cockpit, fire the side-pipes, and 330 horsepower detonates behind your ears.
Zero-to-60 arrives in 5.5 seconds, which was Daytona territory at the time, while the ZF five-speed crashes through gates like a rally box.
More to the point it was raw, which is what people wanted, and still want.
Design that defined an era
Tjaarda’s wedge was pure 1971.
It had pop-up lamps, NACA ducts, and hips wide enough to park a Vespa on.
The proportions – long nose, cab-forward greenhouse, scalloped doors – still photograph like concept art.
Park one beside a Countach and the Pantera looks restrained.
Park it next to a Corvette and it looks extraterrestrial.
Those details – chrome Campagnolo magnesium wheels, the subtle Argentinian “T” badge – are catnip for concours judges and Instagram algorithms alike.
Why collectors can’t get enough – the market comeback
The numbers don’t lie.
In 2020, a clean early Pantera traded for $80k.
Today the average selling price for a Pantera sits at $117,000, with GT5-S examples clearing $246,400 at Monterey 2025.
The one available at auction on SBX Cars sold $363,000, which is a record for a Pantera.
Why now? There a few reasons.
First, the Pantera is rare, and it took people some time to realize that, or remember that.
Only 7,260 were built, which means this is rarer than a Ferrari 250 GTO.
Ford running gear means parts are Amazon-Prime cheap, and that means you can buy it and service it without necessarily breaking the bank.
Then there’s the 70s wedge nostalgia element, and the fact it’s at least in part Italian helps.
Restomod renaissance – Pantera for a new generation
The canvas is irresistible.
Ringbrothers’ ADRNLN – a 600 hp LS3 widebody currently bidding around $200,000 on SBX Cars – proves the formula: keep the silhouette, delete the rust, add carbon and coil-overs.
Shops from Sweden to Wisconsin now swap Coyote 5.0s, air-ride, and 13-inch Wilwoods while preserving the soul.
One owner even shoehorned a twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 for 440 hp and Prius-beating efficiency.
The Pantera is no longer frozen in 1974; it’s a rolling test bed for whatever madness the aftermarket dreams up next.
From underdog to unicorn
Fifty-four years after its New York Auto Show debut, the De Tomaso Pantera has completed the classic-car hero’s journey: laughed at, shot at, forgotten, then reborn as a six-figure icon.
It’s the only supercar you can wrench on in your driveway, scare a 911 GT3 on a back road, and still park at the golf club without hiring an armed guard.
Whether you chase an untouched Lusso or commission a 700 hp restomod, the Pantera delivers the rarest commodity in motoring: pure, unfiltered joy.
And the value is going up, as confirmed by the astonishing new record set by the one that just sold on SBX for $363,000.
Head to SBX Cars to keep an eye on upcoming DeTomaso auctions.
