De Tomaso Pantera GT4, GT5 and GT5S (1984 – 1991) Review

The De Tomaso Pantera lived on a lot longer than any of its detractors - and fans - would have expected after the Ford deal imploded in the early 1970s. De Tomaso simply didn’t give up on the Pantera, and that was probably down to the company's relative strength across its own range, and through the acquisition of both Maserati and Innocenti.

The firm toughened up the Pantera in 1985, offered a 300bhp entry model, and rejigged the Tom Tjaarda styling for a new GT5 model, which wore the flared arches and wider wheels wearing Pirelli P7s, first used in the special GT4 from 1972. These modifications gave the GT5 and later GT5S near-Countach levels of road presence.

The days of big sales were gone by the mid-1980s, and the opposition was just too good, but somehow the Pantera survived like this into the 1990s by receiving a number of facelifts along the way. Its survival and subsequent appreciation are a credit to the original design, and testament to the effectiveness of an Italian supercar powered by Detroit muscle.