Former racing driver Alejandro de Tomaso owned some of the most famous names in Italian automotive engineering, including Maserati, Innocenti, Benelli, Moto Guzzi, Vignale and Ghia. Cars under his own name raced in Formula One in the early 1960s and he showed a number of prototype road cars before putting one, the Vallelunga, into limited production in 1965. De Tomaso hoped that the Vallelunga would be taken over by a major manufacturer, but when that did not happen he re-engineered the chassis and dropped in a 4.7 litre Ford V8 which delivered its 306bhp through a ZF five speed gearbox.
Meanwhile Giotto Bizzarrini had designed a mid-engined car for which Giugiaro had created a body; this project was stillborn but de Tomaso took over the body shape and so created the Mangusta. Its combination of style, a proven and reliable engine and four-wheel disc brakes meant that De Tomaso soon had a full order book. However, with almost 70 per cent of the weight over the rear wheels, roadholding was not always as predictable as it might have been, particularly in the wet.
The Pantera that succeeded the Mangusta in 1971 suffered no such handling quirks, thanks to a much more equally balanced weight distribution. Under the low, sleek and fine-edged coupe coachwork was a pressed steel platform chassis, while the all round double wishbone coil spring-over-damper suspension and large Anti-roll bars front and rear provided fine roadholding and handling. Power this time came from Ford’s Cleveland 5.7 litre V8 which was also mated to a ZF five speed transaxle.
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