Vehicle Description
Evolve Motors is proud to present our stunning 1973 De Tomaso Pantera L for sale. This Pantera is an original California BLUE PLATE car and is true NUMBERS MATCHING. The car was built in July of 1973 and sold through Peyton Lincoln Mercury in Harbor City, California. It spent its entire life on the west coast until we purchased it in February of 2014.
1973 was a great year for the Pantera as the Monocoque frames were finally properly built and coated to ensure a rust proof life. It was such a solid car that one day, Elvis Presley actually shot his Pantera with a gun. 1973 was also the same year that a group of Mangusta and Pantera owners began holding regular meetings at Peyton Lincoln Mercury (where this car was purchased from)......what emerged was the Pantero Owners Club of America.
The Marti Report gave us some good insight into the history of the car showing us that its port of entry was also California. Having only produced a total of 1,258 cars in 1973, this was 1 of ONLY 178 in red.
This example has its original, numbers matching, Ford 351C block #05119. The ZF Gearbox is a -2 series #007100. We rebuilt the heads on the car as we knew it had been sitting for sometime, and we thoroughly serviced all the cooling lines and radiators. The car runs and drives magnificently. It produces strong power and the wide rear tires provide a lot of forward bite on acceleration. The transmission/Gearbox is nice, quiet and shifts crisp and smooth. The exhaust is loud and throaty, so the car produces substantial noise coming down the street. The car has power mirrors which fits the car very nice. The wheels are in excellent condition as are the Bridgestone Potenza tires (new condition) that wrap them. The car stops nice and straight and tracks straight down the road. The interior has been left mostly original. The previous owner did replace the original seats with a nice set of Recaros which are much more comfortable and look correct in the car.
We decided to take things one step further and completely repainted the exterior at our body shop, as we noticed some burn marks from years of buffing on the car. The cars body was disassembled in its entirety. We removed the doors, hood, engine cover, all trim and moldings, bumpers, and glass. The car was taken down to its original primer and metals. We have pictures of the entire project which can be provided upon request. There was no rust or replaced metal anywhere on the car. The car is extremely straight and showed no signs of any prior accident repair, which is always pleasing. The car was hand blocked through the entire painting process. We sprayed the car back into its original red color using Standox (DuPont) primer, base, and clears. Our techs are all I-Car certified so we hold our work to the highest standards. The car was then color sanded, buffed and reassembled. The finished product, as you can see, is outstanding! The body lines are all even and the panel fit is close to perfection. This car was undercoated from the dealer so all inner panels, wells, and engine bay panels are in excellent condition, free of rust. We heated and removed the undercoating from the engine bay so that we could respray it black. Additionally, the bumpers were reconditioned and look fantastic.
This is hands down the finest example of a '73 Pantera that we have seen. The paint work is show quality and the entire package is stunning. We encourage you to come see the car in person or feel free to call us to do a 'walk around' on the phone with you.
