1999 De Tomaso Nuovo Pantera 2000 Concept
For Sale at Maranello Purosangue | Maranello, Italy
The Pantera is the car that Alejandro De Tomaso will always be remembered for. Styled by Ghia and powered by a series of big Ford V-8s, it was a raw combination of American muscle and Italian flair. It was an exotic you could buy at your local Lincoln-Mercury dealer in the U.S.
The car went out of production in 1992 after undergoing a slight restyle from Marcello Gandini, founder of Bertone. Gandini is responsible for great supercars like the Lamborghini Miura, Countach, Diablo, Bugatti EB110, and the Lancia Stratos. After the death of the Pantera, De Tomaso only managed to produce small batches of cars for the next decade and De Tomaso himself passed away in 2003.
But the aura of the Pantera always lingered. So it was in 1999 that De Tomaso teamed up with Gandini to produce a new Pantera for the new millennium. The car was to celebrate 40 years of De Tomaso and it was presented near the end of 1999. It was a design study and is pure concept car. There’s no running gear or interior, but if you’re a collector that wants a piece of “automotive art” as the showpiece of your collection, look no further. This is currently for sale in Italy, and here’s a video of its exterior.
On an interesting note, here is what the car looked like before it was rescued:
Update: Sold, RM Sotheby’s, London 2017, $25,348.