Dear PI,

Here it is, Australia’s Concours Winning Pantera It has always been my dream in life to create the wildest looking sports car. Ever since I was a child, I fell in love with the outrageous shape of the Pantera (...and the Lamborghini Countach, although the Pantera proved a lot more practical financially!), and I thought that it would be the ideal base to construct my ‘Dream car’.

This 1974 DeTomaso Pantera, which took about 4 months to rebuild, has just had an engine transplant along with a few cosmetic upgrades. The new Clevo is as trick as you’ll see on the street, a monster 376ci (6.2 litres) running 10.2:1 to produce 527hp (400kW in the new money) at a screaming 6750rpm, on super fuel! The bits inside the engine read like a who’s who of performance V8s. Ross Racing pistons on six-inch H-beam Eagle Chev con rods and a 4MAB crankshaft. 4V open-chamber heads with Lunati roller lifters, Manley pushrods, Ferrea 6000 Series SS valves, Isky springs and trick titanium retainers. Rollmaster timing set, Wade solid-roller camshaft, Yella Terra steel flywheel, MSD billet distributor and spark booster, Barry Grant ‘Gold Claw’ carburetor, Gonzo Racing exhaust, Active manifold, Paxton electric fuel system.

Ray, of Straight Line Performance in Pialba Queensland who designed and built the motor, spent many hours on the heads and got them to flow 700 hp on the flow bench. To get oil to crucial engine parts, Ray put in a high-pressure oil line to the rear gallery, used oil restrictors, hi-volume oil pump, and heavy-duty oil pump drive. The block was tapped, for screw in freeze plugs, as they can be known to pop out at high revs when racing.

A Centerforce II competition clutch takes the power to a ZF five-speed gearbox and trans-axle diff, with the whole plot being cooled by a PWR aluminium radiator and three Thermofans. Acceleration is out of this world, given the whole thing weighs under 1300kg. Suspension has been beefed up with custom-built, fully-adjustable A-arms with Koni adjustable shocks. Now the brakes need upgrading! Arrgh! More money! They no longer match the rest of the car and I plan to replace them with Brembo six-spots on 14-inch slotted rotors when finances allow.

New wheels were custom-made by OZWheel: 18 x 10 inches front and 18 x 13.5 inches rear. Hoops are Falken GRB 255/35-ZR18 and Pirelli P Zero 335/30-ZR18 respectively, a serious investment in themselves and an indication of how much dough is riding in this car. The flares were re-done by CL Bodywork’s because of the larger diameter, so that they could fit. The air-conditioning hadn’t worked in 14 years so I had a whole new system custom-designed and installed by Gary Sturdy at Cooltemp. He also put in the new engine, did some re-wiring under the dashboard, installed a new Paxton Electric fuel system, and an MSD Ignition system.

The rest of the car remained as it was, it has a beautiful cream-beige leather interior with red piping to the seats, and the immaculate paint is Ferrari 300 Rosso, by Tony Bussoletti’s Prestige Panel Shop. Here’s the specs:

The car was recently entered in the (1999) Jaguar Concours d’Elegance held at the Pavilion Ballroom Conrad Jupiter’s Casino on the Gold Coast 24th July 1999. The ‘Jaguar Concours d’Elegance’ is Australia’s equivalent to ‘Pebble Beach’ and it is a black tie event that witnesses twenty meticulously prepared automobiles that team up with the country’s top fashion designers to compete for Concours Honors, in an evening of spectacular color, fashion and prestigious names in both the car and fashion industry, telecast by Channel 7.

The theme that the fashion designer chose for the Pantera, was for me to drive onto the stage with the Gorgeous Model Sue-Ellen Underwood in the passenger seat (to the song Oh Yeah, by Yello), and followed by a police officer on a motorcycle as if to pull us over. As the motorcycle officer got off his bike to write me a ticket, the long legged, busty model got out of the car and (wearing the skimpy Adita Benton designed hot pants and accessories), teased the officer into letting us off the hook. Then she proceeded to do her sexy routine on the catwalk, and then got back in the car for us to drive off the stage.

Needless to say, the whole package brought the house down, which caused us to win the first place trophy in the ‘Sports GT Category’. The next day the car was entered in the Jaguar Festival of Elegance, Meguiars Classic Car Display, which it won the ‘Best European Sports Car’ category.

I have reached a stage where, although my dream car isn’t complete yet (as it has drained me financially), it is still a serious road going weapon and can still cause an uproar wherever it goes, even though it’s now 25 years old! Next on the list are new 14" Brembo brakes and a custom Gonzo-Racing exhaust, which will bring the power up to a tire-frying 560 hp. (Hopefully the gearbox will handle it ...)

Author: Laslo Antal   Links: Exotic Wedding Cars

This is beautiful Sue-Ellen Underwood, a former Penthouse Magazine, "Pet of the Year", who modeled with the Pantera at the concours. 

The deep chin spoiler is still high enough off the ground to clear most obstacles.

On the dyno, the 376 inch Ford pulls 527 hp and 473 ft. lbs. of torque.

This is obviously a right hand drive car. The interior is trimmed in full cream-beige leather with red piping and has been all rewired.

You can bet road conditions are demanding in Australia. Laslo chose OZ wheels and Pirelli P Zero tires for the rear and Falken brand rubber for the front. 335X30XZR18 rear and GRE 255X35XAR18 front.

The wheel flares were reshaped to fit huge 18 inch wheels and tires.

The owner, Laslo Antal holds his trophy after winning the Jaguar Festival of Elegance, Meguiars Classic Car Display on July 24th, 1999.

Judging from the photos submitted by Mr. Antal, this Pantera program was most probably one of the best thought out and presented displays of a Pantera we have ever heard of.

Would you like to have your car appear in Pantera International? If so, please e-mail a description of your car and why you think it belongs in this Webzine. Send us any of your comments as well.