RARE De Tomaso Pantera GTS up for sale in the UK

The De Tomaso Pantera GTS – a blend of American muscle and Italian design – is a rare sight on UK roads, but a specialist dealer has one for sale.

How many Italian supercars from the 1970s and ’80s can you pick up in great condition for £70k? We’re not sure there are any – certainly not those with real performance – but you can still get the very rare, and much under-appreciated, De Tomaso Panatera GTS.

The Pantera was a blend of American Muscle and Italian flair, made by De Tomaso for 20 years from the early 1970s and really is so much better than you’d think, and much rare than others now considered hugely desirable classics.

But classic buyers look to be finding the Pantera increasingly appealing, with the number in the UK growing from single figures just a decade ago to four times that, presumably as owners either import them or restore long-forgotten example – and prices are rising.

So if you have the urge (and the money) to indulge £70k in a classic Italian supercar, you could do much worse than take a look at a 1981 Pantera GTS on offer from Supervettura in Surry.

It’s a 1981 manual car with original rear wing, stereo and Campagnola Wheels, but with a raft of improvements including a 400bhp engine, digital ignition, beefed-up fuel pump to feed a Holley 750 DP, stainless steel baffled fuel tank, Ohlins chassis kit, properly uprated cooling system and ventilated discs. In other words, all you need to make this Pantera a usable classic supercar.

But don’t take our word for it; have a watch of super-petrolhead Jay Leno explaining why the De Tomaso Pantera is worth the effort in the video below.

We’re off to dig down the sofa.

Jay Leno on the De Tomaso Pantera – Video