The Pantera (Italian for "Panther") was a mid-engined sports car produced by the De Tomaso car company of Italy from 1971 to 1992. The car-manufacture was founded by the Argentine-born Alejandro de Tomaso in Modena in 1959. The car made its public debut in Modena in March 1970 and was presented at the 1970 New York Motor Show a few weeks later.
Approximately a year later the first that production Panteras were sold. The car was designed by American designer Tom Tjaarda and replaced the De Tomaso Mangusta. Unlike the Mangusta, which employed a steel backbone chassis, the Pantera was a steel monocoque design, the first instance of De Tomaso using this construction technique. The first 1971 Panteras were powered by a Ford 351 cu in (5.8 L) V8 engine that produced a severely underrated 330 hp. Stock dynos over the years proved that power was more along the lines of about 380 hp.