1973 DeTomaso Pantera II/Montella (Ghia)

De Tomaso Pantera 7X/Montella (Ghia), 1973
De Tomaso Pantera 7X/Montella (Ghia), 1973
De Tomaso Pantera 7X/Montella (Ghia), 1973
De Tomaso Pantera 7X/Montella (Ghia), 1973
DeTomaso Pantera II/Montella (Ghia), 1973
DeTomaso Pantera II/Montella (Ghia), 1973
DeTomaso Pantera II/Montella (Ghia), 1973
DeTomaso Pantera II/Montella (Ghia), 1973
DeTomaso Pantera II/Montella (Ghia), 1973
DeTomaso Pantera II/Montella (Ghia), 1973
DeTomaso Pantera II/Montella (Ghia), 1973
DeTomaso Pantera II/Montella (Ghia), 1973
DeTomaso Pantera II/Montella (Ghia), 1973
DeTomaso Pantera II/Montella (Ghia), 1973
DeTomaso Pantera II/Montella (Ghia), 1973 - Interior
DeTomaso Pantera II/Montella (Ghia), 1973 - Interior
DeTomaso Pantera II/Montella (Ghia), 1973 - Interior
DeTomaso Pantera II/Montella (Ghia), 1973 - Interior
Иллюстрации: RM Auctions
Рейтинг:  14    -0    +14
De Tomaso Pantera II 197x (or 7x) / Montella, 1973
The year was May 21, 1971 and American car enthusiasts had just fallen in love with the recently introduced mid-engine Pantera sport car. With great reviews, Ford’s joint venture with DeTomaso seemed like a sure sell for years to come.

That is, until the new highway safety and emissions act hit the auto industry, and eventually forced Ford to pull the plug on the Pantera in 1974. Refusing to just give up in the face of power robbing emission laws, DeTomaso sought a replacement for their Pantera.

The planned production Pantera II 197x (or 7x) was based on the chassis of the original Pantera. With all-new styling and a sweeping cantilevered roofline with open pillars to the rear, Ghia designers had done a great job at advancing both the appearance of the prototype, at the same time carrying over as many components as possible from the Pantera L model.

Unfortunately, the Pantera II 7x production car never came to be. Penned by the legendary Ghia designer Tom Tjaarda and hand built in 1973 in Italy by Ghia, the prototype enjoyed a tour as a show car in the spring of 1974, before the Ford venture came to an end late in that year. In 1975, supervised by Ghia design studio president Don DeLaRossa, the prototype underwent a conversion. The car was repainted Pearl White over Metallic Bronze, stripped of its Pantera nameplates and fitted with new ones bearing the name DeTomaso Monttella. The car was then shipped off to the U.S. and titled in Michigan, where it was stored with the hopes of showing it to other manufactures for possible production. Five years passed, and in 1981 the car was sold to a local Michigan sports car dealer that in turn sold it to a family member of the current owner.

RM Auctions


The De Tomaso Pantera has posthumously achieved legend status but, in period, its fortunes were much different. In fact, it was nearly replaced just two years into its life by this: the Pantera Series II, also known as the Monttella.

In the late sixties, Henry Ford II was still bitter about his company’s failure to acquire Ferrari. The legendary GT40 wins at Le Mans offered him some sense of retribution, but he still yearned to sell an Italian sports car under the Blue Oval. A partnership developed with De Tomaso, which also hailed from Modena and, while not enjoying the same prestige as the Prancing Horse, had the added benefit of owning Italian coachbuilders Ghia and Vignale – assets which Ford soon happily acquired, with Alejandro de Tomaso anticipating them making little future profit for his company.

With Tom Tjaarda at the helm, one of Ghia’s first projects under Ford tenure was to design and build the Pantera, a joint collaboration between Ghia’s previous and current owners. It debuted in 1971, boasting a 5,780cc Ford V8 cloaked by Italian coachwork: a combination which many Americans found irresistible despite the car’s well-reported build quality issues. While sales were mounting all seemed well, but when the 1973 oil crisis and U.S. safety and emissions laws combined to make design changes to the Pantera necessary, Ford began losing patience.

De Tomaso saw life yet in the young Pantera, so enlisted Ghia to design a ‘Pantera Series II’ using the underpinnings of the existing model. Tjaarda gave the concept the relevant bumper modifications to satisfy new legislation, but also reworked his original design to include flying buttresses in place of rear pillars – a flourish used on the Maserati Merak a year earlier, which was coincidentally penned by Tjaarda’s predecessor at Ghia, Giorgetto Giugiaro. The Pantera Series II concept was finished in a striking bronze colour, and was unveiled at the 1974 LA Auto Show.

Meanwhile, the worsening state of the automotive industry had led Ford to rethink its priorities, and by the end of that year the American giant had withdrawn its corporate finger from the Pantera pie. The Vignale factory (where the original Pantera was being built) was closed, with all tooling within being scrapped, although De Tomaso continued Pantera production up until 1991 using its own dies and casts. In 1975, the Pantera II concept was re-christened ’Monttella’, given a fresh white-on-bronze colour scheme and shipped to Ford’s Michigan HQ. The intention was to find a replacement production suitor; however, there was little interest, with few manufacturers wishing to take on new projects in such uncertain times. As a result, the Monttella sat unused until 1981, when Ford sold it – alongside several other Ghia prototypes – to a local dentist.

It remained in the dentist's ownership until his death in 2006, and a year later his sons consigned the car to be auctioned at RM’s Monterey sale. It realised 99,000 dollars, the buyer being a Milanese architect who happened to be a close friend of the car’s original designer. Tjaarda gladly assisted with the subsequent body-off-frame restoration, and the car was promptly returned to its original bronze colour and Pantera identity in time for its re-inauguration at the 2008 Villa d’Este, piloted by its beaming creator.

Regularly seen at UK events on British registration plates, it seems the Pantera II concept now has yet another stamp in its passport. And as for the birth certificate – it may have spent the majority of its life under an alias, but the car’s identity is clear. It’s the Pantera that would have been, were it not for such unhappy external factors.

Joe Breeze - www.classicdriver.com
Разработки студии Ghia
1933 Fiat 508S Balilla Spider (Ghia), 1947 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Sport Cabriolet (Ghia), 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Coupe (Ghia), 1950 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Supergioiello (Ghia), 1950 Ferrari 195 Inter (Ghia), 1951 Chrysler K-310 (Ghia), 1951 Plymouth XX-500 (Ghia), 1951 Talbot-Lago T.26 Record Coupe (Ghia), 1952 Chrysler C-200 (Ghia), 1952 Chrysler Special (Ghia), 1953 Abarth Fiat 1100 (Ghia), 1953 Alfa Romeo 1900 Sprint Supergioiello (Ghia), 1953 Alfa Romeo 1900 Supersonic Conrero (Ghia), 1953 Cadillac Coupe (Ghia), 1953 Chrysler D’Elegance (Ghia), 1953 Chrysler GS-1 Special (Ghia), 1953 Chrysler Thomas Special (Ghia), 1953 Cisitalia 505 DF (Ghia), 1953 Dodge Firearrow I (Ghia), 1953 Fiat 8V Boano Coupe (Ghia), 1953 Fiat 8V Supersonic Coupe (Ghia), 1954 Alfa Romeo 1900 CS Speciale (Ghia), 1954 Alfa Romeo 1900 SS (Ghia), 1954 Alfa Romeo 2000 Abarth (Ghia), 1954 Chrysler ST Special (Ghia), 1954 DeSoto Adventurer I (Ghia), 1954 Dodge Firearrow II (Ghia), 1954 Dodge Firearrow III (Ghia), 1954 Dodge Firebomb - Firearrow IV (Ghia), 1954 Jaguar XK120 Supersonic (Ghia), 1954 Plymouth Explorer Special (Ghia), 1954 Simca Convertible Special (Ghia), 1955 Alfa Romeo 1900 Supergioiello (Ghia), 1955 Chrysler Falcon (Ghia), 1955 Chrysler Flight Sweep I (Ghia), 1955 Chrysler Flight Sweep II (Ghia), 1955 Chrysler ST Special (Ghia), 1955 Chrysler ST Special Convertible (Ghia), 1955 DeSoto Adventurer II (Ghia), 1955 Ferrari 375 MM Coupe Speciale (Ghia), 1955 Ghia Gilda I, 1955 Jaguar XK140 (Ghia), 1955 Lincoln Futura (Ghia), 1955 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia (Ghia), 1956 Aston Martin DB2/4 Mk II Supersonic (Ghia), 1956 Chrysler Dart (Ghia), 1956 Chrysler Norseman (Ghia), 1956 Chrysler Special K300 (Ghia), 1956 Dual-Ghia Convertible (Ghia), 1956 Ferrari 410 Superamerica (Ghia), 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300 Berlina/Convertible (Ghia), 1956 Packard Predictor (Ghia), 1956 Plymouth Plainsman (Ghia), 1957 Chrysler 375 Coupe (Ghia), 1957 Chrysler Diablo (Ghia), 1957 Dual-Ghia Sport Coupe (Ghia), 1957 Fiat 1100 TV Coupe (Ghia), 1957 Fiat Jolly (Ghia), 1958 Dual-Ghia 400 (Ghia), 1958 Simca Special (Ghia), 1959 Ghia Selene, 1960 Chrysler Valiant (Ghia), 1960 Ghia Dragster IXG, 1960 Plymouth XNR (Ghia), 1961 Chrysler TurboFlite (Ghia), 1961 Dodge Flite-Wing (Ghia), 1961 Dual-Ghia L 6.4 (Ghia), 1961 Ghia Cart, 1961 Maserati 5000 GT (Ghia), 1961 Plymouth Asimmetrica (Ghia), 1961 Volvo P1800 (Ghia), 1962 Fiat 500 Ziba (Ghia), 1962 Ghia Selene II, 1962 Plymouth Valiant St. Regis (Ghia), 1963 Chrysler Turbine Car (Ghia), 1963 Ghia G230S, 1964 Chrysler V280 (Ghia), 1964 Ghia 1500 GT, 1964 Renault R8 Coupe (Ghia), 1965 Bugatti Type-101C (Ghia), 1965 DeTomaso Competizione 2000 (Ghia), 1965 DeTomaso Vallelunga (Ghia), 1966 DeTomaso Mangusta (Ghia), 1966 DeTomaso Mangusta Spyder (Ghia), 1966 DeTomaso Pampero (Ghia), 1966 Duesenberg Model D (Ghia), 1966 Fiat 850 Vanessa (Ghia), 1966 Ghia 450/SS, 1966 Isuzu 117 Sport (Ghia), 1966 Maserati Ghibli (Ghia), 1967 DeTomaso Rowan (Ghia), 1967 Iso S4 Fidia (Ghia), 1967 Oldsmobile Thor (Ghia), 1968 Ghia Serenissima, 1968 Maserati Ghibli Spider (Ghia), 1968 Maserati Simun (Ghia), 1969 DeTomaso Mustela (Ghia), 1969 Isuzu Bellett MX1600 (Ghia), 1969 Lancia Fulvia 1600 Competizione (Ghia), 1969 Lancia Marica (Ghia), 1970 DeTomaso Pantera (Ghia), 1970 Ghia City Car, 1971 DeTomaso 1600 Spider (Ghia), 1971 DeTomaso Deauville (Ghia), 1971 DeTomaso Zonda (Ghia), 1971 Ford GT-70 (Ghia), 1972 DeTomaso Longchamp (Ghia), 1973 DeTomaso Pantera II/Montella (Ghia), 1973 Ford Mustela II (Ghia), 1973 Lincoln Mark I (Ghia), 1974 Ford Coins (Ghia), 1975 Ford Flashback (Ghia), 1975 Ford Urban Car (Manx) (Ghia), 1976 Ford Corrida (Ghia), 1976 Ford Prima (Ghia), 1977 Ford Megastar (Ghia), 1978 Ford Fiesta Tuareg (Ghia), 1978 Ford Lucano (Ghia), 1978 Ford Megastar II (Ghia), 1978 Ford Microsport (Ghia), 1978 Ford Mustang III (Ghia), 1978 Ghia Action, 1978 Mercury XM (Ghia), 1979 Ford GTK (Ghia), 1979 Ford Navarre (Ghia), 1979 Ford Probe I (Ghia), 1980 Ford Granada Altair (Ghia), 1980 Ford Mustang RSX (Ghia), 1980 Ford Pockar (Ghia), 1981 AC ME3000 (Ghia), 1981 Ford Aerovan (Ghia), 1981 Ford Avant Garde (Ghia), 1981 Ford Cockpit (Ghia), 1981 Ford EXP-II (Ghia), 1981 Ford Shuttler (Ghia), 1981 Ford Super Gnat (Ghia), 1982 Ford Brezza (Ghia), 1982 Ford Quicksilver (Ghia), 1982 Ford Topaz (Ghia), 1982 Ghia Mini Max, 1983 Ford Barchetta (Ghia), 1983 Ford Trio (Ghia), 1984 Ford APV (Ghia), 1984 Ford Vignale Mustang (Ghia), 1984 Ford Vignale TSX-4 (Ghia), 1985 Ford Probe V (Ghia), 1985 Ford Urby (Ghia), 1986 Ford Vignale TSX-6 (Ghia), 1987 Ford HFX Aerostar (Ghia), 1987 Lincoln by Vignale (Ghia), 1989 Ford Saguaro (Ghia), 1989 Ford Via (Ghia), 1990 Ford Fiesta Bebop (Ghia), 1990 Ford Zag (Ghia), 1990 Ford Zig (Ghia), 1991 Ford Connecta (Ghia), 1992 Ford Focus (Ghia), 1993 Aston Martin Lagonda Vignale (Ghia), 1994 Ford Arioso (Ghia), 1996 Ford Alpe (Ghia), 1996 Ford Lynx (Ghia), 1996 Ford Saetta (Ghia), 1996 Ford Vivace (Ghia), 1996 Lincoln Sentinel (Ghia), 1998 Ford Touring Ka (Ghia), 2000 Ford Street Ka (Ghia), 2001 Ford Forty-Nine (Ghia)
Обсудить автомобиль
Автор
E-mail
Комментарий