The subhead on that original Road & Track road test may have said it all: “Exciting–but not a finished product.” Noted issues included non-functioning air conditioning, a balky shifter, an overheating engine, electrical problems, an off-center steering wheel, locking-up rear brakes, a poor seating position, and subpar interior fit and finish. Oh, and orange peel in the paint.
The De …
The part in this article about the Pantera being compared to American cars instead of their true counterparts was a common thing for the "Consumer Reports" type magazines in the 70s. I once read a comparison of a Corvette to a Honda 4 door sedan during that time. They bashed the Corvette for lack of luggage space, lack of seats and poor fuel milage. Obviously the writer was not understanding the purpose of each car or the difference between buyers of each. Possibly they scored more points with their editor by overwhelming negative reviews, as I suspect was done to the Pantera.
For what it's worth I have a gen-you-wine Ford dealer shop manual...
Don't everybody holler at once...
My brother tells a great story of riding his bicycle at age 12 to our local Lincoln-Mercury dealer. He found an unlocked Pantera on the lot and was surprised to discover that he could not comfortably fit in the driver's seat! He is not a large person today and was smaller in 1972. I remember seeing rust on untitled Panteras on that same dealer's lot.
Thanks to Mike Drew for his hard-earned expertise and tireless support of the Pantera community. His passion and encouragement/coaching to those of us who work on our Panteras is a huge asset to our hobby.
Off center steering wheel?
Look down at a parking lot from a balcony. I'd say better than 80% of vehicles have a steering wheel that isn't centered to the drivers seat.
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