1973 De Tomaso Pantera L

The De Tomaso Pantera is a mid-engine sports car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer De Tomaso from 1971 to 1993. Italian for panther, the Pantera was the automaker's most popular model. There were more than 7,000 manufactured over its 20-year production run, with 5,500 imported to the U.S. and sold through Lincoln Mercury dealers.

The Pantera was designed by the Italian design firm Carrozzeria Ghia's American-born designer Tom Tjaarda and replaced the Mangusta. Unlike the Mangusta, which employed a steel backbone chassis, the Pantera's chassis was of a steel monocoque design, the first instance of De Tomaso using this construction technique.

The car debuted 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 production cars were sold, and production was increased to three per day. De Tomaso sold the rights to the Pantera to Ford, who were to distribute the cars in the United States through its Lincoln-Mercury dealerships, while Alejandro De Tomaso retained the rights to market the Pantera in Europe.