Update: December 2004 - now owned by Mike Scardina of Pacific Palisades, CA.
When Bruce McColly of Sierra Vista, Arizona, went on the hunt for his Pantera he found one of the most desirable Panteras, the 1974 GTS. Bruce purchased the GTS in December of 2001 and it was in pristine condition with only 3,811 miles on the odometer.
The car was originally purchased by professional race car driver Don Devine, who was reportedly too tall to drive the car comfortably. The vehicle remained on display at a dealership in Illinois where the dealership owner and the salesman were allowed to occasionally take the car out for drives. Don sold the car to a buyer in Florida approximately one year ago.
Don made a number of unique modifications to the vehicle. They include a race style gas inlet, U.S./Italian/de Tomaso stickers on the side panel, a de Tomaso windshield script and a custom front air scoop/air dam. Cibie driving lights are installed in custom fiberglass molds at the front hazard/turn signal ports. Bruce found that the driving lights were not functional and he wired the lights and installed turn signal lights inside of the driving light housings.
For the engine upgrades, Don installed an Edelbrock F351 intake manifold, an aftermarket ignition system and Mickey Thompson "Ford" raised rib valve covers that have the GTS emblem installed on the top.
Bruce has refurbished and upgraded the car to include a 7/8" rear sway bar, fresh cooling system hoses, steel braid fuel lines, new belts, new throttle cable, Euro style horns, K&N 2 ¾" and Extreme filters, and larger street tires (245/45x16 front and 335/35x17 rear) mounted on Pantera East wheels. Bruce saved the original wheels and tires for car shows. Bruce exchanged the old Holley carburetor with a new custom 650 Holley DP, upgraded the ignition system to an MSD 6AL with a 6,000 RPM limiter, MSD HVC coil and MSD 8.5mm wires. The most recent addition is a Vitaloni Baby Bravo driver’s side mirror, although he still has the original mirror for car shows. Bruce saved all of the removed original parts so that he may someday revert back to the original factory configuration. The car came with the original rear storage tub with the original spare tire, fire extinguisher and tire inflator. The car also has the original tool kit.
3,811 miles on the odometer
Center console with GTS logo on the shift knob
The Pantera GTS model was introduced in 1974 and was mechanically the same as the other 1974 cars with the 351 Cleveland engine but with a Ford 4V Autolite carburetor. The GTS had the following cosmetic changes:
- All chrome blacked out
- Ferrero steering wheel with Ghia emblem
- GTS wheel logos.
- Pop riveted fiberglass fender flairs
- "GTS" script mounted where "Pantera" script was (on the rear).
- "Pantera" script in place of "de Tomaso" script (on the rear).
- Flat black rocker panel stripe widened and "Pantera GTS" written on the stripe.
- Gloss black metallic front hood and rear compartment deck.
- Ghia emblem on the font bumper (instead of the usual de Tomaso emblem).
- Dash mounted clock installed.
- GTS emblem on the gear-shift knob.