The Pantera
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"Your de Tomaso
Connection"
Pantera’s Little Oddities
The Pantera has some unusual things that you might not find on many other cars. Although they seem odd, as Pantera owners we love all of them! The following are some of the things that are different.
The mid-engine position provides some super performance but creates some unusual placement of common stuff.
The fuel tank sets behind the firewall, behind the driver and on the early cars the fuel filler is access by lifting the back hatch.
On the far left, the fuel filler with a Hall Pantera extension neck that makes it easier to add fuel. Notice that the coolant overflow tank (on the far right) where you add coolant has a cover over it. On the early cars the cover must be removed to add or check coolant.
The five speed ZF transaxle used in the Pantera (the same one used in the Ford GT40) has a reversed shift pattern with first gear positioned back and toward the driver. First gear is also gated in a dog leg to the driver and back. When shifting to second gear the shift lever is moved forward to neutral then over to the right slightly, then forward to second gear gate. This never seems to be a problem for me when I’m driving the Pantera. Although, when I get back in one of my other two cars with five speeds it takes awhile to adjust back to the normal shifting pattern with first gear in the forward position.
Because the mid-engine position moves the driver position forward, the front wheel well protrudes into the driver’s foot area making all three pedals close together. This is a problem for people like me with size fifteen feet. The solution is small skinny shoes!
Often people replace the stock steering wheel with a 13 ½" wheel to get more leg room. But then the wheel blocks the view of the tachometer and speedometer.