 |
www.QV500.com - De Tomaso Pantera Gr.3 Part 1: Pantera Gr.3 |
 |
In 1972, De Tomaso began offering Group 3 and 4 racing Pantera's. Group 4 basically allowed manufacturers to greatly reduce weight, fit highly tuned engines and much wider wheels so long as 500 standard road cars had already been built. Once 1000 had been made, homologation into Group 3 could be granted where cars had to race in more standard trim. |
In both categories, De Tomaso's chief competition would come from Porsche although Ferrari, Alpine and Chevrolet also offered qualifying machinery. Because precious little could be changed, the Pantera Gruppo 3 remained fundamentally unaltered and was completely road legal. Suspension was independent all round with unequal length wishbones, coil springs and anti-roll bars. Track measurements were also unchanged along with the seven and eight-inch wide Campagnolo magnesium alloy wheels front / back respectively. These 15-inch diameter rims were originally shod with Michelin XWX tyres whilst the dual circuit ventilated discs were by Girling. A 90° Ford V8 Cleveland engine was installed along with De Tomaso's specially designed free-flow exhaust system. It was the same high performance engine as fitted to European-spec Pantera's and produced 330bhp at 5400rpm with 325lb ft of torque at 3600rpm. Displacement and compression were unchanged at 5763cc and 11.0:1 respectively, the original Autolite 4300 four-barrel carburettor also being retained. There were some differences though and the standard Gruppo 3 Pantera's were fitted with reinforced wishbones, a heavy-duty clutch and two alternative sets of gear ratios for the five-speed ZF gearbox. |
 |
Externally, the bodywork was normally decorated with adhesive De Tomaso logos on the front wings whilst matt black front and rear lids and De Tomaso Pantera scripting could also be specified. The cockpit closely resembled a regular Pantera too, but lightweight bucket seats with cloth centres and vinyl bolsters were clearly designed for spirited driving. |
Weighing in at 1360kg, a top speed of 162mph was possible with 0-60 requiring 5.6 seconds and 0-100 14.6. Depending on the customers requirements, a Gruppo 3 Pantera could then be further enhanced with a combination of factory upgrades. For racing, these included a roll cage, a fire extinguisher, an emergency cut-off switch, retaining straps for the lift-up rear bodywork, a competition steering wheel, a quick fuel filler and even an altered camshaft profile. By contrast, air conditioning, electric windows, head restraints and tinted glass could be selected to make the cockpit a little more comfortable. Later, flared wheelarch extensions, a chin spoiler, sliding Plexiglas side windows and broader eight and ten-inch wide wheels could be specified. Gruppo 3 Pantera's went onto compete successfully for the duration of the seventies, many race and hillclimb victories falling their way whilst some were even occasionally rallied. Between them, Antonio Trenti, Giuseppe De Gregorio and Chris Meek probably racked up more wins in Gruppo 3 Pantera's than anyone else although the Ecurie Franco Britannic and Claude Dubois squads did have some high profile success. Available as a special order variant right up until the 1980's, the exact number of these cars built is currently unknown (although 36 seems a commonly quoted figure). Several were later upgraded to Group 4 and even Group 5 specification. |
 |
