For years, everyone knew that to deserve the tag `supercar’ a vehicle had to be built in Italy, must be absolutely loaded with the latest F1 technology, and of course it must cost lots and lots of money.

And no complaints were ever heard from owners about the head-turning street appeal of a Ferrari, Maserati or Lamborghini!

There have been some very good attempts at building a genuine Supercar to match the exotics on performance, technology and looks, at a significantly lower price. But don’t ever tell Terry, from Fraser Motorcycles in Perth, that his DeTomaso Pantera is a ‘Poor Mans Ferrari’ !!

The West Oz general manager for the Sydney based Harley and Ducati giants, Terry has owned his unique car for nearly fifteen years, although only in the past three years has this rare 351 Ford powered Italian classic come of age.

In fact, the work performed on this often forgotten supercar has brought the vehicle right into the 1990s.

The inherent problem with the chassis on these cars is that, in an attempt to save weight, a lot of hollow section steel was used. This is an obvious moisture trap and after 20 odd years, much of the chassis had simply rotted to a very dangerous condition.

Terry also had to have the entire front underbody and chassis completely remanufactured for the same reason.

An individual who came very much to the fore during these proceeedings was Peter Wilkinson, a quietly achieving but highly regarded suspension expert in Perth.

Although Terry sourced his machined aluminium billet coil overs and suspension platforms in the USA, Wilkinson helped to set the car up and provided invaluable input.

"I received a lot of gold plated bullshit while building my Pantera," admitted Terry, "but I cannot give Peter enough credit for his competence, honesty and commercial common sense."

The massive coil-overs and suspension platforms came from an outfit called Hall Pantera, generally regarded as world experts in manufacturing after market components for these cars.

Just as impressive though, are the 310mm, vented Wilwood rotors and four-spot AP racing callipers that have been fitted to all four corners. These work in conjunction with a twin master cylinder arrangement, complete with bias bar for on-going adjustments.

Nonetheless, Kevin Strickland performed a total rebuild on that 351 Cleveland, with full block preparation and 2V heads ported and polished by Michael Marriott for 500 ponies.

The bottom end includes a balanced and shot peened original crank plus similarly treated original rods. Forged 9.5 : 1 ACL pistons now rise and fall in the bores which received a 60 thou’ rebore.

Back up top and those better breathing heads now play host to Manley valves and double valve springs from the same company, as well as Crane hydraulic roller tappets.

Manley titanium pushrods run down the V to a COME roller cam with a maximum of 240 degrees of duration and 630 thou’ lift.

Terry could have opted for 4V heads and a wilder cam, but as the man himself said; "I wanted total power down low for the street, and from 3,500rpm to 6,500rpm it just pulls like a train."

The Eco-Therm fluid management system was originally invented by Melbourne’s John Bennet, although various specialists including John Eleuteri from Guildford Radiators in WA have now picked up on the idea.

Eco-Therm sees the vehicle’s standard thermostat removed and placed in a directional flow control (DFC) unit complete with venturis.

During engine warm up, the coolant is simply by-passed through this DFC to another similar unit and then back to the engine.

At operating temperature however, the thermostat in the DFC opens. But instead of going straight to the radiator, the coolant goes first to a header tank where steam and bubbles are bled off.

The hot liquid is then transferred to the radiator, which can work at optimum efficiency because of the lack of conventional steam and bubbles.

Essentially, Eco-Therm reduces cavitation and hence makes a significant contribution to engine cooling. The system also requires modifications to the vehicle’s water pump impellors, in order to produce a quicker coolant flow.

With an MSD 6AL ignition package controlling the whole show, the motor in this radical Pantera has been estimated to be capable of producing around 415hp.

This estimate is no wild guess.

Justin Cox, a former employee at Frasers in Perth, is something of an expert when it comes to hot V8s and has built more than a few himself.

Justin added his input to Terry’s project on more than one occasion, knowing of a few 351 Clevelands with just about the same specifications (read cam and headwork etc) as in this Pantera.

Still, Terry’s more street sensible approach is adequate for a bit of fun around Perth and is naturally backed up by a solid drivetrain.

This includes one of those ultra-modern Centreforce clutches, with the multiple fingers and weights, which works by centrifugal force. In other words, the faster it spins the harder it grips.

A lightened original flywheel sits next door and from there it’s straight into the Ford ZF transaxle gearbox.

Incredibly, that French Racing Blue paintwork was applied by the A-Z Panel Shop in Perth back in 1984! The car has done some 35,000 miles since then, so it’s a convincing testimony for A-Z.

The same shop performed all the panel repairs for Terry back then too, and with those late model 17" polished three-piece Simmons she’s a real head turner.

In the cabin, nothing short of perfection would suffice, from the genuine Connolly leather and Recaro seats to the Personal steering wheel and modern day Alpine sound system.

No short cuts were taken anywhere and the original Veglia instruments received a complete rebuild.

Rear visibility is questionable and unless you’re no more than five foot tall you’ll never get into the car. Yet if you’re after a bare bones performer with a hardness and an aggression that leaves HSVs and Tickfords whimpering by the roadside, you'd probably love a Pantera.

Although DeTomaso upgraded the Pantera and kept it in production until 1994, these early units are legendary and extremely rare Down Under.

Which puts Terry’s in a league all of its own.  (Click for Pantera history)