In the early 1970s, motorists who visited a Lincoln-Mercury store sometimes spotted an unusual, low-slung coupe parked among the Continentals and the Comets. It was the De Tomaso Pantera, a mid-engined supercar built to deliver a well-balanced blend of Italian styling and American reliability.

Launched in 1971, the Pantera was drawn by Tom Tjaarda, an experienced stylist whose resume included the Fiat 124 Spider and the Ferrari 365 California, among many other cars. It looked like an Italian exotic, but it was powered by a 330-horsepower version of the Blue Oval’s famously tunable 5.8-liter Cleveland V8 engine. Ford initially agreed to distribute the Pantera in America, partly because its executives held a decade-old grudge against Ferrari, but it ended the partnership in late 1974.

Most historians agree about 5,600 examples of the Pantera found a home in the United States via Lincoln-Mercury’s dealer network between 1971 and 1974. Production continued without Ford’s input until 1992, and some later examples found their way to the United States via gray-market channels.

Ferrari 365 GT/4 BB (1973)