\u2018I\u2019ve always had sports cars since before I could drive,\u2019 quips Colin Bradshaw. \u2018I had a Triumph GT6 at 16, but they\u2019ve always been for short periods of time. I\u2019ve had 40-odd cars to date, and I\u2019ve gone through different eras and enthusiasms of ownership, including Lotus and Porsche periods.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Veneer and marquetry part of then-compulsory 1989 GT5S spec<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018It was during the Lotus phase when a black earlySeventies De Tomaso Pantera pulled up alongside my Esprit S2 at a petrol station while I was filling it up, and I thought to myself, \u201cI will have one of those one day,\u201d but at the time I couldn\u2019t afford one, and I moved on to Porsche 911s instead.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/12\/De-Tomaso-Pantera-GT5S-Life-Cycle.13-scaled.jpg” alt=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S” title_text=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S Life Cycle.13″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
Colin used to change cars often, but the Pantera is a 30-year fixture<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u2018However, Pantera prices were going up along with all supercars in the late Eighties, and people were buying them for silly money. I originally had a budget of \u00a340,000, wanted a GT5, and started looking for a second-hand one. But people were mucking around with the prices back then. I found one for \u00a340,000, then before long it was \u00a345,000, then \u00a346,000, and I thought to myself, what does a new one cost, \u00a348,000?<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018I got in touch with the UK De Tomaso importer, and he told me I\u2019d have to place an order soon as they were stopping production of the current model imminently. When I went to order the car, they said they were only doing full-spec GT5S cars \u2013 400bhp, 0-60mph in 5.1 seconds, 170mph top speed, marquetry inlay in the doors, bucket seats, radio kit, rear wing, side-stripes and a 4.00:1 differential. De Tomaso wouldn\u2019t build me one otherwise. We agreed on a price of \u00a352,000, and it was supposed to arrive in October 1989.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/12\/De-Tomaso-Pantera-GT5S-Life-Cycle.2.jpg” alt=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S at Alexandra Palace” title_text=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S Life Cycle.2″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
1990s: representing the Drivers\u2019 Club at Alexandra Palace<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018I was using dealer Bramleys as an agent, and the deal involved them buying my Porsche, but the only De Tomaso importer was Emilia Concessionaires at Silverstone. Despite the importer\u2019s promise, it didn\u2019t arrive until 9 May 1990 at 11:30am. The delay was because people were jumping the queue by paying more money. It was the height of the Eighties supercar-investment boom, and some speculators weren\u2019t using the fixed rate. Some people were paying more than \u00a360,000 for them! The crash inevitably came in 1990, but in truth I had bought the Pantera for me, at a price I was happy with, and intended to enjoy driving it.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018It was said at the time that it was the last right-hand-drive Pantera of the original Tom Tjaarda-styled shape to be delivered to the UK. I\u2019ve since found out it was actually the 14th from last before the Marcello Gandini-restyled 90Si version came out. But either way, I went to Silverstone to collect it, made sure the paperwork from Italy was all present and correct, then my first drive in it was home to Beaconsfield down the A413. Bloody marvellous!<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/12\/De-Tomaso-Pantera-GT5S-Life-Cycle.5.jpg” alt=”Man standing by the De Tomaso Pantera GT5S” title_text=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S Life Cycle.5″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
1990s: airfield day, before the car got an appetite for cones<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018Immediately, I started driving to work in it. I\u2019m a mechanical design engineer specialising in robotics and special-purpose equipment, I had my own business and was just driving the Pantera to my own office. However, I drove it to clients\u2019 places a few times and got given a hard time. Then again, it was exactly the same when I used my Jaguar XJR \u2013 you can\u2019t win! So I bought a second-hand Talbot Sunbeam-Lotus as a runaround, and when people saw it they started asking, \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter with your business?\u201d They were used to me turning up in a Porsche, which oddly enough no-one had a problem with.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/12\/De-Tomaso-Pantera-GT5S-Life-Cycle.11-scaled.jpg” alt=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S rear wing” title_text=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S Life Cycle.11″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
In 1991 Top Car found the Pantera was faster without its rear wing<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018The next year, 1991, was a tough one. I\u2019d just bought the car, bought a house and had a baby, and then the recession struck. We ended up temporarily relocating and renting the house out, which meant we didn\u2019t have to sell the Pantera, and thankfully I didn\u2019t lose the business either, but we were lucky.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/12\/De-Tomaso-Pantera-GT5S-Life-Cycle.18.jpg” alt=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S parked outside a garage” title_text=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S Life Cycle.18″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
1991: the Pantera settles into its temporary home<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018In September 1991, Top Car magazine \u2013 a performance and supercar magazine of the Eighties and Nineties \u2013 got in touch and asked if they could use my car for a cover feature. Rally driver Terry Kaby track-tested it, and they put speed-measuring equipment on both my Pantera \u2013 a Ford Windsor-engined car \u2013 and a Cleveland-engined example to see which was the fastest. Mine was of course! It measured 400bhp, 0-60 in 5.6 seconds, and a maximum speed of 147mph, but they ran out of room on the test straight. They took the rear wing off to reduce the drag, and the top speed climbed to more than 155mph before the throttle pedal broke off! It was only held in with a clevis pin, so I clipped it back on and went home.\u2019<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/12\/De-Tomaso-Pantera-GT5S-Life-Cycle.1.jpg” alt=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S” title_text=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S Life Cycle.1″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
1991: Pantera has a full magazine performance test<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
The Cleveland, by comparison, managed 0-60 in 5.87 seconds and 140mph. \u2018In order to be an official speed run, it had to have headlamps up, fuel in the tank, the spare wheel and two people on board. Theoretical top speed without these things measure at 162.8mph at 6500rpm. A Ford Sierra Cosworth they were testing on the same day had hit 180 before blowing up!<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/12\/De-Tomaso-Pantera-GT5S-Life-Cycle.17-scaled.jpg” alt=”Photo of family with the De Tomaso Pantera GT5S” title_text=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S Life Cycle.17″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
1992: home at last for the Pantera and the Bradshaws<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018It gave me the idea to try some motor sport in it, entering local car club sprints on airfields, but it was no good for sprints, with their little circuits laid out with cones. However, back then \u2013 1993 by this point \u2013 you could buy half an hour at the Goodwood Motor Circuit for \u00a360 and just go out for some fun on the track. A guy called Peter Saywell, who became a good friend, ran 105-decibel-limit charity track days at Goodwood three times a year.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/12\/De-Tomaso-Pantera-GT5S-Life-Cycle.jpg” alt=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S ” title_text=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S Life Cycle” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
1992: joining Lamborghinis for an early track day<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-quote-bold” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Poppins|700|||||||” text_font_size=”20px” text_orientation=”center” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018I\u2019d just bought the car, bought a house and had a baby, and then the recession struck\u2019<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018For some reason around about this time, I thought the car would look good with stripes on it and a roundel on each door. It was possibly the influence of going to Le Mans in it, because a lot of people sticker their cars up to look like racers \u2013 I can get all my camping gear in the luggage tray at the back of the Pantera \u2013 but by 1995 the stripes were gone, having only lasted a year. I could never really decide whether I liked them or not.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018I did a lot of track days in the late Nineties, especially at Castle Combe, where I totalled 160 laps. I also completed 42 laps of Silverstone, and 600 laps of Goodwood. And it was at Silverstone that Barrie Williams drove it.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/12\/De-Tomaso-Pantera-GT5S-Life-Cycle.21.jpg” alt=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S at Silvestone” title_text=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S Life Cycle.21″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
1995: flat out at Silverstone, where the car was originally bought<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018When I was 16, I was in the Harrow Car Club, and Barrie, Tony Lanfranchi and Gerry Marshall used to come to club nights and give talks in return for us buying them beers. Barrie was racing a Ford Fiesta at the time, and was in the pits when I came in for fuel. He recognised me, came over and said \u201cI\u2019ve never driven one of these… I\u2019d like to though,\u201d and was full of admiration for it. How could I refuse?\u2019<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
The prospect of being given a masterclass in how to drive his own car saw Colin hand the keys over and climb into the passenger seat. \u2018There were some seriously fast Porsches on slick tyres on track that day, but Barrie was pointing at them and calmly say things like, \u201cWe\u2019ll have that one in two bends\u2019 time, he\u2019ll be in the wrong place. These people come here all the time but they don\u2019t know how to drive the track.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/12\/De-Tomaso-Pantera-GT5S-Life-Cycle.3.jpg” alt=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S on the road” title_text=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S Life Cycle.3″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
1998: chasing friends in their TVRs at the N\u00fcrburgring<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018In 1998, I took it on an epic trip to Spa-Francorchamps and the N\u00fcrburgring. Going round the \u2019Ring, the car suddenly lost power under acceleration, getting 40mph at most. I limped back to the pits, examined the distributor drive, and found that I could move its spring pin around with my thumb \u2013 it was fractured, causing the timing to slip with every throttle opening. I crawled the car back to the bed and breakfast we were staying in, and the husband of the owner revealed that he worked in an Audi dealership. He went out and came back with a pin roller to make a replacement! It\u2019s led to an approved fix in the club, doubling-up with two pinions.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/12\/De-Tomaso-Pantera-GT5S-Life-Cycle.20-scaled.jpg” alt=”Man fixing the De Tomaso Pantera GT5S engine” title_text=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S Life Cycle.20″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
1998: tackling the loose distributor drive at the N\u00fcrburgring<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018All this use earnt it the nickname \u2018Honest Chips\u2019 in the De Tomaso Drivers\u2019 Club on account of its stonechips picked up on track days, although it\u2019s undamaged apart from the times when a baby chair and an aluminium strip fell on it in the garage. Both Gemma, my eldest daughter, and Emily, my youngest, have driven around Goodwood in it, although Emily couldn\u2019t quite reach the pedals properly. She wants me to sell it to her when I\u2019ve finished with it though.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/12\/De-Tomaso-Pantera-GT5S-Life-Cycle.19.jpg” alt=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S taken apart” title_text=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S Life Cycle.19″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
1999: Pantera\u2019s first rebuilt engine ready for home installation<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018In 1999, I was just minding my own business reversing the Pantera out of the garage and onto the drive, when a valve guide plate sheared and dropped a valve through to the piston, stopping it dead. It took the car off the road for a year, and I decided to use the opportunity to uprate the engine, because I was planning on doing more track days.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/12\/De-Tomaso-Pantera-GT5S-Life-Cycle.4.jpg” alt=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S” title_text=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S Life Cycle.4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
1999: a taste of the gentle life at the Harrow Car Club Concours<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018I went to a US specialist in Orange County, California, which recommended a crate engine with separate headers, but I just wanted a turnkey package on an original engine, with a warranty. I ended up getting Real Steel in Uxbridge to rebuild the original engine, then paid for 48 hours\u2019 dyno time, to try ideas out. I found things like using smaller carburettors made more power than big ones. Eventually I brought the engine home in an estate car and installed it in the Pantera myself. It was back on the road and track in 2000 for more of the same, the rebuilt engine helping it to set a one minute, 28-second lap of Goodwood.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-quote-bold” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Poppins|700|||||||” text_font_size=”20px” text_orientation=”center” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018Both my eldest daughter and my youngest have driven round Goodwood in it\u2019<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/12\/De-Tomaso-Pantera-GT5S-Life-Cycle.16.jpg” alt=”Chart with writing” title_text=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S Life Cycle.16″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018In 2002, after hitting some cones on a track day at Longcross, I decided to change the steering wheel. The organisers had laid out a chicane on the home straight to slow us down, and the rim of the original wheel was just too slippery to complete the high-speed manoeuvre accurately without my palms sliding around on it, so I decided to get one with handgrips. I\u2019m still keeping the original \u2013 they\u2019re worth a fortune now. The gearknob trim was broken too, so I changed it for a chrome one.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018In 2007, I made a set of slip-on exhaust silencers, which took it down to 104db and made it acceptable on a wider range of track days and charity events. I also started exhibiting it at shows with the De Tomaso Drivers\u2019 Club \u2013 Alexandra Palace, the NEC, Goodwood \u2013 as well as trips to Le Mans six or seven times.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/12\/De-Tomaso-Pantera-GT5S-Life-Cycle.6.jpg” alt=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S at Goodwood” title_text=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S Life Cycle.6″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
2007: wearing Colin\u2019s silencers at a Goodwood charity track day<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018But the gearbox rebuild, in 2008, is an exciting occasion in my life that I really don\u2019t want to repeat,\u2019 Colin recalls ironically. \u2018With the track days, the gearbox took more wear and tear than usual, and I started to find second gear difficult to select. I took the gearbox out and had it tested by a company who should\u2019ve been able to fix it, whose staff said they had the right contacts for ZFs. I told them the synchro rings were hard to get \u2013 \u201cno problem\u201d, apparently.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018When I got the gearbox back, I still couldn\u2019t get second, and third was even worse! I sent it back and this specialist still said it was fine. It went back and forth three times in total, and eventually it turned out he\u2019d subcontracted the job to someone with no setting tools. Also, when he disconnected the speedometer drive a bolt had dropped into the bottom of the gearbox, taking a tooth off the gearwheel. The speedometer needle still bobs to this day as a result. It was half-way through 2009 by the time the gearbox was finally sorted \u2013 and the Pantera had just spent 18 months off the road. I couldn\u2019t wait to get it back on the track after that.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018It was off the road again in 2014-15, getting all its suspension rebuilt. It was getting squeaky and tired, and lots of people at track days tried to convince me that I should upgrade the dampers, fit polybushes all round and so on, but I\u2019d been perfectly happy with the standard setup for 24 years \u2013 why should I change it?<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/12\/De-Tomaso-Pantera-GT5S-Life-Cycle.12.jpg” alt=”Looking inside the trunk of the De Tomaso Pantera GT5S” title_text=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S Life Cycle.12″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
The Pantera is on its second engine rebuild, and going stronger than ever<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018So I totally restored the original suspension. I had to saw out the original, worn-out bushes, but I kept everything for reference. I did it as a project with my friend Phil Hudson. I was still working, but he\u2019d taken early retirement. He was an engineer too, and was bored! He\u2019d owned TVRs so he was used to fixing things, and did all the work on my car free of charge \u2013 what are friends for, eh? He completed 70 percent of the work, and I finished it off.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018We rebuilt the brakes while we were at it. The GT5S\u2019s brakes are different from the standard Pantera\u2019s; they\u2019re larger in diameter, and ventilated. All the suspension components were cleaned and powder-coated, and the magnesium wheels rechromated. I took them to a bloke in Wiltshire, who used to work for Dynomag, to do the job properly. Fortunately they hadn\u2019t been kerbed, but I had them X-rayed as a precaution because magnesium wheels can become porous and explode at speed without warning.\u2019<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/12\/De-Tomaso-Pantera-GT5S-Life-Cycle.14.jpg” alt=”Opening the trunk of the De Tomaso Pantera GT5S” title_text=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S Life Cycle.14″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
Colin does much of his own maintenance on the Pantera<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
Emily may want the Pantera when Colin\u2019s finally had enough of it, but it was Gemma, Colin\u2019s eldest daughter, who used the De Tomaso next. \u2018Gemma wanted the Pantera for her wedding,\u2019 says Colin, \u2018and so on 30 June 2016, we bundled Gemma, in her wedding dress, into the Pantera to be driven to the church. The bridesmaids followed behind in a Volkswagen Transporter, and I lent my Morgan Aero 8 to the groom for him and the best man to use. Emily wants the Pantera for her wedding when it comes around, but I expect she\u2019ll want to drive it!\u2019<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-quote-bold” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Poppins|700|||||||” text_font_size=”20px” text_orientation=”center” custom_padding=”|||0px||” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018My youngest daughter wants it as her wedding car too, but I expect she\u2019ll want to drive it!\u2019<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/12\/De-Tomaso-Pantera-GT5S-Life-Cycle.7.jpg” alt=”Bride getting out of the De Tomaso Pantera GT5S” title_text=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S Life Cycle.7″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
2016: daughter Gemma uses the Pantera as her wedding car<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
But that won\u2019t stop Colin driving the Pantera just has hard as ever in the meantime, although the rebuilt engine was lucky to avoid a second meltdown back in 2017. \u2018I\u2019d taken it out to a car-club summer show, and was driving home on the motorway,\u2019 Colin recalls. \u2018Two junctions away from my turn-off, I heard a crash-bang-wallop, which felt like I\u2019d driven over something, and smelt burning rubber.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018The fan belt had broken, and had got caught up at the front of the engine. Stupidly, I figured I just needed to get through town to my house, without stopping, maintaining the airflow to the radiator, and it\u2019d be OK. I drove all the way home keeping an eye on the temperature gauge, which showed the car was keeping its cool, and turned it off when I pulled up on the drive. Then I heard a loud clunking sound as the engine cooled. A cylinder head had warped and cracked. Oh no. Another engine rebuild needed.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/12\/De-Tomaso-Pantera-GT5S-Life-Cycle.9-scaled.jpg” alt=”Back of the De Tomaso Pantera GT5S” title_text=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S Life Cycle.9″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
New Pirelli Cinturatos are Colin\u2019s latest addition<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018I thought I\u2019d get Real Steel to do the rebuild again, but they no longer offer engine rebuilds, so I went to Peter Knight of Knight Racing Services. He offers a 408 cubic-inch \u2018Stroker\u2019 Ford Windsor engine for \u00a310,000, so I thought I\u2019d do it properly this time.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018When Peter took the engine apart and stripped it down to its constituent parts, he said it had been built properly, and didn\u2019t want to put second-hand parts in it, so the Stroker kit was fitted with new parts rather than any need to re-machine the block. We changed the specification of the pistons though \u2013 JAE rather than Ross pistons, with more silicon in the liners, helping them to retain their shape better with temperature variations. Ross pistons have a habit of deforming, wearing on their skirts and slapping if they\u2019re used for day-to-day tasks rather than simply racing. We also converted it to an electric, rather than mechanical fuel pump, for the sake of reliability.\u2019<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/12\/De-Tomaso-Pantera-GT5S-Life-Cycle.15.jpg” alt=”Man in the driver seat of the De Tomaso Pantera GT5S” title_text=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S Life Cycle.15″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
The Pantera has covered fewer than 1000 miles since 2017 rebuild<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
However, despite this latest engine rebuild three years ago putting the car in its highest-ever state of tune, Colin\u2019s Pantera has led a more sedate life than usual, entering the Harrow Car Club\u2019s inaugural Ace Caf\u00e9 Concours in 2019, and as yet not returning to the track. He\u2019s considering it though, and the car wears new boots in preparation. \u2018I\u2019ve done fewer than 1000 miles since 2017, but I\u2019ve got a set of tyres from a new batch of Pirelli Cinturatos from Longstone, requested by the De Tomaso Drivers\u2019 Club,\u2019 says Colin. \u2018Despite having \u2018VR\u2019 printed on the side, the rating for 150mph, they\u2019re actually rated to 170.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/12\/De-Tomaso-Pantera-GT5S-Life-Cycle.22.jpg” alt=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S at Silverstone” title_text=”De Tomaso Pantera GT5S Life Cycle.22″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”12px” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]
2018: lining up with fellow Panteras at the Silverstone Classic<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
\u2018Of course, it will return to the track soon. Unlike some owners of Italian supercars, I\u2019ve always used it as it was intended, and I always will.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The life story of a De Tomaso Pantera GT5SExactly 30 years after taking delivery of this Pantera GT5S, its only owner tells its tale of wedding parades, engine meltdowns and hot laps with Whizzo WilliamsA few honest stone chips prove this Pantera GT5S is a track veteranColin Bradshaw buys a De Tomaso Pantera in 1989 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":1001,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"kschwarz","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=985"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1296,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985\/revisions\/1296"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/classic-cars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}