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Initially built to Group 3 specifications, chassis number 05855 was completed in 1974, then brought back to the factory to be converted to the more aggressive Group 4 level of preparation in 1975.
It retains the 5.8-litre Ford V8, but unlike the first series of Group 4 Panteras, it's fed by four Weber 48IDA twin-choke carburettors and fired by a Magnetti Marelli ignition system. So equipped, the engine is rated for 560 horsepower. In a car weighing less than 2,600 pounds, this yields some impressive performance numbers - comparable to, and in some cases exceeding, those of a Ford GT40. This was particularly true in Panteras equipped with the 600-horsepower "sprint" version of the engine, which was part of this car's powertrain inventory during the 1970s, along with the less tightly wound 560-horsepower "endurance" version.
The upgrade from Group 3 to Group 4 specifications was not an exercise in mere showmanship; this car has an extensive competition history. As per the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), organizers of the Le Mans 24-hour race, chassis 5855 was entered in the famous 24-hour endurance race. The car was later acquired by a driver who affected a single name, Kabibo, for competition and was campaigned extensively in Italian National Mountain Championship events from 1977 through 1985.
Kabibo entered the Pantera in at least 40 events during a very active career, which included the Trento Bondone Hill Climb three years in a row (1977-1979), the 1979 Coppa Intereuropa, the 1981 and 1983 Coppa Nissena, the XV° Trofeo Valle Camonica in 1981 and the 19th Coppa Paolino Theodori in 1980, to name just a few races. Today the car remains very original and almost exactly as it was as it finished its last race, with the correct period interior and period correct livery.
When Kabibo moved on, the Pantera went to a new owner, in Nice, who suffered an engine failure with the "sprint" version of the engine in a hillclimb event, his only competition outing with the car. The endurance engine was reinstalled, and the Pantera was restored to a state of race- ready perfection-low, lean, potent and suffused with a purposeful sophistication that is still beautiful.
