Okay, fine, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration.
Oh, don't get me wrong; the Pantera's brakes don't feel like they're connected to anything more realistic than a prayer for some pleasant headwind, and the feedback from the bias ply tyres are no more palpable, either. On my sighting lap around a dry Tsukuba, I was taking it super slow and easy, and still wound up overshooting the apex by about half a track width. Needless to say for a car its age, the suspension is really soft as well. It's a car that is by no means easy to drive.
But that's where the bad news for the Pantera ends. The Pantera naturally has the classic proportions and sharp styling of a retro supercar, but should one decide to take things further, its widebody is one of the very few that looks distinct from the base car, and it even has an optional rear wing in GT Auto that looks ripped straight from a Countach. And did I mention it has pop–up headlights?! The Ford sourced Cleveland 351 NA V8 engine sounds authentically badass, and dare I say it, the car as a whole has such a sublime balance in the corners far exceeding anything American or Italian of its day. It launches strongly with its rear–midship layout, it has five forward gears in an era where many sports cars still had to make do with four, and while the suspension may be a bit soft for my liking, the car as a whole is still one HELL of a step up from the Mangusta we featured prior! What a stark difference two years can make!
The stock Pantera is a severely wanting car, but the reservoirs of potential in the car is much more palpable than the brakes and tyres on it. In short, it's a horrible car that somehow pleasantly surprised me, and I very well might kit one out if I ever feel like doing a Single–Player race again.
No comments:
Post a Comment