THE HAWAII 5-0 PANTERA

In 1972, the popular Hawaii 5-0 series aired episode 5.98, "Death Wish on Tantalus Mountain". The show guest starred Ricardo Montalban as a race car driver who comes to Hawaii to race in a timed hill climb. His car of choice was the Detomaso Pantera. The episode featured a yellow early 1972 Pre L and a red 1971 "pushbutton" Pantera. The 1972 Pre L is destroyed in a crash after being sabotaged early in the show and the 1971 pushbutton subsequently arrives as it's replacement. I tracked down the red 1971 pushbutton and found that the original owner was willing to sell it. It had spent most of its life garaged being driven only occasionally. I was fortunate to purchase this car in August 2006, still in pristine, almost original condition with only 28,000 miles on it's odometer. It was the first Pantera imported to Hawaii. I think that its fitting that it should stay in Hawaii. The car is stock except for an upgraded cooling system, hi torque starter, headers, and an Edelbrock carburetor.