Carroll Shelby’s Pantera Used for Dodge Testing Gets Restored

Pantera once powered by a Dodge Viper prototype engine to be featured on Discovery’s ‘Driven,‘ March 30.

Right now, most of us are spending our days at home rather than driving our Dodge products due to the Covid-19 pandemic sweeping across the entire world. This means that many of us are watching more television than usual and for automotive junkies, there is some good news on the horizon in the form of a new program. Driven premiers on the Discovery channel on Monday, March 30 and the subject of their first episode is the DeTomaso Pantera GT5-S that was owned by Carroll Shelby.

If the show doesn’t interest you based on the fact that they are restoring Shelby’s Pantera, try this on for size. This DeTomaso was used by Shelby and Lee Iacocca to test possible engines for the first Dodge Viper, so while this car came from the factory with a Ford engine, it is famous for its place in Mopar history.

Discovery Introduces Driven

Driven is the newest automotive program aimed at gearheads and it will debut on the Discovery channel on Monday, March 30, 2020. The show is hosted Beau Boeckmann, Dave Shuten and “Mad Mike” Martin. Boeckmann (below, left) is the president of Galpin Auto Sport. Shuten (below, right) is a well-known custom car builder, Mad Mike (interior shot, further down) is a customization expert from MTV’s Pimp My Ride and they both work for Galpin. Galpin also played a key role in Pimp My Ride, but this time around, the team focuses on tasteful restorations of vehicles of special historical significance.

Based on the trailer above from the Discovery YouTube channel, the show will look at all sorts of vehicles including some variety of Hellcat car, but in the first episode, the focus is Carroll Shelby and his 1987 DeTomaso Pantera GT5-S. Panteras came from the factory with a small-block Ford V8 under the hood, but Shelby ripped the engine out of this GT5-S, installing a handful of different engines over the years. The most important of those transplanted engines was the twin turbocharged small block that was being considered for the Dodge Viper.

Twin Turbo Dodge Engine

When this 1987 DeTomaso Pantera GT5-S rolled out of the factory, it was powered by a small block Ford, but at some point, Shelby and Lee Iacocca decided to replace that engine with a twin turbocharged Dodge V8. Shelby was helping Iacocca with the early development of the Dodge Viper and one of the possible engine options was a twin turbo V8. Rather than put this boosted V8 in something that made more sense, they put it in Shelby’s Pantera GT5-S.

This is a particularly odd choice, seeing as how the Viper has the engine mounted in front of the driver while the Pantera puts the power behind the driver. However, it may have simply been a test of how the Dodge V8 performed with the forced induction setup.

In any case, a naturally aspirated V10 from Lamborghini was chosen to power the Viper and the twin turbo V8 was removed from this Pantera. At some point, the car was retired and when Mr. Shelby passed away, this was one of the cars from his collection which went up for auction. We don’t know how it got from the auction buyer to the hosts of Driven, but perhaps that will be discussed on the show.

In addition to installing an engine, Driven restores the interior and exterior, returning this unique supercar to its original glory.

If you are interested in the history of this Pantera accompanying a thorough restoration, check your local listings to see when Driven runs on Discovery in your area.

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Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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