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This Pensioner Has Built A 9.3-Litre Hemi-Engined De Tomaso Pantera

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What will you be driving at the age of 75? Okay, let me rephrase that. What would you want to be driving at the age of 75? I’m more than likely going to be driving some 30 year old, lawnmower engined hatchback that, unlike a lot of more powerful cars on the road, won’t want to kill me. This is not what’s happened for 75-year old Swede, Goran Malmberg.

For just $10,000 in 1988, he bought a 1980 De Tomaso Pantera GT5, and since then, he’s been pushing the build to be worthy of the name he’s given it: Hemipanter. He’s been through three engines, the original 351 Cleveland, a Boss 302 with Weber carbs, and a 500ci Ford big-block. It was only when he got to his fourth, an aluminum 572ci Hemi V8, that he realised there certainly isn’t no replacement for displacement.

With displacement comes some very heavy figures. How does 800hp sound? And a 0-60 of just 3.3 seconds thanks partly to the 5-speed ZF auto ‘box and the fact that a custom multi-port fuel injection-system pumps E85 into the cylinders. Plus, each of the 61mm throttle-bodies were custom fabricated, the aluminium heads have been ported and the cams upgraded to a more aggressive spec. And before you think this is just a straight line monster, this chassis is twice as rigid as an Audi TT. And it stops on a dime thanks to its vented rotors by Lockheed. And to keep it in contact with the road, there are Z-rated Pirelli P-Zeros at each corner.

Wow. What a paragraph that was.

The whole car, including the engine, only 1,065kgs. Paired with the custom made suspension system, this car is quite the dominant machine on the road. And driven by a 75-year old? Hell yeah.

Alex Harrington

Alex started racing at a young age so certainly knows his way around a car and a track. He can just about put a sentence together too, which helps. He has a great interest in the latest models, but would throw all of his money at a rusty old French classic and a 300ZX. Contact: [email protected]

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