December 2017

Comb through the history of 20th century car designs, and one name continually appears over and over again. Tom Tjaarda. Though Tjaarda never penned his name as a brand or touted his individual accomplishments, he quietly assembled an astonishing career of automotive achievements. Indeed, Tjaarda (a U.S.-born, Detroit native) could easily be described as one of the best, but least known, car designers in the world. His prolific career included as many as 80 cars ranging from one-off Pininfarina and Ghia specials, to bespoke sports cars and impressive production cars. Never one to remain satisfied with standards of the times or a specific style, Tjaarda perpetually extended his reach—a tribute to his five decades of active design involvement. And while entire books can and should be written about his illustrious career, I choose to remember him most fondly from 30 years ago, as I wandered the Pebble Beach green—a budding transportation design student who chanced to meet him while mutually marveling at a Zagato design. He was gracious, curious about my youthful perceptions, and cheerfully answered all my questions. The consummate gentleman, always polite and engaging, his work remains a tribute to both his talent and modesty, quietly assuming his legacy without fanfare. Though any number of his designs could be written about here in great detail, I believe the Pantera is one of his most important designs, both at introduction and as a collector’s piece.

The dawn of the 1970s was greeted eagerly at the Modena, Italy Show where the Ghia-built Pantera had just debuted. The innovative Pantera arrived as a steel monocoque design, sporting fresh angular coachwork, and a powerful, mid-mounted American V8 engine. A few weeks later, the Pantera stunned the New York Motor Show, where it was immediately placed into production. Under the rear deck lid, the powerful 351-cid Ford V8 engine, mated to a 5-speed ZF transaxle, produced a grossly underrated 330 hp (contemporary dynos show power was closer to 375 hp) making the 1971 Pantera capable of accelerating to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds, besting competitors at half the price.