‘Discovery’ Show Restores Carroll Shelby’s DeTomaso Pantera GT5-S
DeTomaso Pantera owned by Shelby was used for early Dodge Viper development.
Unless you have a job that has been deemed essential by your local government, the odds are good that you and your Ford Mustang haven’t been having much fun on the road. Most people around the world are staying inside as everyone battles the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning that we are all spending less time in our cars and more time in front of the television. Fortunately, there is a new show titled “Driven” starting on the Discovery channel next week and the subject of the first episode is the 1987 DeTomaso Pantera GT5-S owned by Carroll Shelby.
In this first episode, the hosts of the show bring the worn Pantera back to the shop at Galpin Auto Sports to tackle the lengthy restoration process. While hunting for an engine and repairing the rest of the vehicle, we get a history lesson on the unique background of this particular DeTomaso. In addition to being owned by Carroll Shelby, this Pantera GT5-S was used for drivetrain testing for the first Dodge Viper.
Driven Debuts
Driven premiers on the Discovery channel on Monday, March 30 at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and as mentioned above, Carroll Shelby and his 1987 Pantera GT5-S are the subject of the first episode. In each episode, the hosting trio of Beau Boeckmann, Dave Shuten and “Mad Mike” Martin will “uncover historic and one-of-a-kind cars to rebuild and reintroduce back into the automotive history books”. Boeckmann (below, left) is the president and COO of Galpin Auto Sport, Shuten (below, right) is a well-known custom car builder for Galpin and Mad Mike (shown in the interior shot below) is a customization expert, best known for his time on MTV’s Pimp My Ride.
In the trailer above from the Discovery YouTube channel, we get a look at the first episode of “Driven,” including plenty of shots of Shelby’s Pantera. We can see that it is in rough shape and that is does not have an engine, so in addition to restoring this classic supercar, the team also has to locate an engine. Once completed, the team hits the track to see what the restored Italian-American supercar can really do.
In addition to the Pantera, we see that the hosts work with several other cars including a Batmobile, but there always seems to be a Ford Mustang somewhere in the background. We don’t know if one of the episodes focuses on a Mustang, but there are certainly enough “historic” pony cars out there that could fit the bill.
Shelby’s Pantera GT5-S
Carroll Shelby owned multiple DeTomaso Panteras over the years, but none were quite like this one. This 1987 GT5-S was part of a project between Shelby and Chrysler’s Lee Iacocca, in which it was used to test a possible engine for the first Dodge Viper. Evidently, the original plan was to run a twin turbocharged small block V8, but Dodge eventually went with the naturally aspirated V10. However, this Pantera was fitted with a twin turbo V8 for some time and, according to information online, this car was used to test other drive train combinations as well.
After Mr. Shelby passed away, many of his personal cars were sold at auction and this 1987 DeTomaso Pantera GT5-S was one of them. We aren’t sure how it ended up in the hands of the crew from Driven, but we suspect that will be part of the history lesson during the show. We also aren’t sure exactly what engine they plan to install, but we can see in the trailer that the Galpin team does far more than just installing an engine. After what appears to be a full restoration process, the car hits the track for a little high performance testing.
Driven premiers on the Discovery channel at 9 p.m. Eastern on Monday, March 30, but the run time may vary based on your location. Check local listings for the time in your area. We don’t know what other cars will be featured on the show, but they are certainly starting with an interesting one.
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