45 Years of MotorWeek, John Davis' Unforgettable Pantera:

Click here to share your favorite car, car story or any automotive trivia!In 1975, before he became MotorWeek's trusted voice for 45 seasons, John Davis had a purchase decision to make: Jensen Interceptor or De Tomaso Pantera? Both were exotic cars with American engines he could actually work on. He chose the Pantera—specifically a two-year-old 1973 L model he found in Norfolk, Virginia.The catch? A family bought it for their son's high school graduation. The son promptly wrecked it. They had it partially repaired, sent him to the Navy, and sold it to John.John drove it home and completely disassembled it. Every part. His entire apartment became a workshop—engine components in the kitchen, transmission parts in the bedroom, body panels in the living room.Italian exotic styling. Ford 351 Cleveland V8 power. American engineering he could wrench on himself.He rebuilt everything that didn't move. Daily Driver until 1979Decades later, after reviewing thousands of cars on America's longest-running automotive TV show, one truth remains: "I still miss that car today."The host who's driven everything shares the restoration story that started it all—complete with apartment management nightmares and why choosing American-powered exotics changed his automotive journey.Connect with Us: Got a great car story? Email us at [email protected]. Find all our content and social links here: linktr.ee/carsloved.Podcast News:Our co-host, Doug was a guest on the Driven Radio Show Podcast to share the origin story of our podcast and connecting with his late father through his DeLorean project.Check out the amazing article about the podcast by Elevate Society and Tal Gur, author of "The Art of Fully Living"Feedspot selected To All The Cars I've Loved Before in their list of Top 100 Car Podcasts and 31 Best Road Trip Podcasts For Your DriveOur co-host, Doug was featured in this magazine article along with his DeLore...