A good friend of mine has a Pantera too. Its probably not fair to compare the two cars. His just finished a major engine rebuild and runs and sounds like a million bucks now. It also draws a lot of attention, way more than my 986 (he has a 944 also) since more then a few people will mistake it for a classic Lambo or Ferrari.
The Boxster is a matter of fact a much better car, it rides better, it drives better, . . but hey it has 30-35 years of technology going for it.
On the other hand, if your the kind of guy who really likes working on cars, the Pantera might be a better choice. My friend doesn’t ever really seem to have too hard a time finding parts, but hes got money to spend so he doesn’t always look at the cost of things. In general, the drive train components can be found in just about any Mustang parts catalog since it has (should have
) the Ford 351 Cleveland engine and a ZF transmission. If you need engine work you can take it to most race shops the good 'ol boys take their muscle cars to.
I spent a few days helping him remove the engine and trany a while back and got a crash course in Panteras in the process. I basically knew nothing about them going in. Pretty cool cars. He has his tuned north of 500 HP. These cars are probable decent investments too, certainly way better than a Boxster. With the ridiculous up swing in price of the classic muscle cars, a lot of people think the Panteras and such are a logical next hot thing mainly due to the 351 Cleveland under the hood, or ahh rear deck lid.