Los Panteros treat their bodies no different than their cars: they are both assets and weapons, As such, they spend as much time working out to keep their bodies in shape as they do tuning up their cars. They also use them as a form of artistic expression, a way to display their 'panther pride.' Cars are a source of personal prestige and status within Los Panteros: shoot someone in the face and they’re dead fuck with their car… and they’re nobody. They are constantly engaged in tuning their cars for optimal performance. Their obsession with vehicles is both practical and symbolic–their muscle cars, motorcycles, and monster-trucks are the base of their power, serving both as assets for committing crimes and weapons for smacking down anyone who needs to learn their place. They’ll be tolerated so long as they stay in their lane and pay their respects (and a cut of the profits) anyone who doesn’t is in for a truck-load of trouble.Ībove all else, Los Panteros respect raw, physical strength. As far as they’re concerned, everyone else is trespassing. The streets of Santo are their home, their turf, their city. Obsessed with strength and car culture, they control most of the core criminal activity in Santo Ileso: auto-theft, drug trafficking, protection rackets, smuggling.Īll the classics. Los Panteros are the original, home-grown street gang in Santo Ileso.
