[DeTomaso] Glass for the Pantera

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

Mark wrote:

> I am looking for a new windshield and
new door glass (including the vent glass in the front of the door).  I
received about 3 or 4 responses and prices varied greatly.  The
variation has me quite perplexed and I am wondering if there are some
different "types" of glass being sold? 

>>>The very, very early Panteras had glass which was made in Italy, and was 
perfectly clear (no tint).   The overwhelming majority of Panteras (including 
virtually all USA cars) had glass that was made by Sicursiv in Germany.   I 
believe the later cars (GT5-S) had glass by another German outfit called Sigla 
(somebody please confirm this?).   I have a Siglia windshield in my car since my 
original glass was badly stone-bruised.

About ten years ago, the Finnish arm of Sicursiv, known as Sicurvsetro (sp?), 
began manufacturing the Pantera windshields and side glass.   Unlike the 
cheapo aftermarket windshields, all of these companies guarantee the highest OEM 
quality, but the Finnish windshields are (or at least were) less expensive than 
the German/Italian units.

Marino Perna, of Pantera East, is the exclusive importer of these suckers, 
but he sells them to other vendors also.   

Although he only stocks tinted glass, he can special-order clear glass if you 
have an exceptionally early car.

FWIW, the factory windshields pass through so many hands (Germany to De 
Tomaso, De Tomaso to Wilkinson (importer), then Wilkinson to Wilkinson (retailer) 
with a mark-up each time--they were selling for $1300-1400 a few years back.   
The presence of these nominally identical factory-spec 
windshields has caused the profit margins to be trimmed down mightly though, 
and has brought the German-made Sicursiv windshields down to $900 or 
thereabouts, I believe.

Whatever you do, do NOT go the cheap route and get one of the Brazilian-made 
windshields that Hall sells (or at least, used to sell).   These have a nice 
feature, an FM radio antenna incorporated into the glass.   However, the glass 
quality is quite poor, with big-time distortion towards the sides of the 
windscreen.   I drove a Pantera to Las Vegas about ten years ago fitted with one of 
these things, and it literally gave me a severe headache, sort of like 
wearing glasses that aren't designed for you.   Images, and the stripes on the road, 
would suddenly bend and distort as they disappeared out of the side of your 
vision.

No, this is something that's worth paying good money for.   But fortunately 
the good quality stuff is still fairly reasonable.

Oh, and to reiterate, Marino at Pantera East in Florida also stocks all new 
side glass (all three pieces), plus new rubber gaskets.   He's a little flaky 
when it comes to answering e-mails, but is great on the phone:

(381) 727-1181

Steve Wilkinson sells The Good Stuff in California at (562) 634-3434.   He 
also sucks at e-mail. :>)

I don't know what kind of glass the others stock, but if it's one of the OEM 
manufacturers listed above, you can't go wrong.   

Chuck mentioned having great luck with his local glass shop, and I wouldn't 
rule them out either, at least for the windshield.   But make sure you are 
getting a quality piece of glass from them.   For awhile, US glass makers made 
Pantera windscreens (when the cars were still relatively new, and plentiful on 
the roads), and I think Chuck got lucky and managed to get a leftover 
high-quality US-made NOS windscreen from one of those companies.   I wouldn't count on 
that happening today though.

And finally, he also raised a good point when speaking about how local glass 
shops treat glass which you bring to them.   If the glass is procured outside 
of their supply channels, they can't vouch for its quality, and thus normally 
they won't stand behind their installation.   If they bust it, they shrug 
their shoulders and walk away.   So it's as important to shop around for a good 
glass shop, as it is to shop for good glass (that is, unless the work is being 
done by a body shop).   If necessary, let them order the glass for you, and 
perhaps even mark it up, to ensure they will stand behind their work.

Good luck!

Mike




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