[DeTomaso] FOR SALE: 1972 Pantera Pre-L #2886, Yellow

[Douglas Kelm]

Mikey,

Your check is in the mail ;<). Seriously, thanks for the letter of endorsement. Even though it has been close to 10 years since you have seen this car, it has changed very little cosmetically. Maybe a stone chip here and a windshield pit there, but I can honestly say that I have maintained (or even mechanically improved) it to a high standard in the last 20,000K miles (not much by California standards). Why else would I spend two days and $500 in parts to change out a clutch and all the associated pieces, in a car I am intending to sell, when the car was perfectly derivable with it's ailing throwout bearing? Because I want the next owner to have as trouble free an ownership experience as possible. 

I may have sellers remorse if it finds a new home, but I plan to stay close to our community of Pantera owners via this site, POCA and PI memberships, and occasional sojourns to the annual Vegas rally. Pantera people are truly the finest of sports car enthusiasts and Mike Drew is right there at the top of the heap! I will always consider him a close friend, even though I see him maybe once every three or four years! Dedication, knowledge and generosity of the magnitude he displays is unusual and something to be treasured by all. Sniff, sniff. Damn, I'm starting to get a little farklemt - discuss amongst yourselves: How much do you enjoy Mike's company and when was the last time you sent him a thank you note for all the effort he exerts on behalf of the marque..

Gary is well aware that the car is for sale, and in fact a friend of his from Chicago is seriously interested in it but has commitment fob, apparently. 

Is this a "perfect Pantera"? That may be a bit of hyperbole on Mike's part and I would never recommend that ANYONE buy a car sight unseen from a total stranger. But I am not ashamed to say that this is a very nice car and I wouldn't hesitate to get in it tomorrow and drive across country, packing my cell phone and AAA card, of course! As regards the price, you have to remember that I live on the great barren tundra of the Midwest and the market for Panteras is not what it is in California. That being said, check out the prices of cars on the PI site if you want to see what other "comparable" cars are priced at!!  It is going to cost someone a fair amount of money to fly in here and pick it up, and maybe fly back home if it's not to his liking. We'll see. If it sells tomorrow for $45K, then I guess I will have left some on the table. If there is no interest for three months, then either it's overpriced or I am a piss poor marketer.

Mike, if you send or email me a wallet sized pic of your car, I promise to have it laminated and carry it with me for the next 10 years. Hell, I don't even carry a picture of my OWN car!


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: MikeLDrew at aol.com 
  To: dakelm at qwest.net ; DeTomaso at realbig.com 
  Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 4:33 PM
  Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] FOR SALE: 1972 Pantera Pre-L #2886, Yellow


  All,

  This is a GREAT, GREAT car.  In fact, I carry a photo of ONLY this car in my wallet to show people what a Pantera looks like.  (Arguably, now I should start carrying a photo of my own car, since I took great pains to essentially copy this car as much as possible, since I felt that it pretty much set the high-water mark for Panteras in my own personal judgement).

  I find the car underpriced at $45K, but then again I haven't seen it in years.  Mechanically it has received numerous upgrades since I last saw it; if cosmetically it is unchanged, then he is giving the car away IMHO.

  Doug--did you happen to offer it up to Gary Berger?  The previous owner, always regretted selling it, and now that he is living in Little Rock or some place like that, he has money in his pockets and could perhaps afford to buy it back, if he were so inclined.

  I'm sad to see that Doug is selling this car--I have tried to convince him for years to keep it (and for years I was successful, no more, alas....)

  Anybody who has a hankering for a perfect Pantera, need look no further.  You won't be disappointed.  I would go so far as to say that I would heartily endorse the idea of buying this car sight unseen, since I know it so well.

  Mike


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