[DeTomaso] Don Who? Don Coleman!

MikeLDrew at aol.com MikeLDrew at aol.com
Sun Mar 18 13:24:28 EDT 2007


In a message dated 3/17/07 10:12:15, msm at portata.com writes:

<< >> We'll ask Don in Vegas--he'll tell us the whole story!

Don who?  Corleone?  Novello?  Juan?  Ho? >>

>>>Don Coleman!  You obviously haven't been paying attention to your POCA 
newsletters!

Don Coleman is a fascinating guy.  He was a real hotshot at Ford, and was 
quickly identified as having enormous potential.  While in his 20s (I think), he 
was placed in charge of the entire 289-family engine development and racing 
program.  So all the Cobra, GT40, drag racing, and etc. racing engine 
development programs, as well as road car engine programs relating to the original 
Windsor block were his direct responsibility.  As the 60s drew to a close and Ford 
ramped up the Pantera program, they realized they needed a guy like him 
stationed in Modena to be THE Ford man on the job, so he was selected.  He was there 
for a year, and oversaw the Pantera program moving from clay model to 
production.

It was a tumultuous time, and he found that working with A. De Tomaso was 
very different from working with gung-ho American racers like Shelby.

Anyway, I met Don at a Shelby convention years ago; two guys were chatting 
about ZF gearboxes alongside a GT40 and I sort of barged into the conversation; 
when I revealed my Pantera background his eyes lit up.  As it happens, he was 
attending the event with Claude Dubois, and fetched him over and the three of 
us started a great conversation which has led to a friendship that has lasted 
ever since.

I've been after him for a few years to come to Vegas to be our guest speaker, 
and this year his schedule allows it.  So he will be revealing all the 
behind-the-scenes political and engineering history of the development oike
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