[DeTomaso] Cool Pantera Garage Diorama

[Jim Gray]

Seeing this reminded me of the quite real garage I saw several months ago in
suburban Cleveland, OH.

Upon arriving at the site, through the connections of Cleveland Larry, we
were greeted with the site of a white Ford GT outside the facility.  Upon
entering the shop we saw a Ferrari F430, no fewer than 4 Ford GT's, a
Porsche, a Lambo, a BMW and, as I remember, two Vipers and a Saleen Mustang.
I've probably forgotten some of the cars but suffice it to say that I was
blown away.  What I at first took to be a detail shop because of all the
buffers and Mequairs products sitting around, turned out to be private
collection.  The host was most cordial and explained the history and the
differences between the various Ford GT's and the modifications that had
been made or were being made to each of them. Most had had significant HP
boosts and cosmetic enhancements that ran from subtle striping to a full-on
blue and orange historical Gulf Racing paint scheme.  Very impressive
indeed.

After suffering (?) from this sensory overload I was driven several miles to
the shop of a well-known Pantera owner who I thought resided in Reno, NV.
It seems his residing in Reno is only when he, or rather his spouse, wished
to spend some time gambling. This Ohio shop had a chassis dyno, full paint
booth and ample staff to man the facility.  A new Mangusta sat on the floor
where it had been unloaded that very afternoon.  As I wandered through the
shop I found an "Eleanor" Mustang clone and a silver-with-black Fort GT.  In
addition the owner of the collection had come into possession of a VERY low
mileage red Pantera that had been sitting in a garage in Cleveland just
awaiting rescue.    It was being refurbed by the well-qualified staff.  Some
panteraphiles, who should have known better, never even bothered to look at
the specimen. Another previously restored excellent low-mileage Pantera was
also there.

The visit to these outstanding garages was all too brief but I came to
appreciate the collection that a passionate car guy can gather together
given sufficient passion and motivation.  Oh, did I forget to mention
significant financial commitment as well?

It was a great experience and my hat will be forever off to Cleveland Larry.

Jim Gray



-----Original Message-----
From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com]On
Behalf Of Mad Dog Antenucci
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2008 6:05 PM
To: Garth Rodericks; detomaso at realbig.com
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Cool Pantera Garage Diorama

Garth,

  You mean thats not a real garage? ;-]>
  Attention to detail is outstanding.

  Dawg

Garth Rodericks <garth_rodericks at yahoo.com> wrote:
  Stumbled upon a "Pantera Racing Garage Diorama" on the web today. Great
stuff. Check it out:
http://www.wilcosdioramas.com/Detomaso.htm



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Mad Dawg Antenucci
Team Pantera Racing
  The 1st & still the only vintage race team in open road racing
www.teampanteraracing.com
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