[DeTomaso] First production RHD?

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 1/19/08 13 03 37, Pantera007 at sbcglobal.net writes:


> Does anyone know what the first production RHD car is (or when made)?
> 
> I'm not talking about retro-fitted by the factory, or after-market
> conversions.
> 

Right now the earliest known RHD Pantera is pushbutton #1228.   However, 
recent inspection has revealed that the VIN was stamped on a plate which was 
riveted to the top of the brake booster box; removing that shows a steel plate 
which was welded atop the booster box, and the original VIN has been scratched 
out.   Phil Stebbings (DTDC founder/secretary and a long-time inspector for 
Scotland Yard) is hoping to do a little CSI action on it and see if the original 
VIN can be lifted.

The car in question has many unique features which are very different even 
from early Euro pushbuttons, specifically Stephane Bergeron's #1256.   Roger 
Brotton is working on it, and has found a host of anomolies which are completely 
unique to this car (in his experience).

Roger is looking for somebody with a very early Pantera (such as Bjorn's 
#1014) so he can compare notes; he believes this car may in fact be the very first 
RHD prototype.   That car was reportedly crashed severely by an idiot 
journalist, and now it seems that the car in question may have been 'reinvented' from 
that car in an effort to hide its checkered past.   When the restoration 
began, they found that the entire left side of the car was made out of bondo, 
which jives with the story of the crash (journalist mistook the gas for the brake, 
or something similarly stupid, and pounded the whole left side of the car 
into a guardrail).

The whole LHD-to-RHD conversion process was extremely flaky; I've worked on a 
couple of RHD cars and it's rather scary to contemplate.   The clutch and 
brake masters are still on the LH side of the car; the framework that supports 
the steering column is literally chopped out from the left side and sloppily 
re-welded on the right side, and some hokey cross-shaft arrangement is conjured 
up , so that the pedals on the right side of the car turn shafts (which act 
like big torsion bars, twisting under load) which in turn actuate their 
respective master cylinders.

I've got a bunch of photos detailing the LHD-to-RHD conversion, and will 
write an article about it for Profiles someday....

Come to think of it, that crash I mentioned may have been caused by the brake 
pedal shaft snapping; other RHD Panteras have had this shaft snap cleanly in 
two, creating a true Brown Trousers moment for the occupants of the car at the 
time....

Mike


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