[DeTomaso] Early Top Gear Pantera footage

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

The host, Quentin Wilson, is a complete tool.

The feature was fairly complimentary to the car.   What they failed to 
mention was that shortly after getting behind the wheel at Silverstone, Wilson 
totally dorked it up by lifting off the gas abruptly in a corner, spinning the car 
to oblivion and crashing it at very high speed into the wall.   As it was 
spinning, he managed to demolish most if not all the corners of the car.

The owner was distinctly Not Amused.

By all rights the car should have been totalled.   Instead, it went to a 
restoration shop (I forget which one) and was meticulously rebuilt/reinvented, and 
the BBC was handed a bill for £50,000, which was only about $75,000 at that 
time, but at that time, $75,000 was all the money in the world for a Pantera 
GT5; you could have bought a beautiful replacement for considerably less.   
However, only nine original GT5 Panteras were ever sold in the UK in 
right-hand-drive, and that made all the difference.

I have since ridden in the car, and you'd never know that it ever had a 
scratch on it.

Mike

P.S.   After the wreck, Quentin Wilson was promptly fired!


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