[DeTomaso] 351C questions

hemipanter at hemipanter.se hemipanter at hemipanter.se
Fri Dec 18 06:14:44 EST 2009


M
For a considerable extra pile of money, De Tomaso's "race engineers" would
soup up the engine for you. As Colin Bradshaw (the original owner of one
of the very last GT5-S Panteras)found out to his dismay, for your money,
you got an extra line on your sales invoice stating that you have a
higher-horsepower engine--but that's it. When his engine blew up after he
drove it very hard for a few years, he discovered that it was bog-standard
truck motor inside--not a thing had been changed.

G
Apparently the engine represented the expectations for a few years of hard
running, without anything to ask for.

M
De Tomaso's 'engineers' worked similar magic on ZF gearboxes--for a
considerable extra pile of cash, you could get alternate gear ratios. One
owner in the UK paid to have the 4.00 final drive instead of the 4.22. For
his money, he actually got TWO things--an extra line on his sales invoice
stating that he had the alternate gear ratio, and a nice little "4.00"
stamp on the top of the ZF case. However, many years later, when driving
side-by-side with another GT5-S equipped with the same wheels and tires,
he discovered they turned *exactly* the same rpm at the same speed.

G
Did not the owner noticed what modification his have been ordering, when
driving? Besides, what is the idea of ordering 4,00 before 4,22?

To me it looks like the factory is cheating on people and that the people
drives home happy with the knowledge of have been ordering something
special.
Who cheated whom?
Goran





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