[DeTomaso] ZF-can you imagine?

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

I doubt the Fendt Roller was much of a volume-user, or that the ZF was first 
developed for it. DeTomaso was probably the biggest volume-consumer of ZFs. 
Besides Panteras and Mangustas, most Euro- built mid-engined GT cars of the 
'60s- '80s used the ZF: Maserati (late Boras and Meraks), the BMW M-1s and the 
smallblock GT-40s, most English mid-engined kit-machines and the rare Monteverdi. 

Ferrari and Lamborhini had their own transaxles, and a few other makers 
developed cheaper units for lower-powered mid-engine cars. I'd bet that 80% of the 
ZFs around today came from or were intended for a Pantera. 
One fact (in hindsight): Ford, being distrustful of the durability of the 
'exotic' ZF, developed their own trouble-prone transaxle for big-block GT-40 
racers, and had constant tranny trouble. Later, the same attitude caused Ford to 
stock one spare ZF for every five Panteras sold in the U.S. That would have 
been around 1200 'replacement' ZFs, of which few were ever used. The left-overs 
are the 'new-in-crate' ZFs you occasionally see on E-Bay, sold off or thrown 
away by Ford dealers that got tired of storing parts which were never asked for. 
FWIW- J Deryke


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