[DeTomaso] Le Mans Pantera story

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

Hi guys,

In the midst of a conversation between Patrick Hals, Guy Trigaux, Claude 
Dubois and me regarding Claude's entry in the 1972 24 hours of Le Mans, Claude 
shared the following anecdote and asked me to share it with you guys too. :>
)

Mike

=====

 But, yes , Guy  we  know  that.......2860  Team  Claude  Dubois's  car
reached  about  270 km/h top speed  in  1972  with a stock  engine  and
304  km/h in 1975  with  a  good  race 351C prepared in Modena.....driven 
by
Pierre  Rubens and  his  Italian  partner.

I  must  point  out  about  that 1972  engine :, which  replaced  our  race
engine( badly-prepared by  Bud  Moore , who  blew  up  4  days  before  Le
Mans  and after  our  victorious  race in Spa,in May  72  where  we
defeated the Porsche  factory)  :

1/It  was  a  stock  production  351C , with  only following  modifications
made  in a hurry  during the  week  end  preceding the  24 hours :  -  
steel
sprockets and Cloyes  timing  chain.
                                                         -  Team Claude
Dubois- modified  G4 oil pan to avoid starvation
                                                          -High  volume  
TRW
oil pump
                                                         -  Edelbrock or
similar manifold  with  a 1150  Holley.
                                                         -  A  set  of
colder  sparking  plugs.

Thats  all , so  this  was  in fact  a really  stock  production  engine ,
and  it  speaks  a lot  for the
quality  and  good  specifications of  a  standard  Ford  V8.......with
hydraulic  lifters  , stock cam ,pistons ,rods  etc etc.  Certainly the
cheapest way  in the  world  to  get  300 honest  HP!

This  was  in  1972 , in following  years the  351C  became less and  less
efficient and  powerful  due to  smog  regulations  , lower  compression
ratio and  milder  cams.

I  must  add that  this  engine  came  out  of  a  stock Pantera  that we
lended to  the  Belgian Gendarmerie (Highway Patrol)  who  wanted to  
select
a  fast  pursuit  vehicle, for  a two  months
high  speed  and  endurance  testing  programm.  They  abused  that engine
during about 10.000  kms.

During  this  programm  all the  other  competitors  have  been  thourougly
ridiculized  and the
Porsche  who  won the  deal  , won  only  ONE  test against  the Pantera :
the  turning  circle.

De Tomaso  refused  to  offer at no  cost  a  new Pantera  to  the  son of
the  Defense  Minister in
Belgium  who  was the  guy  who  signed the  order  form and  thats  why  
we
did not  get  that
business.

The  top  speeds achieved  by  all the  cars  in competition  were
approximately  this :

-BMW    3.O  CSI            212  km/h
-PORSCHE  911               219
-CITROEN  SM               215
-FERRARI  DINO            208
-JAGUAR  XJ12               235
-PANTERA                      266  (!)

Minimum  top  speed  required  by the  specifications  book  of the
Gendarmerie  being  220 km/h,everybody  was  out , excepted the Jaguar  and
the  Pantera.  It  is only  after  a night massaging
the  911   in the  Porsche  Distributor  workshops  and using  a  very
light  Gendarmerie's pilot that the  Porsche  reached finally  220;8 km/h ,
or  something like  that.

The  most  ridiculous  car  was the  BMW , who  got  burning  (with
flames....) brake  pads  during the
brake  fading  tests........very  funny.

My  pilot  was  Daniel  Vanderborght , and  he  was  opposed to
International  drivers  like  Teddy
Pilette  driving  our  competitor's  cars for  the  circuit  testing in
Zolder. Daniel  was  easely  the  fastest  on the  track  anyway ,     and
by a  big  margin.  Nobody  could  follow him.

Thats the  story  and  life  of the  valiant  351 C  engine  that  finished
Le  Mans , installed in 2860 in 1972.  After  Le  Mans , a  new  race
engine  was installed in 2860 and the  stock  engine  ended probably  his
career  in a  production  Pantera , but  I  never  heard  about him
exploding !

Mike , you  may  send  this  story  to  Pantera  fans if  you  want. Even
to  Porsche  and  Ferrari guys , but they  will probably  not  like  it.

Good  evening ,    Claude   Dubois


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