[DeTomaso] The Fake Pantera Lives????

[Barry Seib]

Mike
I am quite certain that your 1972 Pantera never had the plate that surrounds
the VIN on the top of the footbox. Mine didn't either
Pre-L Panteras did not have a "Body Service Number" on a plate in the engine
bay or the metal tag that normally surrounds the VIN. I have been studying
photos of 71-72 pre-L cars for originality for 8 years and I have not seen
one with the "Body Service Number" or the plate that surrounds the VIN on
the top of the footbox. I'm not sure at what point in the "L" production the
change to add these items happened, but perhaps sometime later in 1973? I'm
pretty sure that all the Ford program Panteras had felt in the front trunk
and not carpet.
Barry

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http://www.teampanteraracing.com/index.php?option=com_g2bridge&view=gallery&
Itemid=57&g2_itemId=335

Um yea... I guess a link would help.

Asa Jay Laughton, MSgt, USAFR, Retired

& Shelley Marie
Spokane, WA

1971 Mach I Mustang  [ASA JAY]
1973 Pantera L 5533  [ASASCAT]

******************************
http://www.asajay.com
http://www.teampanteraracing.com




Asa Jay Laughton wrote:
> Here is an example of the VIN stamped in the metal of top of the pedal
> box.  In -this- case, the metal tag that normally surrounds the VIN is
> gone.  I don't know it was every there.  This is a photo of -my- car, a
> 1973 L, I purchased it from the original owner and have all
> documentation to say it's original.  It doesn't have the plate, I don't
> know why.
>
> But I -do- know the plates exist on other cars and there is a cutout
> that would normally expose the VIN like in my photo.
>
> Asa Jay
>
> Asa Jay Laughton, MSgt, USAFR, Retired
>
> & Shelley Marie
> Spokane, WA
>
> 1971 Mach I Mustang  [ASA JAY]
> 1973 Pantera L 5533  [ASASCAT]
>
> ******************************
> http://www.asajay.com
> http://www.teampanteraracing.com
>
>
>
>
> MikeLDrew at aol.com wrote:
>
>> In a message dated 10/7/09 16 50 36, boyd411 at gmail.com writes:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> I checked all the Vin numbers on my car , and the body tags and no where
>>> did
>>> I find a  surround with the place for the Vin # cut out. . My car is a
>>> 1973
>>> L and may be different from the model you cited . It has the Vin on the
>>> dash
>>> in the corner of the windshield, a partial Vin on a Detomaso tag near
the
>>> master cylinder and the full Vin on a plastic tag with additional info
ion
>>> the drivers side door jamb. None of them had a cut out section with a
>>> plate
>>> over the Vin #.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>> Your cutout plate, like mine, has probably been removed when somebody
>>>>>
>>>>>
>> reupholstered the front trunk.   There is only one real, official VIN on
the
>> car, and the others are just copies for convenience.   The official VIN
is
>> stamped on the top of the box that supports the brake vacuum booster, the
>> carpet had a rectangular cutout there, and the the plate with the cutout
section
>> goes on top of that.   Do you have carpet on top of your brake booster
box,
>> with nothing else?   If so, peel it back and you'll find your car's
actual
>> VIN underneath--hopefully it matches the others!
>>
>> And your friendly Pantera vendors will gladly sell you a reproduction
>> cutout plate, so that you can trim your carpet, and then you can affix it
in the
>> appropriate spot to return your car to its original appearance. :>)
>>
>> The 'partial VIN' on a tag next to the booster is almost assuredly your
>> Body Service Number--a five-digit number, beginning with a "5", and
having no
>> relationship to the VIN whatsoever.   It's sort of a secondary VIN, a
number
>> used internally by Ford to identify the cars sequentially, because
although
>> the bodies were numbered sequentially at the Vignale factory in Turin, by
>> the time they were trucked to Modena, and shuffled in and out of storage
lots
>> etc. before they ran down the final assembly line, the cars were no
longer
>> in numerical order.   The BSN allowed Ford to document changes, with 'all
>> cars after BSN such-and-such now have this feature', something that was
>> somewhat impossible to do with the VIN, unless the change was one that
took place
>> in Turin, and not Modena.
>>
>> Cheers!
>>
>> Mike
>> _______________________________________________

>>
>>
> _______________________________________________