[DeTomaso] The Fake Pantera Lives????

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

There's another possible motive for building such a car besides 
crookedness; poor-ness!   I don't know the intimate details of the fabricated Pantera, 
but when Judy and I were actively autocrossing all over Northern CA, there 
was an odd looking kit-Cobra from San Jose also running. The owner freely 
admitted that with a wife & 3 kids, he simply couldn't afford a 'real' kit from 
any of the many suppliers. What he got was a reject front clip from one 
maker and a reject rear clip from another... and put them together on his own 
frame. As I remember, it looked a little out of proportion but ran well... 
until he decided to hot-dog the last turn at a DeAnza College event, smacked a 
concrete light pole with the passenger door and broke the car in two. Don't 
know whatever happened to the car; the builder- Jeff Jio- retired quite a 
few years ago. Remember him, Bob?
Food for thought- J Deryke