[DeTomaso] proposed email to Hemmings

[boyd casey]

Dear Jim,
First of all I think the tone of your letter is very conciliatory and it
is diplomatically written . In my opinion these are both positives and
should improve  the chances of the publishers or editor in being receptive
to your letter. I would preface the letter by qualifying yourself as a
customer (reader) of Hemmings and mention that you are not writing to voice
your own opinion but that you have been delegated by your group ( an
organization made up of Pantera owners that also read Hemmings) and point
out that one of the qualities of Hemmings that you (they) find to be most
important  was Hemmings objective attitude and their adherence to  facts.You
(as well as other members of your car club) often engage in dialogue
concerning cars and articles about cars and it has been the consensus of
your associates that Hemmings could always be counted on to provide accurate
and factual information concerning the automobiles that they wrote about.
There is a level of comfort one attains and comes to expect when they find a
publication that checks their facts and prints technical information that is
accurate. When something like this happens it makes one reevaluate their
faith in the information being provided and the reliability of Hemmings as a
publication that they believe can be used as a reference guide  not just
light reading filled with opinions or reviews instead of facts. There is
nothing wrong .with an author including their opinion about a particular car
but that information needs to be notated as a "review and containing
"opinions" not necessarily factual information or technical specifications.
The second point is that I think you need to be more specific in identifying
the article you are making reference to and then printing in quotations the
specific statements that you (and the group you represent) take exception
too. Check some of Mike Drew's posts and you will see how he prints the
original quote and then his rebuttal. This will help to clearly identify the
specific misstatements of facts that we are objecting to. And then the
corrected information. So you point out the misstatements of facts first.
That's something that no one can dispute. Then you address the issues of
opinion. Where the articles author makes reference to the width of the
seating area and his difficulty in entering and exiting the car and the
other points that the author took exception too. This would be the place to
make the comparison to other cars and their dimensions. If you do these
things and cover all the points I think you will have succeeded  in
presenting the facts and pointing out the flaws in the original article.
I will support you letter and perhaps others will join in maybe even sign a
petition or some other document demonstrating their support.
In any case I think you will have improved the chances of a positive result
following this approach.
Boyd
On Sun, Apr 4, 2010 at 12:13 AM, <pantdino at aol.com> wrote:

>
> What do people think of this?
>
> Dear Sirs,
> Thank you for the generally complimentary article on the De Tomaso Pantera,
> a car which I feel is one of the great bargains in the collector car world.
>
> However, in the interest of accuracy I feel the need to address two issues:
>
> 1) In regards to the driver being “wedged between the console and door
> panel,” I would like to compare that distance to some other vehicles:
> Pantera = 24”, 2004 Toyota Highlander Limited = 24”, 1995 3 series BMW =
> 23.5”, 1986 Porsche 944 Turbo = 22.5”
>
> 2) In regards to the 3 pedals being as wide as two feet, the pedals measure
> 10.5” across.
>
> Perhaps knowing these numbers would help your readers to reach their own
> conclusions on these matters.
>
> Thank you for the great magazine and keep up the good work!
>
> Jim Oddie
> Cerritos, CA
>
>
>
>
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