[DeTomaso] Deal in Spokane or Hayden?

Tue Jul 27 00:01:58 EDT 2010

Alrighty then,

I got up to Hayden today to look at this Pantera.  I took some photos, 
but unfortunately forgot my camera, so my CrackBerry had to be used.  It 
doesn't take near as nice the photos as my nearly 10 year old 
half-broken Olympus does.  But oh well.

The car is believed to be sold, meaning the buyer is simply waiting on 
approval from the bank who is sending someone to appraise the car.  I 
want you to know I did not do an inspection worthy of Mike Drew, I 
mostly just gave it a quick once over.  Ok, here we go:

VIN:  THPNNK06512
Clearly visible in the front trunk on the pedal box.
THIS CAR IS IN THE PROVAMO REGISTRY

Body Service No.:  32147
also riveted to the pedal box.

The plastic tag in the door jamb is gone.

The engine emissions plate in the engine compartment is gone, but the 
engine tag is still there though it appears to have a different layout 
than what's on my car.  I couldn't make out the numbers, the garage was 
not lit and I had to rely on my camera.  I can't offload the photos 
tonight so I'll double check tomorrow.  The photo of the block where the 
engine number is supposed to be isn't really visible either.  I'll know 
more tomorrow.

The Pantera appears to be an L model by all appearances.  There are -no- 
bumpers on the car and the holes have been filled in making a very 
smooth front and rear.  The turn signal buckets in front are one piece 
with the fender, ala L model.  The Campys appear to all be original and 
of the same batch, though it might take Mike to really know the subtle 
differences.

The bodywork and paint are top notch.  The car is reported to have been 
white and the young man who showed me the car, also explained how it was 
in his fathers shop over the last year going through the work.  I didn't 
check under the dash but everything else was black, a nice shiny jet 
black.  The engine compartment is untouched as far as finish, still 
sporting some undercoat and rather dusty, dirty.

The front end appears immaculate with no dents on the valance and a very 
straight grill.  Stock radiator and fans, stock brake and clutch master 
cylinders, stock windshield washer bottle.  Needs new felt.  although 
the sides weren't bad, the bottom had been replaced with something I 
would consider a bit more temporary.  Battery was in the stock location.

Interior appears all stock with one exception.   The seat belt shoulder 
harness is retractable, mounted somehow on the firewall cover.  I'm not 
confident in the mounting but that's what was there.  It might be 
mounted better than it looked, I just couldn't tell readily.  Seats 
appear to be in good shape either well kept or recently reupholstered.  
The carpet appears okay, with one severe wear spot under and to the left 
of the clutch pedal.  Same wear spot on my car.  The headliner is jet 
black, not white.  Steering wheel needs a new cover or just replaced.

All glass looks good, except there was no trim around the windshield.  
Now I'm not an expert, but I think it was a stock gasket that usually 
holds the trim installed before the window went in.  I don't think it 
was something different, I just think they left it out to go along with 
the black.

The rear looked good from the outside.  The deck lid had the underside 
brace re-sealed to the skin and it was done very well.  I was impressed 
and decided I need to do that to mine someday.  The A/C was reported to 
be working although it appeared to have all stock components.  The ZF 
was leaking, it had managed to put a spot on the floor about the size of 
silver dollar.  It was of course a -2.

The guy told me the engine had been recently rebuilt, but to me looked 
stock as the day it was born with one exception, it had an aluminum 
dual-plan intake with a Holley carb on top, and an open element air 
cleaner, all fit under the stock screen.  The screen did have one dent 
in it, looks like something from underneath pushed it up, very small 
area though, almost un-noticeable.  The valve covers still had stock 
stickers on them and looked aged, so I have to wonder if the engine 
really had been rebuilt or perhaps just had some simple updates done.  
It has what appears to be Hall Headers and Big Bore exhaust.  We did not 
fire it up but the kid said it seemed to run fine to him, started right 
up all the time and idled well.  He'd only driven it a few times just on 
the lot.

At this point I'll let you know that this "kid" was -very- interested in 
the car.  He asked a lot of good questions, like he was genuinely 
interested in the Pantera and it's history.  It was also obvious that 
he'd done a -little- searching on the Internet but not a lot.  When I 
told him I was hooked up with a national club with a lot of members, he 
really seemed to open up about the car.  Of course, I'm the gullible 
type to, so who knows... he -could- have been snowin' me but I believe 
he was genuine.

I'm told the present owner had the car for about 18 years.   I can't 
verify this but did leave a card with my number on it and the young man 
said he'd pass it along.  No telling if I'll get a call or not.

Compared to what I paid for my Pantera 10 years ago and the condition it 
was in, I would venture to say I think $28,000 for this car is a good 
deal.  It doesn't have bumpers but is otherwise in a mostly unmolested 
state and could easily be made into just about any Pantera a person 
could want.  It may need more mechanical work underneath, like bushings, 
ball joints, sway bar bushings, bearings, etc.  I don't know.

If the present sale does not go through, the guy said he'd let me know.

I'll get the photos off my phone tomorrow and forward them to Chuck 
Melton to update the entry in the registry database.

Asa Jay

Asa Jay Laughton, MSgt, USAFR, Retired
&  Shelley Marie
Spokane, WA
******************************
http://www.racingagainstautism.com
http://www.teampanteraracing.com

On 7/22/2010 11:03, Dave Londry wrote:
> Carigslist has a $28K 73 (looks like a pre-L though)
> Pretty good, at a glance.
> http://spokane.craigslist.org/ctd/1856068209.html
>
> dave
>
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