[DeTomaso] Pushbutton Build vs. "Regular" Pre L

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 10/19/10 9 57 12, lashdeep at yahoo.com writes:


> Were the tree stumps, hammers and ashtrays lined up in a row to create an
> assembly line? Or did some of the parts get manufactured automatically 
> where
> they were hand fashioned before?
> 

Other than perhaps the initial prototype, I'm not aware of any 'hand-made', 
stump-fashioned Panteras.   The early cars (pushbuttons etc.) were 
different from the later cars, as they learned about the car's weaknesses.   The 
chassis was fairly extensively redesigned and beefed-up somewhere along the way 
(I don't know where the '71-style chassis ends and the '72 chassis starts), 
and US-spec cars received extensive retrofitted reinforcements after the 
cars had been delivered to our shores.

There are lots of mechanical differences on the early cars--things like 
headlight buckets, spindles, upper front A-arms etc. are different, and 
availablity of those early-specific parts is slim, compared to the later cars.

I've ridden in the Hawaii 5-0 Pantera--it's a GREAT car!   Lots of snap 
from a stock '71 motor, due to the high compression quench heads etc....

Mike