[DeTomaso] GTS Questions

LS lashdeep at yahoo.com
Wed Jan 12 00:36:04 EST 2011


That was easy...thank you for the detailed info Mike and Chuck!

My De Tomaso search continues...any GTS or widebody GT5 "projects" out there 
that need some TLC?

Thank you,
LS




________________________________
From: "MikeLDrew at aol.com" <MikeLDrew at aol.com>
To: lashdeep at yahoo.com; detomaso at realbig.com
Sent: Wed, January 12, 2011 12:30:31 AM
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] GTS Questions


In a message dated 1/11/11 20 19 13, lashdeep at yahoo.com writes:



A few dumb questions if you guys don't mind...
>
>1. Why do some GTS models have the riveted fiberglass flares while others do
>not? Where most of these removed for restoration? Or just not equipped from the
>factory with them?
>
>>>All 150 US-market GTS Panteras came with the riveted flares.   Most, but not all 
>>>Euro GTS Panteras came with them too; some were built without them.   And of all 
>>>those cars, some owners subsequently chose to remove them.


>>2, Do these factory GTS models with the riveted flares truly allow for a wider
>rear wheel when compared to a standard early narrow bodied car? Or are they 
just
>tacked onto the stock fenders thus limited by the same fender clearance as a
>standard, non GTS car?
>
>>>They're just tacked on to the stock fenders.   They really have no function 
>>>whatsoever.   European GTS Panteras were available with optional 8-inch front 
>>>and 10-inch wide rear wheels (as opposed to the standard 7/8 inch setup), but 
>>>those wheels and tires fit just fine under a stock-bodied Pantera too.


>>3. How many GTS cars were produced worldwide? I've heard 98 or 138 for US spec
>GTS cars..what about the rest? How rare are the Euro GTS models here?
>
>>>The actual number of US-spec GTS Panteras was 150.   There is some confusion 
>>>about that number, because 98 cars were built for the 49 states, and so the 98 
>>>figure is often erroneously quoted as being the final total.   52 were built for 
>>>California.   Many years ago, Bill Milburn (who was part of the old De Tomaso 
>>>registry) gave me a listing of confirmed GTS serial numbers that he had 
>>>painstakingly accumulated, much of it in the pre-internet age; he had well over 
>>>100 confirmed cars which blows the 98 number away.  
>>>

US-market GTS Panteras have their own discrete Body Service Numbers, which ran 
sequentially.   Standard Panteras had a BSN starting with "5" while US GTS 
Panteras started with "3" (and European cars built in that timeframe started 
with "4".   The lowest BSN in the registry at the moment is 30005, and the 
highest is 30150.   That fairly conclusively establishes the number of cars at 
150.

Nobody really knows how many European GTS Panteras were built.   The De Tomaso 
family retained all the records, and it would be fascinating to go through them 
and tally it up.   Without a doubt the number is substantially higher than 150, 
especially in light of the fact that GTS Panteras were built through 1989.   
Also, one can split hairs and consider a GT5 or a GT5-S to be a GTS also (I 
personally consider them to be seperate animals).

I'd say there were several hundred narrowbody Euro-market GTS Panteras 
produced.   They probably outnumbered the total of European pushbutton, Pre-L 
and L-model Panteras, based on what I've seen on the roads there now.

A sizeable percentage of the Panteras on the road in Europe these days consists 
of repatriated American-market cars, particularly in light of the strong 
European currencies against the dollar in the past few years.   It has been MUCH 
cheaper to buy a Pantera in the USA and bring it home, vice buying a European 
car.   And European cars, by and large, tend to be towards the rough end of the 
scale when they come up for sale.

Mike



      


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