[DeTomaso] Detomaso Viewpoints?

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 5/20/12 8 07 42, lashdeep at yahoo.com writes:


> The steering wheel is one. The prototipo had the beautiful one piece 
> racing seat which would've matched up with the Momo steering wheel perfectly.
> 
>>>People (including me, in the past) keep referring to the two-spoke wheel 
as a Momo.   In fact it was made by Ferrero, same as the Mangusta wheel.   
The '72 and later Euro GTS got a Momo three-spoke wheel, originally flat, 
later dished on the GT5 and GT5-S.
> 
> >If I remember correctly, didn't Ford also delete other features due to 
> cost like lacquer paint and the use of leather inside?
> 
>>>Panteras never came with leather.   Part of the design brief was that 
the car had to be built to sell at a specific price (sub-$10K) and that meant 
that leather was never going to be an option.
> 
> >The US press didn't find the stopping or handling all that impressive. 
> While the cars here did have 900lb side mirrors installed which raised the 
> center of gravity and increased the curb weight, Ford also had ride height 
> increased with spacers which left Ing Dallara breaking every pencil near his 
> drafting table. 
> 
>>>That wasn't Ford's choice--that was new headlight height laws that went 
into effect after the Pantera had been designed.   That's the damn nanny 
goverment's fault.

> >Also, where did the high dollar radial tires go that Dallara designed 
> the car to use?
> 
>>>Ford stepped up and had Goodyear develop a tire especially for the 
Pantera, based on the Goodyear race tire that the GT40 Mk IV had used to win Le 
Mans.   Ford spent big bucks when they didn't have to.   The fact that the 
resultant tire was less than successful (particularly after it aged) doesn't 
change the fact that Ford went the extra mile to try to improve the Pantera 
further.
> 
> >What about the vented brake rotors that the Euro spec cars had which 
> apparently worked pretty well at triple digit speeds overseas?
> 
>>>Again, those were an extra-cost option only on Euro cars, and the 
reality is that for US driving conditions, they were rightly seen as unnecessary.
> 
> >I tear up when I read a Road and Track test call it unfinished or 
> disappointing and then read a UK test call it a Bora basher and later a Countach 
> killer.
> 
>>>They're testing different cars.   The early cars that the US magazines 
tested really were pretty dire in many ways.   
> 
> >I don't disagree that he Ford changes were made to keep the car 
> affordable and better for daily use, like the cooling issues for low speed use in 
> the USA. Do we care about those things though?
> 
> Interesting indeed...
> 
> >>>I've had dinner with Don Coleman, who was Ford's man in Modena in 
1970-71-72.   He was the sole Amerian liason between Ford US engineers and De 
Tomaso's engineers.   There was a very, very sincere effort to improve the cars 
and he was right in the middle of it.   Unfortunately De Tomaso got in the 
way--he viewed it as an insult whenever a flaw was pointed out and a 
suggestion was made to fix it.   It culminated in Don being 'fired' from his job and 
sent back to the USA.   Eventually Ford's solution was to buy the whole De 
Tomaso company and fire De Tomaso out of De Tomaso...that happened in '72.

Mike