[DeTomaso] Top speed of the fastest P-car?

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

Junior Wilson's elephant-block Panteras went well over 200 many times. He 
once held the unofficial Silver State Open Road Race 'record' for rear-tire 
blowouts above 200 mph without injury or significant damage to the car, at 
six. But sadly, he never made it to Muroc Dry Lake or Bonneville to set 
official records All his exploits were on public highways, most during sanctioned 
open road events 'recorded' with radar guns.

Jr built at least three cars, and as time went on the machines became 
progressively more modified. One iteration that crashed and broke his leg and arm 
(yet another blown rear tire, it's said) looked more like a Group B 
roadracer than a Pantera in spite of the stock tail lights. In that monster he told 
me in a shakedown run he'd once touched the tach's redline in 5th on the 
interstate south of Las Vegas very early one morning. With his modified ZF & 
tires, that would be 265 mph! With 4" dia open exhausts on a 572" Boss 429 at 
6000 rpm, it must have sounded terrifying. He said he only passed two 
cars.... whose drivers probably needed fresh underwear afterwards.

After three tries, in 2003 Al Bloomberg came from WA to set an official 
Bonneville D/GT record with a destroked 299" Boss 302 in a pushbutton Pantera: 
209.227 (8800 rpms in 5th gear with a stock ZF!) The only mods to the car 
were small front tires, tall rears, 300 lbs of lead in the front trunk plus a 
pronounced fwd rake, 7 degrees of caster and NASCAR roof rails. An air-dam 
and deck spoiler would have helped but would also force them them to switch 
out of the stock body class. In 2006, Al ran the D/GT record to 209.958 
(one-way at 211.196) still with a destroked Boss 302, now running three full 
miles at 9000 rpms in 5th. Then he retired the Pantera as the World's Fastest 
Pushbutton.

Bjorn Carapi and Kjell Holgersson came from Sweden twice with a radical 
big-block Chev-powered Pantera (record in A/GT is 250 and change). They got 
close in 2006 but no record (I don't remember the speed). No DeTomaso to my 
knowlege has run Bonneville since. It is a MAJOR money-pit. FWIW- J Deryke