[DeTomaso] Pantera Top Speeds

[CharlesMcCall]

And Doug Mann?

Charles McCall
Raising Pantera Awareness Across Europe
1985 DeTomaso Pantera #9375
http://www.poca.com/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=2323

-----Original Message-----
From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] On
Behalf Of David in Durango
Sent: viernes, 23 de noviembre de 2012 20:10
To: panteras
Subject: [DeTomaso] Pantera Top Speeds

Hi kids,

Shortly after acquiring my Pantera, I caught the "salt fever."  I have
followed this aspect quite closely for some years.

Jack's summary (quoted below) is quite accurate, and I can only add a few
"facts" . . . .

1) I was never quite sure of the powerplant in the Bloomberg car: destroked
cleveland or boss 302?  dunno.  Met one of the Bloomberg fellows - nice
folks and they have done us proud.

2) The Carapi / Holgersson effort on the salt.  As I remember it, Holgersson
finally clocked a 219ish run, but Carapi thought he could do better.  Carapi
did log a 223 (?) or maybe a 221ish but spun the car at that speed and the
effort ended.  It takes some attachments to go for a ride like that!

3) When I had my Kirkham, I found a listing (craigslist?) for a black
Pantera-ish car.  It sounded a LOT like Junior's car so I called on it - the
listed asking price being close to the value of my Kirkham.  I reached a
son-in-law to be and we talked a short while.  I was given a phone number
and Junior Wilson himself answered the phone.  We talked for about an hour -
the bottom line being Jr. wanted the Kirkham and two wheelbarrows full of $.


During the conversation we did discuss some of the urban legends
surrounding Jr. and his Silver State adventures.  One of my favourite urban
legends was a night run near Las Vegas to see if the car would pull redline
in fifth gear.  It did.  Jr. thought the car would now allow a 200+mph
average at the Silver State.  When I asked him what the car was geared for
and he answered: "F&*$king 260."  No documentation for sure, but an
interesting hour with a Pantera legend.

4) DJ's big block car has run 172 or so in the standing mile (documented)
but I'm not sure what gears he runs.

That's what we know, for now.

David in Durango
Veni, Vidi, Veloce





"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"



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