[DeTomaso] Gr4 Pantera clone for sale

[Brent Stewart]

This link may work better

http://www.specialtysales.com/car.php?carnum=3665

Brent

On Jan 24, 2013, at 6:13 PM, MikeLDrew at aol.com wrote:

> Hi guys,
> 
> I first posted this a few months ago, but the car hasn't sold.   The 
> owner's widow has moved back to France, but the Pantera remains here, seeking a 
> new home.   The asking price has dropped to below $50K, which is a screaming 
> deal I think.   The website has been upgraded with a short video of the car 
> running in the showroom.
> 
> Mike
> 
> ====
> 
> Gr Pantera clone for sale (THPNMD03988, July 1972 build date)
> 
> Specialty Sales, an exotic and collector car dealership with four locations 
> in the San Francisco Bay area, has a pretty special Pantera for sale at the 
> moment:
> 
> http://www.specialtysales.com/1972-detomaso-pantera--c-3665.htm
> 
> I have had years of exposure to this car, off and on, and during that time 
> it has changed dramatically.   
> 
> It was purchased from another car showroom (Kassabian Motors) by Greg 
> Jacobs, who humorously referred to himself as 'Crash Test Dumbass'. His first 
> drive was to my house where we put it up on my lift for me to examine.   I was 
> amazed at how tight and solid the car was-zero evidence of even the 
> slightest amount of rust anywhere!
> 
> He has a now-defunct website, www.jacobsracing.com, but some of the pages 
> continue to exist in the cloud-o-sphere somehow.   Here is a link to an 
> introductory page that shows how the car existed when he bought it in October of 
> 2000:
> 
> http://jacobsracing.com/page3.html
> 
> Further down on that page, there are links to various other sub-pages that 
> detail the various modifications and improvements that he made to the car 
> over the years (even including a photo of me working on it years ago, with 
> Larry Finch).   
> 
> The car made the trek to the POCA Fun Rally several times, and ran well on 
> the track each time.   The first time the car had the original narrow body, 
> fitted with the wing and the front air dam.   Next time it had fiberglass 
> Gr4 rear flares, but the stock front end, which looked decidedly strange.   
> Noted De Tomaso importer and racer Claude Dubois drove it on the track and 
> pronounced it one of the nicest-driving Panteras he'd ever experienced.   
> Shortly afterwards, Greg finished the conversion and fitted the front flares.
> 
> He continued to modify and upgrade the car (including an aborted attempt to 
> introduce a flamethrower system to the exhaust!).   When it reached its 
> final iteration, it was equipped with a 180-degree exhaust system.
> 
> Somebody made him an offer he couldn't refuse, and he sold it (actually 
> traded it straight across for a Ferrari 355 Spyder, which he then immediately 
> sold for substantially more than the Pantera was worth!)
> 
> The intermediate owner took it to a Cobra restoration and fabrication shop 
> called Hall Fabrication, in Benicia, CA, to have some work done on the car.  
> They were completely unfamiliar with Panteras, and thus they did excellent 
> work but did everything the hard way; the result was an enormous stack of 
> bills (for instance, I believe the owner paid $3000 for a custom 
> hand-fabricated airbox when one much like it could have been purchased for $750 or so).  
> The owner eventually decided to let the car go, and consigned it to 
> Kassabian Motors again.
> 
> The car was purchased in late 2010 (I believe) by a Frenchman who was sent 
> to the silicon valley to work on California's high-speed rail project.   
> Denis Doute took possession of the car, and began driving it and enjoying it.   
> He had a few minor problems (the stock damper came apart and needed to be 
> replaced, and one of the sway bar end links fell off and had to be replaced), 
> but by and large, the car was 'on the button' as they say.
> 
> Sadly, Denis passed away suddenly and unexpectedly, and now the car is for 
> sale.
> 
> His wife contacted me because she wasn't able to get the car started, and 
> asked me to come take a look.   I then drove to their home and saw the car 
> for the first time in several years.
> 
> Greg had performed innumerable modifications to the car, some of which were 
> highly questionable in my opinion.   One of them was to disable or bypass 
> the stock ignition switch.   There is an illuminated red rocker switch and a 
> red “Start” button to the left of the steering wheel (the latter sourced 
> from the Honda S2000 I believe).   The key has to be turned on, then the 
> illuminated rocker switch activated, which powers the car and the electric fuel 
> pump.   Then the start button is used to start the engine.
> 
> The car was reluctant to start despite a fully charged battery which turned 
> the motor over easily, but this was due to the fact that it had sat for 
> several months.   Once it caught, it started and ran perfectly-and surprisingly 
> quietly in fact.   (It subsequently started easily on repeated occasions, 
> both hot and cold).
> 
> (The key seems to have no function; the car continues running if it is 
> switched off, so the only way to turn the car off is to switch off the red 
> rocker switch.   This is a rather dangerous condition I think, because if a 
> driver accidentally removes the key from the ignition, it's still possible to 
> start the car and drive it a short distance, but then the steering lock will 
> engage!   If this was my car I would revert back to the stock 
> starting/ignition switch configuration immediately-perhaps keeping the 'start' button 
> connected for convenience of starting, but certainly turning the car on and off 
> with the key, not a button).
> 
> With the engine running, I stepped on the clutch and found it pleasingly 
> light.   The steering was also rather light, this caused by the fact that the 
> car wears 245/50-15 front tires instead of the more commonly-found 285/40 
> size on a widebody car.
> 
> I set off on a test drive and found the car to be very well-behaved.   The 
> gearbox shifts more slickly than any other Pantera I can remember, and I'm 
> fairly certain it's equipped with a taller-ratio 5th gear for relaxed highway 
> cruising.   The steering is perfect (I rebuilt the rack many years ago).   
> There is zero play in the steering linkage either, making it a delight.
> The throttle pedal travel is rather long, but quite linear.   The brakes 
> are absolutely outstanding (massive Wilwood six-piston calipers in front, 
> four-piston in the rear) and seem to be dialed in perfectly.   The clutch pedal 
> is a bit misaligned with the brake pedal, but that's because Greg got tired 
> of fiddling with the adjustment; it's a simple matter to turn the pushrod in 
> the clevis and raise or lower the pedal so it matches.
> 
> Greg had a fetish for instrumentation, and therefore several holes have 
> been bored into the dashboard and tacky-looking gauges have been shoehorned in. 
>  Above the ignition switch is an air/fuel ratio gauge (the sender is 
> plumbed into the exhaust system, and it only seemed to function part of the 
> time), and between the heater vents are an oil temp gauge and a 'boost' gauge 
> which actually functions as a vacuum gauge, since there is no forced induction 
> fitted (Greg ultimately had plans for either a turbo or blower setup).
> 
> The seats are by Scat, and are quite comfortable; a Precision Proformance 
> two-point roll hoop is fitted with five-point harnesses.   The comfortable 
> steering wheel is a Momo unit.
> 
> There are some random switches and buttons on the center console; at one 
> point they were used to control the long-gone flamethrower system; now they 
> might be used for the nitrous system-nobody seems to know.   The nitrous 
> system is completely installed, but not hooked up; the line is capped in the 
> engine bay.
> 
> One thing that struck me is how incredibly tight and composed this car is.  
> It's not unusual to find a heavily modified Pantera that has a collection 
> of clonks, groans, squeaks, and rattles, but this car seems as tight as a 
> new Mercedes-very refreshing!
> 
> Greg always had extremely overoptimistic beliefs regarding the power output 
> of his engine; the number grew in the telling and at one point it was 
> purported to be 600 hp-ridiculous.   However, when I got to the freeway and 
> booted it, it pulled very strong-I would guess 400+ horsepower, maybe even 450+, 
> which is none too shabby from a non-stroker Cleveland.   There is a big of a 
> hole in the carburetion, probably caused by a too-large carburetor, which 
> manifests itself in a slight hiccup if you boot the throttle wide open while 
> at lower rpm.   If you roll into it, it pulls perfectly with no problems.   
> In any case, it willingly pulls to redline at which point the rev limiter 
> kicks in and saves the day.
> 
> The cooling system is perfectly dialed in; the car runs at 160-170 degrees 
> and refuses to get hot, even when I left it idling for 15 minutes after 
> driving it for a half-hour.
> 
> Once back at the car's home, I jacked the car up and checked the steering 
> rack (still perfect, as it should be since it's been rebuilt), axles (ditto), 
> and everything else I could find.   The car is pretty much as close to 
> perfect as could be, with some minor exceptions.
> 
> One of Greg's highly dubious modifications involved the removal of the 
> entire windshield wiper system.   Fortunately, the only difficult parts of that 
> system to find are the wiper arms, and those are still present among the 
> spare parts that go with the car.   But the new owner will have to procure a 
> new motor assembly, switch, and may have to invent the wiring to power it 
> (depending on how extreme Greg was when he removed the system).
> 
> There is, naturally enough, no air conditioning system fitted; I didn't 
> test the heater for function, but all the other electrical components (lights, 
> interior fan, windows etc.) all work perfectly.
> 
> The headlights are simply amazing.   Detailed on one of Greg's pages, the 
> HID lights are adapted from a Honda S2000 and work spectacularly well.
> 
> Here is a listing of some of the high points of this car:
> 
> Not a trailer queen-the paint is in very good shape but this car was built 
> to be driven HARD.
> 
> Gr4 flares were initially done in fiberglass, but now (apparently) they 
> have been replaced with steel
> 
> Fantastic Wilwood brake system
> 
> Custom billet aluminum A-arms fitted with readily available Corvette ball 
> joints
> 
> Carrera adjustable coilover shocks
> 
> Gehling/Woodhouse   racing sway bar package
> 
> New rear wing (sadly, it's installed in the wrong place on the decklid and 
> looks a bit weird as a result)
> 
> Very effective side-view mirrors
> 
> ZF gearbox freshly rebuilt, among the best I've ever felt.   Although I 
> can't be sure, I am fairly positive it has been fitted with a tall-ratio 5th 
> gear as well-a huge bonus (and very expensive!).
> 
> Fantastic cooling system-Fluidyne radiator, curved-blade sucker fans
> 
> 180-degree exhaust system and Silverline stainless steel straight-through 
> mufflers that are surprisingly effective at keeping the car quiet
> 
> Custom hand-made aluminum airbox with internal K*N filter, which ducts air 
> from the side scoops for forced fresh-air intake
> 
> Cobra-style flip-top external fuel filler (as used on the original Gr4 
> cars, although those cars had the tank repositioned on the passenger side)
> 
> Heavily reinforced fiberglass air dam, braced underneath and connected to 
> the chassis in four places to prevent damage from impacting the ground (yes 
> it's low)
> 
> Two-point roll hope with Deist five-point harnesses.
> 
> Autometer programmable shift light (comes on at 5500 or 6000 rpm, I think; 
> about 500 rpm below the rev limiter kicks in)
> 
> Extensive Alpine sound system that I didn't bother to switch on.   It has a 
> 4-channel PDX-4-1500, speakers, tweeters and subwoofer, and an Ipod 
> connection in the glove box.   The speaker boxes were beautifully crafted to match 
> the rest of the interior.
> 
> Nitrous system fully installed but not hooked up (and totally unnecessary 
> in my opinion)
> 
> Momo steering wheel
> 
> Billet aluminum shift knob
> 
> New front and rear bumpers (fiberglass, I presume)
> 
> MSD distributor and 6AL box with tach adapter
> 
> Gehling/Woodhouse   racing sway bar package
> 
> A/C system removed
> 
> Rebuilt steering rack
> 
> Bassett wheels (15x14 rear, 15x9 front) with Pirelli PZero 345/35-15 rear 
> tires and Dunlop 245/50-15 front tires
> 
> HID headlights, best I've ever seen
> 
> Bosch relays to protect the electrical switches
> 
> Engine specs:
> 
> NOS 351C 4-bolt block, bored .030 over
> Stock crank and rods
> Speed Pro pistons/rings
> Closed-chamber iron 4V heads w/Ferraro stainless steel valves
> Edelbrock performer intake
> 
> Comp cams roller cam # 32-431-8 FC-284RF-HR10
> 224 @ .050 intake/exhaust
> Lobe 110
> centerline 106
> 284/284 advertised duration
> 
> ====
> 
> The bottom line:   Overall, this car is in really excellent condition, 
> ready to be driven and enjoyed today.   Many of the modifications (paint scheme, 
> interior modifications, Nitrous system, odd positioning of the rear wing, 
> wiper system delete) are very 'personal' and most people will find at least 
> some of them objectionable.   However, the engineering that has gone into 
> this car seems to be first-rate, and the problems that I've identified could 
> all be easily rectified (even a replacement dashboard could easily be had from 
> any of the Pantera vendors, as many people have switched to the later-style 
> dash, so early ones like this one are plentiful and should be quite cheap).
> 
> This is a rather extreme car, definitely more 'go' than 'show' oriented, 
> although it rides comfortably and quietly, and if the nitrous was removed from 
> the front trunk, it could function as a wine-and-cheese tasting car; for 
> sure it would be an open-track weapon and would draw a lot of attention at a 
> car show.   
> 
> I shudder to think what it would cost to start with the Pantera that Greg 
> started with in 2000, and build the car up to its present configuration.   As 
> it is, I think in this depressed economy it's worth $55-60K, especially if 
> the spare parts (complete spare set of Hall Pantera Ultra wheels in 15-inch, 
> and several spare front and rear tires, some of them brand new) are 
> included in the mix.
> 
> Contact Specialty Sales for more information and to schedule a viewing and 
> a test-drive…and feel free to contact me with any questions, at 
> MikeLDrew at aol.com.   Greg Jacobs is still around too, and could also answer questions if 
> necessary.
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> Mike Drew
> Pantera Club of Northern California
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 
> Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA
> 
> DeTomaso mailing list
> DeTomaso at poca.com
> http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso