[DeTomaso] Panteras for sale...

[Daniel C Jones]

> Call it a $30K car instead of a $75K car....

That reminds me, does anyone know who bought the yellow Pantera for sale
a few weeks back at Daniel Schmitt near St. Louis?  I inspected it for a
prospective owner and the car was not as represented.  It had been made
to look pretty in pictures but that was it.  My impression of the car is
below.  Their website shows that it sold.

Dan Jones

The snow held off for a day so I got a chance to inspect and drive
the yellow 1972 Pre-L Pantera at Daniel Schmitt & Company Classic Car
Gallery.   The shop was closed so I didn't get to put the car up in
the air.  In general, the car looks a lot better in pictures than it
is in person.   The car was repainted in 1999 (price shown on the
receipt was $2800, gas tank was also cleaned at that time) and has had
numerous stress cracks and chips on the doors, door jambs, headlight
buckets, etc touched up since.  The touch up was done poorly and is
quite obvious.  In many places, you can see through the yellow touch
up paint.  In other places, there are runs.  There a scratch on top
of driver's side door and a bubble on the decklid.   I removed the
ash tray and it appears the car was originally yellow.  There's some
overspray on electrical wires and everything behind the radiator (e.g.
the head light lift bar)  has been painted flat black instead of the
original body color.  Fan relays were also painted instead of zinc
plated.  The front trunk latch pin was painted yellow.   There's some
surface rust on the coolant tubes at the front and a stress crack at
base of windshield.  The engine bay and wheel well undercoating has
been painted over.  In spots, they sprayed right over grease and oil
which rubbed off in my hands.  The wheel well undercoating was coming
off in big flakes.   With the painted-over undercoating, it was
difficult to tell if there was any bubbling in the engine compartment
but  I pounded the area above where the inner fenders tie into the
frame rails and big flakes of rust were apparent.

The carpets were replaced in 1999 and the seats were recovered in
2011.  The upholstery used is identical to that in both of my 1974 L
models, not like that of earlier cars I've seen but I'm not really
sure when the transition was made.   The bulkhead cover has several
large cuts/nicks.  The headliner appears to have been glued directly
to the roof (no foam  backing) and wasn't scrubbed before it was
reinstalled.  There's a stripe at the back where the fabric was
originally under a trim piece that is noticeably brighter than the
rest.   The interior chrome bezels had some surface roughness.  The
door hinges squeaked but probably just need lubing.  Neither door shut
easily.  It's missing seat belt bolt covers.   The sun visors are
sagging and the foam has turned to dust.  The original door trim
fasteners replaced by non-matching shiny chrome ones and the parking
brake handle could use a cleaning, if not replacement.  The seat belts
 are different from my '74L and not in the greatest of shape.  There
were a few squeaks on the test drive but nothing major.   The
headlights worked, as did the electric windows but the later went up
and down very slowly.  The fuel level gauge was  inoperative and the
temperature gauge never moved off 90 def F.  However, there were no
signs of overheating.

The original Motorcraft spread bore 4300D carburetor has been replaced
by a 600 CFM Holley 4160 on an adapter plate.   The specific model is
0-80452 which has vacuum secondaries, single feed fuel inlet, side
hung floats and electric choke.  The engine runs well and did not
smoke when started.  Paperwork indicated the timing chain has been
replaced with a parts store timing set.  While the ZF shifted fine,
the clutch engaged at the very top of the pedal travel indicating
mis-adjustment or the disc is worn out.   The shift rod bushing
appears to be original and will probably need replacing in the near
future.   Steering was tight.  Paperwork included an inspection that
stated the "steering rack needs rebuilt" and there was a later receipt
for a steering rack bushing and boot purchased from PPC, along with a
reproduction center for the steering wheel.   Besides those parts,
there were very few Pantera vendor receipts.  Most of the replacement
parts were purchased from Summit or local auto parts stores.  Another
inspection had a note about overheating and a Fluidyne aluminum
radiator with twin sucker fans replaced the stock radiator and fans.
Four small diameter decklid shocks have replaced the original two
large diameter ones.  They are stiffer and don't have the full range
of travel so the decklid doesn't go up as far.  it's missing one of
the a decklid rubber bumpers and has the early style catch.  From the
paperwork I examined, the tires were purchased in 1999 and probably
are no longer safe, even though they have plenty of tread.  There is
visible camber on rear wheels but I'm not sure if that is the result
of the alignment or body sag.

The trunk tub was recovered over the fastener holes.  Most of the Dzus
fasteners in the body are missing and the ones that are there were
painted over.  It appears the engine and transaxle were removed and
the engine treated to a quick repaint.  Parts like the sending unit
were painted over.   The rear script is painted a non-original black.
 The suspension bushings are dry-rotted and cracked and will need to
be replaced.  I couldn't check the wheel bearings for play.  The power
break booster vacuum hose at the engine appears to be original.  It's
missing the air cleaner ducting and scoop.  Still has the crack-prone
stock exhaust manifolds.  Also has stock sway bars.

The previous owner purchased the car from Friendly Ford in
Thomasville, North Carolina on 11/02/1981.    Odometer statement at
that time was 35,660 miles.  Either the odometer has been disconnected
or the car was driven only 1272 miles in over 30 years.  The car was
in Texas for a number of years and the most recent address for the
previous owner is on a beach in Florida.  It appears the salt air
caused surface rust in a number of spots like the front grille and
badge.  Other areas like the rear grille have been repainted.   The
chrome on the  bumperettes is in good condition but elsewhere, like
the door handle bezels, it is not.  The air cleaner chrome appears to
have been re-done or replaced.

S/N is 874 03171 with a 50202 body service tag.  The 03171 block stamp
matches the body tag.  The ZF is stamped 5215.  Vehicle Ident. No. is
THPNMD04171 (mfd data is 8/72).  I have the previous owners name, address
and telephone number as as of October 2012.  Overall impression is that
the car was a driver that got minimal maintenance/upgrades along with
a superficial spruce up just  good enough to make it look good in
pictures.   It's not a strictly original car nor a car with a lot of
desirable updates.  It appears to be fairly sound but needs a lot to
be a top flight car.  IMO, not close to being worth the asking price.

Dan