[DeTomaso] Gas Monkey Garage Orange Pantera

Dick Koch arkoch at earthlink.net
Mon Sep 9 13:59:14 EDT 2013


Boyd, stating the obvious and having an honest discussion about a car's 
condition has nothing to do with disrespect for a prior owner.  If they 
take offense to honest assessments from a group of the very 
knowledgeable gearheads that roam this forum, such is life.

Based on what I saw on the show, and knowing what happens when a Pantera 
sits for a long time, the car had some expensive issues to deal with 
that would make the car an expensive restoration.  This is true for any 
car, but more so with an early Pantera with it's untreated from the 
factory unibody construction.  With that said and with Panteras now 
coming of age and the price increasing, the expense incurred for 
restoration may be worth the exercise for someone ready to put the time 
and money into the rebuild.

Regardless, the car had major issues. I think that anyone that has 
worked on or restored a Pantera knows full well that a Pantera that has 
been "inactive" for 30 or more years will take a lot of work to make it 
a reliable driver.

As GW said in his post on the subject, "The car looks like a good 
restoration candidate but it is what it is; and
that is not a car which you can charge the battery, polish the paint 
then sell as a running car."

First, any ZF that sits for years will more than likely have the top of 
the gears rusted from condensation and will need a full rebuild. The 
engine, as shown in the show with internal rust issues, would need a 
complete rebuild. The radiator and cooling system will more than likely 
need major work, let alone the AC system and all it's components, as 
well as the electrical system.    All rubber (hoses, trim, grommets, 
bushings, etc.) should/would need to be replaced. The brake calipers, if 
not completely frozen, would need to be completely rebuilt. Aside from 
the rust issues shown on the show, those rust issues, for anyone with 
experience with Panteras, were probably the tip of the iceberg.

It will be interesting to see how much the winning bidder pays for the 
car, and then to be able to get an honest assessment from him/her on the 
issues they will be facing to get the car in decent driving shape.  
Whatever the buyer pays for the car, it will take that much, and more 
than likely much more than that, to get it back to basic reliable stock 
condition.

Dick Koch - Atlanta





On 9/9/2013 12:38 PM, Boyd Casey wrote:
> I think the previous owner that sold the orange Pantera to Gas Monkey feels
> his car has been shown in a bad light.  Robert Rawlings has made
> disparaging remarks concerning the owners representation of the car and in
> doing so has impugn the sellers integrity.
>   Since the previous owner has chosen to join our blog ( or may have been a
> member) I think it would be nice if we ceased making disparaging remarks
> about his former car. He must have had some warm feelings for it to have
> kept it for 33 years in spite of the fact that his handicap prevented him
> from driving it ( and his finances may have kept him from restoring it) he
> still kept it for 33 years. So out of respect to an old handicapped
> Panteraowner who had an old handicapped
> Pantera lets be our normal welcoming and compassionate selves and be glad
> that this once fine automobile is going to be resurrected (hopefully)
> instead of being crushed or parted out.
> Boyd
> P.S. Richard Rawlings is a speculator who doesn't personally work on or
> even design the cars his shop flips. He had his obese flunky ( who's
> Panteraknowledge could be printed with a crayon on the back of a
> matchbook) give
> the car a quick "once over" and decided it wouldn't be profitable to
> restore this car. I know he operates a business and must make decisions
> based on business parameters but if he or his staff were better informed
> about Panteras  they may have found a way to show what they are really made
> off and if  they really do possess skills and talent necessary to undertake
> a car that is a little bit more challenging then the typical muscle car
> they deal with. But perhaps that's exactly what they did by just giving up!
> ( And I do enjoy watching the show, if they had done this Pantera I could
> have become a hard core Gas Monkey Fan!)
>
>
> On Mon, Sep 9, 2013 at 11:37 AM, rhey1950 <rhey1950 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> The orange Pantera on Ebay used to belong to me.It is not as bad as people
>> think.I was the second owner and the miles are legit.I am handicapped now
>> and can't drive,so I sold the car to Fast and Loud with the intent of them
>> fixing the car.Whoever gets the car will need to spend time and money,but
>> will come out with a nice Pantera.I needed a roof and the Pantera sale paid
>> for it.My congratulations to the new owner of this car,and yes,it sat for
>> over 33 years in my garage.Take care to all!
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Sep 8, 2013 at 7:03 PM, michael at michaelshortt.com <
>> michaelsavga at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> The bids are over 23K with 4 days and 20 hours left to go.
>>>
>>> Michael Shortt
>>> On Sep 7, 2013 8:15 AM, "bill gaino" <gaino at earthlink.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Rust bucket, that baby looks a hellofalot better that what I'm working
>>>> on..I'll go,27800
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: "michael at michaelshortt.com" <michaelsavga at gmail.com>
>>>>> Sent: Sep 6, 2013 10:20 PM
>>>>> To: detomaso at poca.com
>>>>> Subject: [DeTomaso] Gas Monkey Garage Orange Pantera
>>>>>
>>>>> The orange rust bucket L Pantera that was on the show last week is now
>>> on
>>>>> eBay , 20 bids so far, up to almost 20k with 6 days left to go.
>>>>>
>>>>> Let's start a pool, closet guess w/o going over of the final sales
>>> price.
>>>>> My guess is $27,100
>>>>>
>>>>> Michael Shortt
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
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>>>>
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