[DeTomaso] Have We Destroyed the Detomaso Pantera?

[audionut at hushmail.com]

Here we go again!  (I always bum out when somebody laments that the
Pantera is unfairly undervalued)  = ]  Let me break out the violin....
The difference between mass perception/hearsay (reputation) and
reality (actual experience) appears to be a perennial human failing
spanning the entire existence of mankind.  The nutcases "in charge" of
things throughout history know this well and exploit this to their
advantage. Reality is no match for perception in most people's minds,
so, whatever is "officially" stated by so-called "learned men" and is
commonly accepted becomes "The Truth" about any given subject. 
Not that I'm conventionally religious or anything, but the story of
Jesus comes to mind.  The folks who knew the guy and hung out with
him, liked him.The people "in charge" felt threatened by him and
smeared his reputation.  The masses bought the lies and you know the
rest.
We have not destroyed the reputation of the Pantera by becoming
intimately acquainted with it's weak spots and working out their
solutions together."Learned Men" have done this and the weak-minded,
fearful folk out there believe them.  Unfortunately (or fortunately,
depending on your perspective), weak-minded, fearful folk are greater
in number than folks who are brave enough to experience things first
hand and then decide for themselves.
What I love about Pantera owners is that we own one because we really
love it, because it is a badass car that looks like a prowling cat on
it's haunches ready to leap at prey, growls like one and can change
direction like one.  It's nice if it increases in value over the years
but, who cares if it doesn't?
This is a driver's car and it's a hell of a lot of fun.  To me, life
is about the joy of living, not about cold acquisition and impeccable
maintenance of assets. Folks who buy cars and park them in
humidity-controlled environments for investment purposes can fk off
the Pantera.  And I'm glad they do.  Nothing against them, but this
car was not built for these people.  It was built for folks who aren't
afraid to jump onto the wild beast of life and ride the
mthrfkr.Certainly Allejandro was such a person himself.  
Unhappy with the resale value of your Pantera?  Stop whining and sell
it.  Let some crazy bastard buy it, modify it to their taste and drive
the goddamned wheels off it.
................
I saw a guy with a rusty, dented up old pushbutton at a Pantera show a
few years back.  (Some of you must know the car I'm talking about.) 
It was his dailydriver and it looked like a beaten dog but I thought,
"That's the spirit!" 
Clearly, we are a different breed.  You are never going to see a
vintage Ferrari pimped-out metal-flake purple with a gold-plated
engine, am I right?
 Sent using Hushmail
On January 16, 2014 at 10:04 AM, "LS"  wrote:
 A few long time Detomaso owners stated have this *exact* phenomenon
as part of what eventually became the reputation and image of Detomaso
cars in North America.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355/426232-have-we-destroyed-355-a.html

We don't need to waste anyone's time on a F355 discussion specifically
but the parallel to the Detomaso situation is interesting.

LS
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