[DeTomaso] Earliest known Pantera

[Paul A Rimov]

Wow! Was that crash ever ugly 😂
Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 24, 2015, at 5:51 PM, Mike Drew via DeTomaso <detomaso at poca.com> wrote:
> 
>   In a message dated 7/23/15 17 58 3, edducati at mac.com writes:
> 
>        I called Wilkinson, they know of 1001, but do not have it.
> 
>>>> He told me it's owned by the widow of Ing Bertocci, and he has made
>   arrangements to buy it (years ago) but the deal hasn't been
>   consummated.
> 
>>  He also said the crashed cars never had serial numbers, good to
>     know.
> 
>>>> But not true.  The DOT certification testing, including crash
>   testing, was performed by an independent company, Ogden Technology
>   Laboratories, Inc, in Fullerton CA, from September through December
>   1970 (the crash testing may have happened later than that?).  The cars
>   used were:
>   1005 (red)
>   1006 (yellow)
>   1010 (black)
>   1011 (green)
>   1005 was crash-tested, and failed miserably.  Here's the video of that
>   test:
>   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaobPuwXZbU
>   Now, it's possible that some cars were crashed in Europe and they had
>   no serial numbers, but I tend to doubt the likelihood of that.  For
>   years, a car that was crashed in Europe and passed the test was kept
>   rattling around in the Vignale factory; there are numerous photos of it
>   in books, in a light color (yellow or white) and covered with black
>   grid markings, with the front end all caved in.  But the cabin is in
>   much better shape than 1005 above.
> 
>>>  So theoretically,A  if you have #1500, it is the 500th Pantera.
>>  So mine #1660 is the 660th car built ( June 71 ).
> 
>>>> True dat.
> 
>>>  He also confirmed that the first rectangular door handle was
>     #1286,
>>  thus 1001 thru #1285 were pushbuttons ( subject to Italian build
>     order
>>  as we all know ).
> 
>>>> Totally false.  The first US import Pantera was #1286, and it was a
>   pushbutton.  For years it was said that the first 75 cars imported to
>   the USA were pushbuttons, and that may well be true, but there are
>   plenty of pushbuttons with numbers higher than (1286 + 75, = 1361).
>   Either this is because some pushbutton cars in this range were sold in
>   Europe, or if 100% of Pantera production at this time was coming to the
>   USA, then the number is greater than 75.  The highest known pushbutton
>   is #1383, and the earliest known square doorhandle car is #1387.  So
>   the changeover happened somewhere in there....
>   Mike
>   P.S.  Although there is no longer a business called Ogden Labs, on a
>   whim I just called the phone number listed for them in the original
>   testing report.  To my amazement, a woman answered and told me that
>   they were still in the same location, still doing DOT-type testing, but
>   the business had a different name.  What's more, the woman speaking to
>   me had been working there back when the Panteras were tested!  She had
>   some fun stories to tell.  Apparently they LOVED it when the Pantera
>   contract came to them, as they would take the cars out on the road to
>   go to lunch etc. and they turned a LOT of heads.
>   Unfortunately, they no longer have any of the records from those
>   days--it all went to the landfill years ago.  I'm glad I have what I
>   have, although it's very incomplete.
>   Fun stuff!
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