[DeTomaso] Earliest known Pantera

[marshall smith]

If the first Pantera was #1000, car #1500 would be the 501st car.


--------------------------------------------
On Fri, 7/24/15, Mike Drew via DeTomaso <detomaso at poca.com> wrote:

 Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Earliest known Pantera
 To: edducati at mac.com, michaelsavga at gmail.com
 Cc: detomaso at poca.com
 Date: Friday, July 24, 2015, 5:51 PM
 
    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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