[DeTomaso] 02290 - chassis no query
MikeLDrew at aol.com
MikeLDrew at aol.com
Wed Feb 10 12:49:30 EST 2016
In a message dated 2/10/16 8 16 17, isobelpunt at hotmail.com writes:
> Can any of you guys help me make sense of early Pantera chassis numbers?
>
>>>Yes, happy to help!
> > Ours is #02290, built in December 1971. Does that mean it is the
> 2290th car built, or were they not sequential?
>
>>>The numbers were sequential, unlike the Mangusta which started at 500
and only used even numbers.
> > Where did the sequence start - at 0001 or later, as with so many cars?
>
>>>Both the De Tomaso and Ford parts books incorrectly imply that they
started at 0001, when in fact it appears they started with 1001. The earliest
known car in existence (other than the prototype, which has long been
rumored to be living in the garage of the widow of Bertocci) is chassis 1006 which
is in Florida.
Thus, your car 2290 would have been the, what, the 1289th car built?
> > And, finally, do we know exactly how many of the first series were
> prototypes and how many had the push-button door handles?
>
>>>Short answer--no. The very earliest cars were true hand-built
prototypes, but very quickly production started on a regular assembly line. In
fact it's quite possible that only the very first car was a 'prototype' in the
normal sense of the word--likely built in the Ghia studios. Tooling and
jigs were produced, and the bodies of the early cars were manufactured in a
fairly labor-intensive manner at the Vignale coachworks. Early European
pushbutton cars have a number of interesting and unique characteristics
including a different lower front valence, slightly different dashboard
configuration, different badging on the rear, an internal decklid release mechanism,
etc. etc.
>
> >These were presumably the ones Ford had so much trouble modifying after
> shipment - correct me if I`m wrong. Were they all hand-built at Chia?
>
>>>The early cars like yours had bodies that were manufactured at Vignale
in Turin, then were trucked to Modena where the drivetrain etc. was installed
in a De Tomaso facility. This arrangement continued until Ford took over
De Tomaso completely later in 1972; at some point production was then taken
completely in-house and the cars were built start-to-finish at Vignale and
never went to Modena.
Do you have a Marti report for your car? It's available from Marti Auto
Works (I believe it's www.martiauto.com, but Google will tell you for sure).
This document will give you some statistical info about your car,
including the date and dealership where it was first sold.
If you should happen to get one of those, please share it with Michael
Shortt and me.
THANKS!
Mike
-------------- next part --------------
In a message dated 2/10/16 8 16 17, isobelpunt at hotmail.com writes:
Can any of you guys help me make sense of early Pantera chassis
numbers?
>>>Yes, happy to help!
> Ours is #02290, built in December 1971. Does that mean it is the
2290th car built, or were they not sequential?
>>>The numbers were sequential, unlike the Mangusta which started at
500 and only used even numbers.
> Where did the sequence start - at 0001 or later, as with so many
cars?
>>>Both the De Tomaso and Ford parts books incorrectly imply that they
started at 0001, when in fact it appears they started with 1001. The
earliest known car in existence (other than the prototype, which has
long been rumored to be living in the garage of the widow of Bertocci)
is chassis 1006 which is in Florida.
Thus, your car 2290 would have been the, what, the 1289th car built?
> And, finally, do we know exactly how many of the first series were
prototypes and how many had the push-button door handles?
>>>Short answer--no. The very earliest cars were true hand-built
prototypes, but very quickly production started on a regular assembly
line. In fact it's quite possible that only the very first car was a
'prototype' in the normal sense of the word--likely built in the Ghia
studios. Tooling and jigs were produced, and the bodies of the early
cars were manufactured in a fairly labor-intensive manner at the
Vignale coachworks. Early European pushbutton cars have a number of
interesting and unique characteristics including a different lower
front valence, slightly different dashboard configuration, different
badging on the rear, an internal decklid release mechanism, etc. etc.
>These were presumably the ones Ford had so much trouble modifying
after shipment - correct me if I`m wrong. Were they all hand-built
at Chia?
>>>The early cars like yours had bodies that were manufactured at
Vignale in Turin, then were trucked to Modena where the drivetrain etc.
was installed in a De Tomaso facility. This arrangement continued
until Ford took over De Tomaso completely later in 1972; at some point
production was then taken completely in-house and the cars were built
start-to-finish at Vignale and never went to Modena.
Do you have a Marti report for your car? It's available from Marti
Auto Works (I believe it's www.martiauto.com, but Google will tell you
for sure). This document will give you some statistical info about
your car, including the date and dealership where it was first sold.
If you should happen to get one of those, please share it with Michael
Shortt and me.
THANKS!
Mike
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