[DeTomaso] Why did I wait so long........

[Larry-Ohio Time Corp]

Julian you made my lunch of yogurt much much better :)

Larry (working) - Cleveland


-----Original Message-----
From: DeTomaso [mailto:detomaso-bounces at server.detomasolist.com] On Behalf
Of Julian Kift
Sent: Saturday, August 05, 2017 11:48 AM
To: detomaso at server.detomasolist.com
Subject: [DeTomaso] Why did I wait so long........

Having now made a commitment to Mark Charlton for him to ride shotgun in
Monterey and yesterday also having purchased a Concorso Italiano ticket,
last night I thought I'd better check I have a car to take! It's been well
over 9 months since the GT5 has seen the light of day, in fact I can't
actually recall when I drove it last, not since I started the new job last
October, so in all honesty probably Monterey last year!

I dug my way through all the crap that had accumulated in that space between
the front of it and the garage door, moving a scooter (pit bike) that didn't
want to start, with thoughts of "so this is the way the evening is going to
go" already crossing my mind. I ducked and shimmied myself between the car
and lift careful not to bump my head, which I have done so many times I've
lost count and I'm sure I have a permanent dimple to prove it (some might
say brain damage). I disconnected the trickle charger, pulled the cover and
even more awkwardly squeezed into the car with the driver's door partially
open, feet first into the foot well. Once in it felt much like it does
pulling on my helmet at the race track; snug and reassuring with a sense of
anticipation and trace of nervousness. It took a little time to prime the
carb via the mechanical pump, but eventually she sputtered into life,
quickly filling the garage with those ever recognizable fumes of overly rich
partially burnt gas mixed with accumulated cobwebs/dust being burnt off of
hot surfaces.

Carefully I edged her out of the garage and just sat and savored the moment
while she got warm enough to idle, albeit somewhat rough, kind of like an
old man the morning after a night of debauchery. I ran inside to find the
registration tag and insurance card to replace those that had long since
expired. Finally laid my hands on the tag, right along with the new plates;
WTF why do I need mandatory replacement plates on my cars every 7 years?
That's the craziest money grabbing stint ever heard of; but wait, Nevada has
transitioned back to stamped plates that the prisoners crank out rather than
the decal style (which they introduced to save money at the prisons). They
do look so much better, so I shouldn't complain for $7 a pair and I get a
garage wall ornament of the old plates to boot. I digress, and my car is
idling in the driveway, waiting like the caged Panther it is to be released
into its predatory hunting grounds, ready to pounce on unsuspecting coffee
can rice burners that have a notion that a 70's car can't be both fast and
cool.

But this is no ordinary 70's styling (albeit in my case with a touch of 80's
flare - literally); I can feel the heads turning, eyes staring as soon as I
round the corner from my neighborhood onto the main street. A guy in a big
RAM truck rolls coal from his diesel pulling away from the first light in an
effort to impress me. I cut through that crap in an instant and leave him
wondering. The lights are against me as we pull up to the next one and he's
rolling down his window excited like a kid at Christmas, I honestly at one
point thought he may be going to propose he was so enamored.

The other side I have a Jeep SR8, the Pantera is physically rocking as the
idle is set a little low, I feather the throttle and it's enough to make him
think twice, maybe he had seen what happened to the RAM, sheepishly he pulls
away (ewe that was a bad pun).

It's a similar story at each light, I'm wondering if some whizz kid out
there has an app that changes lights to red just to get another glimpse of
this beauty. I look in the rear view mirror and over the vibrating air
cleaner I see the Lexus behind me has a Mom driving and son in the passenger
seat both with their noses stuck to the windshield, tongues hanging out and
eyes squinting trying to read the script on the rear of the Pantera. I don't
know if they got it, but if that kid wasn't the one with the traffic light
app I'm damn sure he's on Google now and we are about to have one more
convert to the fold.

I pull into the small mall and there's a flurry of activity, smart phones
come out faster than I can answer the questions. Its amazing kids nowadays
can draw a smartphone, take a photo and upload it to Facebook quicker than a
cowboy could get his finger on the trigger of a six shooter. But I'm not
here to showboat; this is a grocery run, well sort of, more the precooked
variety, aka fast food. I'm in line and a guy starts showing me photos of
his buddies GT40, yes I have one of those too! We continue the car related
chat out into the parking lot and part ways new friends, who said gasoline
cars are a dying breed, there's nothing to get excited about an electric
motor! (Ooh another more subtle pun). I linger as the final few get there
photo shot from just the right angle, after all who wants to be tagged in a
less than perfect photo on FB!

I head home via the Freeway to be able to open her up a little, but the
downside is it's over all too soon, before I know it I'm home and eating
dinner. Man that Panda Express tasted good..not because it's a quality meal
simply because of the pleasure it brought me to be out in the Pantera again,
why did I wait so long dammit!

Who the f*^k said fast food isn't good for you!


Julian