[DeTomaso] Marti report question followup

[Jim Kosloskey]

I went to High School with the son of the then Exec VP of North American Operations at Fomoco.

He got a new car each year - mileage was not a factor.

He also got I think 2 more vehicles for his family. Those were changed every 2 years as I recall. I don't recall ever hearing about a mileage factor there either - but there could have been one.

His car went into service to be checked, cleaned, etc. every day he went to work. Naturally his cars always performed flawlessly. No wonder American Auto execs of the period did not understand the average owners frustration with the construction and service requirements of the American Autos of the time.

I also knew other families of Ford executives at various levels. Most of the cars which were driven by the younger members of the families were pretty heavily abused.

I had an opportunity to purchase my Pantera off of the Fomoco executive resale lot at Engineering and Design Center. However I heard from some of the techs there who I knew the Panteras showed signs of abuse - stress fractures, abused engines/transaxles, etc.

So I opted to purchase mine new from the local LM dealer.

In the short term it cost me more money (the resale lot had '73s for 3,000) but I think in the long term it saved me money. Even not abusing my 6949 metal fatigue was obvious in some areas after a few years of driving.

Jim Kosloskey 6949

-----Original Message-----
From: DeTomaso [mailto:detomaso-bounces at server.detomasolist.com] On Behalf Of Matt
Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2018 9:24 PM
To: DeTomaso Mail List <detomaso at server.detomasolist.com>
Subject: [DeTomaso] Marti report question followup

I want to thank everybody who responded! Good stuff!
Just a couple things:

1. The cars destined for Ford executives needed to be returned to Ford for re-sale when they reached 6000 mi.
That might also be the case for other divisions such as public relations or marketing but it probably depended on who ya knew.
But it makes me wonder. Was there also a time limitation? How long would it take a full time Ford executive to put 6000 miles on a Pantera?
What if you lost your job? Did you have to give it back?
Anybody know any specifics?

2. Just because the Marti report says it was delivered to a specific retail dealership doesn't necessarily mean they sold it but it does help track it's travels.
Just as they still do today, dealerships will swap inventory with other dealers. Sometimes even out of state.
I received a PM about this and I'll copy/paste some of it for you all hopefully with the writers blessing!

He states-
"The Marty Report really only gives you the "DSO" & "Ordering Dealer", and then reports the initial (retail) "sale date".  It does not actually list the dealer that sold the car new to the first retail purchaser.
I stumbled across this oddity researching my own Pantera(#deleted).  My Marty Report says it was ordered by Pacific LM in Seattle, but I interviewed the original owner extensively, and he said he bought the car new in Orange Co. CA.
So this minor incongruence hot me curious, how do I explain this?
The only possible explanation I can think of, is;
1) a simple dealer trade due to regional sales demands, or
2) that Ford was using a non-California DSO & dealer to order 49 state smog certified cars, then moving them into California (where they were selling
well) and calling them "dealer trades" -- thereby skirting the more stringent CA emission regulations.  If true, that would be pretty clever. "

That last part got me wondering exactly how Ford dealt with the tougher smog laws being imposed at the time. See VW.
Besides the 5 mph bumper redesign, bad marketing, low sales headaches, cooling, electrical issues ,etc. there must have been some major hair pulling going on around the whole program from the beginning.
Imagine having to tell Alejandro he now needs a redesign to make room for a smog pump!

We are lucky they got built at all. For just a sliver of time the stars were aligned just right. Time will tell if they'll ever line up again.
But IF the oddity called the Pantera hadn't been built you would have had to choose another car to dream about and then eventually own and enjoy.
What would it have been? I probably would have had to settle for a Lotus Esprit or something at my price point. The M1,Countach,Ferraris, all out of price and maintenance range for me at the time.
I guess I'll just thank my lucky stars I didn't have to settle for anything less than a one of a kind Pantera, no matter how it got here.

Happy trails,
Matt
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