[DeTomaso] Executive cars/original owners
Matt
nwpantera at gmail.com
Wed Feb 28 15:38:57 EST 2018
After my request for stories of original owners, Jim sent me his. He gave
permission to share so I am. Stories like this let my mind wander back in
time.
Thank you Jim!
Matt,
I bought my 1974 L Yellow Pantera (6949) new in 1974.
My father was an engineer at Ford Motor Co. for 45 years. He worked at EEE
(Ford engineering center in Dearborn MI at the time).
I would periodically hang out there and at the attached design center.
After I separated from the Air force in 1969 during one of my 'day trips'
to FOMOCO I happened to see some sketches of what turned out to be the
Pantera.
I asked about the sketches ans was told Ford was knocking around the idea
of producing such a car.
Not a lot of details available.
Later (I think in late 1969 or early 1970) I heard from an acquaintance
Ford would be marketing the Pantera.
I immediately focused my savings routine to target the Pantera. I had a
choice - house or car? I really did not want to own a house but I did want
that car. My calculations showed I could save enough money to buy one in
1975.
Then Ford announced not importing after 1974. So I was close but would have
to get a loan.
I went to the local LM dealership.
I asked to meet the Sales Manager. I asked him to point out the Salesman
with the worst month (it was towards the end of the month).
I went to that salesman and told him I wanted to order the Pantera in
Yellow with the only option - a radio.
He actually tried to talk me into another vehicle. See in those days most
LM dealerships were using the presence of the Pantera to bring in
prospective customers then switch them to models with a higher profit for
the dealership. Apparently the dealers did not make a lot on the Panteras
I informed him that was the only car I was interested in; I was giving him
a gift and I would go to another salesman. I suggested that he was tanking
that month it would be in his best interest to take this slam-dunk sale.
Then the wait began. 3 months went by with no progress.
Finally out of exasperation I went to my High School friend's father who
was an Exec VP at Ford and mentioned the situation. He explained he did not
have a lot of authority at LM (separate division and all) but he would look
into it.
In the meantime, a Nursing school student who I knew at the hospital where
I was working said her father was executive in charge of all North America
LM Dealerships and she arranged for me to meet with him.
After he heard my story, he was pretty angry. He said more than likely the
Pantera I ordered was grabbed by another dealership because by that time
the dealerships in the South and West could get even more money for a new
Pantera but new orders were being curtailed. He indicated my delarship was
not being aggressive about getting my order. He asked me to wait a week,
return to the dealership, ask to meet with the owner and use his name to
make sure the owner would meet with me.
I passed that information on to my High School friend's father and he said
to feel free to use his name as well when I meet with the owner if
necessary.
Well I met with the owner (indeed I needed to name drop before he would
meet with me).
The owner gave me all kind of excuses and essentially they were doing
everything they could and that is just the way life is.
I then explained I would be reporting that back to the 2 executives. He
ho-hummed.
I did report back to the 2 executives who both responded with surprise. I
later found out they had conversed with each other about the situation.
THE NEXT DAY I received a call from the owner indicating I should call on
him at my convenience.
Totally different story then (I seem to recall he was actually sweating). I
had my Pantera within a month.
A few years later the dealership name changed. I spoke with my new friend -
head of LM dealerships - and he told me they had been watching that
dealership for a while but indeed my experience convinced them to begin an
audit which resulted with LM taking the dealership back from the owner.
Anyway I drove the Pantera to California that late Fall and back. Excellent
road trip.
Every Summer then between 1975 and 1985 I drove it every nice day to work,
softball (I played a lot of softball), and family functions (I have a large
family) putting about 35,000 miles on.
Then in 1985 life happened and I needed to garage it. It sat in the garage
until 2015. It was going to be my retirement project to get it back on the
road. Then I realized I probably would never retire. So I sent it off to PI
Motorsports and in May of 2017 it was shipped back to me in MI restored.
The restoration was a down to bare metal restoration. The engine and ZF
were rebuilt (engine was beefed a little). The cooling system was upgraded
even though I never had the dreaded overheating issue as was the ignition
system, the brakes were upgraded, the exhaust system was upgraded and I got
an up-to-date radio. New Gas tank and upgraded wheels/ tires (I retained
the original wheels and the Pirellis which were on the car).
The interior is original with the exception of the steering wheel and the
driver's seat which was rebuilt. The glass is original.
My target was to return the car to its original state but upgrade some
critical system.
I have all of the paperwork I received from the dealership.
Well that is my rather long story.
I did not share this with the group but if you think this is sufficiently
interesting feel free to share.
Best,
Jim Kosloskey 6949
-------------- next part --------------
After my request for stories of original owners, Jim sent me his. He
gave permission to share so I am. Stories like this let my mind wander
back in time.
Thank you Jim!
Matt,
I bought my 1974 L Yellow Pantera (6949) new in 1974.
My father was an engineer at Ford Motor Co. for 45 years. He worked at
EEE (Ford engineering center in Dearborn MI at the time).
I would periodically hang out there and at the attached design center.
After I separated from the Air force in 1969 during one of my 'day
trips' to FOMOCO I happened to see some sketches of what turned out to
be the Pantera.
I asked about the sketches ans was told Ford was knocking around the
idea of producing such a car.
Not a lot of details available.
Later (I think in late 1969 or early 1970) I heard from an acquaintance
Ford would be marketing the Pantera.
I immediately focused my savings routine to target the Pantera. I had a
choice - house or car? I really did not want to own a house but I did
want that car. My calculations showed I could save enough money to buy
one in 1975.
Then Ford announced not importing after 1974. So I was close but would
have to get a loan.
I went to the local LM dealership.
I asked to meet the Sales Manager. I asked him to point out the
Salesman with the worst month (it was towards the end of the month).
I went to that salesman and told him I wanted to order the Pantera in
Yellow with the only option - a radio.
He actually tried to talk me into another vehicle. See in those days
most LM dealerships were using the presence of the Pantera to bring in
prospective customers then switch them to models with a higher profit
for the dealership. Apparently the dealers did not make a lot on the
Panteras
I informed him that was the only car I was interested in; I was giving
him a gift and I would go to another salesman. I suggested that he was
tanking that month it would be in his best interest to take this
slam-dunk sale.
Then the wait began. 3 months went by with no progress.
Finally out of exasperation I went to my High School friend's father
who was an Exec VP at Ford and mentioned the situation. He explained he
did not have a lot of authority at LM (separate division and all) but
he would look into it.
In the meantime, a Nursing school student who I knew at the hospital
where I was working said her father was executive in charge of all
North America LM Dealerships and she arranged for me to meet with him.
After he heard my story, he was pretty angry. He said more than likely
the Pantera I ordered was grabbed byA another dealership because by
that time the dealerships in the South and West could get even more
money for a new Pantera but new orders were being curtailed. He
indicated my delarship was not being aggressive about getting my order.
He asked me to wait a week, return to the dealership, ask to meet with
the owner and use his name to make sure the owner would meet with me.
I passed that information on to my High School friend's father and he
said to feel free to use his name as well when I meet with the owner if
necessary.
Well I met with the owner (indeed I needed to name drop before he would
meet with me).
The owner gave me all kind of excuses and essentially they were doing
everything they could and that is just the way life is.
I then explained I would be reporting that back to the 2 executives. He
ho-hummed.
I did report back to the 2 executives who both responded with surprise.
I later found out they had conversed with each other about the
situation.
THE NEXT DAY I received a call from the owner indicating I should call
on him at my convenience.
Totally different story then (I seem to recall he was actually
sweating). I had my Pantera within a month.
A few years later the dealership name changed. I spoke with my new
friend - head of LM dealerships - and he told me they had been watching
that dealership for a while but indeed my experience convinced them to
begin an audit which resulted with LM taking the dealership back from
the owner.
Anyway I drove the Pantera to California that late Fall and back.
Excellent road trip.
Every Summer then between 1975 and 1985 I drove it every nice day to
work, softball (I played a lot of softball), and family functions (I
have a large family) putting about 35,000 miles on.
Then in 1985 life happened and I needed to garage it. It sat in the
garage until 2015. It was going to be my retirement project to get it
back on the road. Then I realized I probably would never retire. So I
sent it off to PI Motorsports and in May of 2017 it was shipped back to
me in MI restored.
The restoration was a down to bare metal restoration. The engine and ZF
were rebuilt (engine was beefed a little). The cooling system was
upgraded even though I never had the dreaded overheating issue as was
the ignition system, the brakes were upgraded, the exhaust system was
upgraded and I got an up-to-date radio. New Gas tank and upgraded
wheels/ tires (I retained the original wheels and the Pirellis which
were on the car).
The interior is original with the exception of the steering wheel and
the driver's seat which was rebuilt. The glass is original.
My target was to return the car to its original state but upgrade some
critical system.
I have all of the paperwork I received from the dealership.
Well that is my rather long story.
I did not share this with the group but if you think this is
sufficiently interesting feel free to share.
Best,
Jim Kosloskey 6949
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