[DeTomaso] Project Pantera anyone?

[Mike Drew]

All,

Lori and I took a road trip yesterday in her #1765 to see a project Pantera for sale. It’s a late ‘74 #7055. I sent over 50 pics and two videos to Chuck and they should be in the registry soon (he has an extensive backlog). 

The long and short of it is that it was lightly modified in the late 70s/early 1980s to GTS specification, with steel flares (I think—I meant to look closely then forgot!) and 1984-dated 10-inch wheels in the back with 1971 8-inch in front. It has a tan leather interior. It starts and runs but has not been driven in 10 years. 

The owner is an 81-year-old Frenchman, quite a character. He was a gourmet chef and once ran the entire restaurant in one of the finest hotels in San Francisco, atop Nob Hill, when that really meant something. He later owned a French restaurant in the SF financial district. 

He bought the car around 1984, not knowing it had already experienced significant chassis rust. The previous owner had both inner wheelhouses repaired with Hall Pantera patch panels:

http://hallpantera.com/cgi-bin/p/awtp-product.cgi?d=hallpantera-inc&item=22131

The front valance is pretty trashed and there are holes at the very bottom rear of the door jambs, and at least one fist-sized hole in one floorpan. This is usually indicative of terminal rust under the skin elsewhere.  I pulled a seat belt retractor expecting to find nothing but iron oxide dust inside, and was very surprised to find rock solid inner, middle and outer rocker panels, and good A and B pillar posts. Perhaps this car had those areas worked on at the same time the rear of the chassis was fixed?

It runs and drives although a front brake is dragging so I didn’t drive it. It has a Hall radiator and fans, and they work beautifully. It was 95 degrees out and I let it idle for 20 minutes. It refused to go over 180. 

Steering rack needs a rebuild which is standard for a car with 60k miles, but the one axle I tested was rock solid. 

It’s a fair bit better than a barn find, because it runs and drives (thanks to a brand new battery only a few days old, and a relatively recent Holley carb). But it has been sitting in a very well-protected carport (not garaged) in a senior living facility since 2000, and hasn’t been actively driven since about 2010. 

Look at the pics and videos in the registry, and if you’re interested let me know and I will put you in touch with the seller. I told him I thought the car would be worth $40-45k as it sits.  He has zero tech savvy, doesn’t own a cell phone, and doesn’t know how to email photos to people. His computer died the morning we arrived (Drewsastered?) so he can’t answer his emails right now either. Hopefully he will be back in business soon.

Mike



Sent from my iPad
-------------- next part --------------
   All,

   Lori and I took a road trip yesterday in her #1765 to see a project
   Pantera for sale. It's a late `74 #7055. I sent over 50 pics and two
   videos to Chuck and they should be in the registry soon (he has an
   extensive backlog).

   The long and short of it is that it was lightly modified in the late
   70s/early 1980s to GTS specification, with steel flares (I think--I
   meant to look closely then forgot!) and 1984-dated 10-inch wheels in
   the back with 1971 8-inch in front. It has a tan leather interior. It
   starts and runs but has not been driven in 10 years.

   The owner is an 81-year-old Frenchman, quite a character. He was a
   gourmet chef and once ran the entire restaurant in one of the finest
   hotels in San Francisco, atop Nob Hill, when that really meant
   something. He later owned a French restaurant in the SF financial
   district.

   He bought the car around 1984, not knowing it had already experienced
   significant chassis rust. The previous owner had both inner wheelhouses
   repaired with Hall Pantera patch panels:

   [1]http://hallpantera.com/cgi-bin/p/awtp-product.cgi?d=hallpantera-inc&
   item=22131

   The front valance is pretty trashed and there are holes at the very
   bottom rear of the door jambs, and at least one fist-sized hole in one
   floorpan. This is usually indicative of terminal rust under the skin
   elsewhere.  I pulled a seat belt retractor expecting to find nothing
   but iron oxide dust inside, and was very surprised to find rock solid
   inner, middle and outer rocker panels, and good A and B pillar posts.
   Perhaps this car had those areas worked on at the same time the rear of
   the chassis was fixed?

   It runs and drives although a front brake is dragging so I didn't drive
   it. It has a Hall radiator and fans, and they work beautifully. It was
   95 degrees out and I let it idle for 20 minutes. It refused to go over
   180.

   Steering rack needs a rebuild which is standard for a car with 60k
   miles, but the one axle I tested was rock solid.

   It's a fair bit better than a barn find, because it runs and drives
   (thanks to a brand new battery only a few days old, and a relatively
   recent Holley carb). But it has been sitting in a very well-protected
   carport (not garaged) in a senior living facility since 2000, and
   hasn't been actively driven since about 2010.

   Look at the pics and videos in the registry, and if you're interested
   let me know and I will put you in touch with the seller. I told him I
   thought the car would be worth $40-45k as it sits.  He has zero tech
   savvy, doesn't own a cell phone, and doesn't know how to email photos
   to people. His computer died the morning we arrived (Drewsastered?) so
   he can't answer his emails right now either. Hopefully he will be back
   in business soon.

   Mike

   Sent from my iPad

References

   1. http://hallpantera.com/cgi-bin/p/awtp-product.cgi?d=hallpantera-inc&item=22131