[DeTomaso] Anyone of 6ft 4 in a Pantera ?

[Daniel C Jones]

Patrick,

I'm 6' 5" tall and Pantera owner Mike Dailey (www.PanteraPlace.com)
is taller than me.  When I first sat in the car I was to later buy, I
had second thoughts.  Then I went to the annual owners club convention
in Las Vegas and sat in a Pantera that had been modified with a
slightly smaller diameter steering wheel and floor pans that had been
dropped 2 1/2" to 3" (parallel with the lowest point of ground
clearance).  It had plenty of room so I went back and bought that
Pantera.

Since that time, I've sat in Panteras that had more room and others
that had less.  For instance, I sat in one Pantera that had dropped
floor pans but I could barely get in it.  It had Recaro seats (and
seat track adapters) that took up twice as much room as the dropped
floor pans provided.  The later cars with the factory dropped floor
pans and overstuffed leather seats are also tight.  The seats are
really key and most of the aftermarket seats I've seen installed take
up valuable headroom.  Mike Dailey's car is a 1971 and mine are both
1974 models.  He fits in the 1971 seats better than the 1974 seats.
With me, it's the other way around.

There are several ways to increase a Pantera's interior room:

 - use stock flat-bottom seats
 - have thinner "space-age" high density foam padding installed
 - remove the 1/2" spacers under seat tracks
 - remove seat tracks altogether and bolt seats directly to floor
 - drop floor pans - there are drop-in floor pans (cut rectangle
   out and lay new floor pan in place and weld around perimeter)
   or you can cut the pan on 3 sides and weld in 2 triangular
   pieces of metal and 1 rectangular piece).  Some later Panteras
   (1980's on?) had dropped floor pans from the factory.
 - smaller steering wheel - clearance for long/large legs
 - remove rubber pedal pads (pedals are cast aluminum and removing
   the rubber pads
 - wear narrow shoes (one woman I met wears ballet slippers)
 - space the pedals forward (pedals are hung from top and can be
   spaced forward for more leg room)

Also, the passenger seat doesn't go back as far as the driver's
side, since it hits the hump that covers the engine accessories.
There are kits that fit a modern rotary A/C compressor and high
output alternator that reduces the hump so the passenger seat
can slide all the way back.

When I first bought my Pantera, I thought one of the first things
I'd do would be to install dropped floor pans.  Interestingly
enough, after driving the car a few weeks, I sort of adapted to
the car with a smaller steering wheel and stock seats.  I did
eventually install drop floor pans (the 3" drop ones from Kirk
Evans) along with more comfortable Corvette seats and a pedal
spacer (also from Kirk) for more legroom.

Dan Jones
St. Louis, Missouri

On Mon, Feb 15, 2021 at 7:46 AM Patrick HALS <patrickhals at gmail.com> wrote:

>    Has anyone with a size of 6 foot 4 inches ever driven a Pantera ?A
>    Do you need to lower the floors ?A
>    Thank you ( for a friendA )
>    Patrick
>    Candy 2862-ADA 9628
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>
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-------------- next part --------------
   Patrick,
   I'm 6' 5" tall and Pantera owner Mike Dailey ([1]www.PanteraPlace.com)
   is taller than me.A  When I first sat in the car I was to later buy, I
   had second thoughts.A  Then I went to the annual owners club convention
   in Las Vegas and sat in a Pantera that had been modified with a
   slightly smaller diameter steering wheel and floor pans that had been
   dropped 2 1/2" to 3" (parallel with the lowest point of ground
   clearance).A  It had plenty of room so I went back and bought that
   Pantera.
   Since that time, I've sat in Panteras that had more room and others
   that had less.A  For instance, I sat in one Pantera that had dropped
   floor pans but I could barely get in it.A  It had Recaro seats (and
   seat track adapters) that took up twice as much room as the dropped
   floor pans provided.A  The later cars with the factory dropped floor
   pans and overstuffed leather seats are also tight.A  The seats are
   really key and most of the aftermarket seats I've seen installed take
   up valuable headroom.A  Mike Dailey's car is a 1971 and mine are both
   1974 models.A  He fits in the 1971 seats better than the 1974 seats.
   With me, it's the other way around.
   There are several ways to increase a Pantera's interior room:
   A - use stock flat-bottom seats
   A - have thinner "space-age" high density foam padding installed
   A - remove the 1/2" spacers under seat tracks
   A - remove seat tracks altogether and bolt seats directly to floor
   A - drop floor pans - there are drop-in floor pans (cut rectangle
   A  A out and lay new floor pan in place and weld around perimeter)
   A  A or you can cut the pan on 3 sides and weld in 2 triangular
   A  A pieces of metal and 1 rectangular piece).A  Some later Panteras
   A  A (1980's on?) had dropped floor pans from the factory.
   A - smaller steering wheel - clearance for long/large legs
   A - remove rubber pedal pads (pedals are cast aluminum and removing
   A  A the rubber pads
   A - wear narrow shoes (one woman I met wears ballet slippers)
   A - space the pedals forward (pedals are hung from top and can be
   A  A spaced forward for more leg room)
   Also, the passenger seat doesn't go back as far as the driver's
   side, since it hits the hump that covers the engine accessories.
   There are kits that fit a modern rotary A/C compressor and high
   output alternator that reduces the hump so the passenger seat
   can slide all the way back.
   When I first bought my Pantera, I thought one of the first things
   I'd do would be to install dropped floor pans.A  Interestingly
   enough, after driving the car a few weeks, I sort of adapted to
   the car with a smaller steering wheel and stock seats.A  I did
   eventually install drop floor pans (the 3" drop ones from Kirk
   Evans) along with more comfortable Corvette seats and a pedal
   spacer (also from Kirk) for more legroom.
   Dan Jones
   St. Louis, Missouri

   On Mon, Feb 15, 2021 at 7:46 AM Patrick HALS <[2]patrickhals at gmail.com>
   wrote:

     A  A Has anyone with a size of 6 foot 4 inches ever driven a Pantera
     ?A
     A  A Do you need to lower the floors ?A
     A  A Thank you ( for a friendA )
     A  A Patrick
     A  A Candy 2862-ADA 9628
     _______________________________________________
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     Posted emails must not exceed 1.5 Megabytes
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References

   1. http://www.PanteraPlace.com/
   2. mailto:patrickhals at gmail.com
   3. mailto:DeTomaso at server.detomasolist.com
   4. http://server.detomasolist.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso