quote:"Driving a Ferrari is like being married to a prima ballerina. Driving a Pantera is like dating a hooker."
Yes but I must say, if you’d like to roll with a very naughty girl, you should take one of the street going component/replica/kit cars like the GT40 or perhaps the RCR SL-C for a ride. Any power plant you can a put in your Pantera you can stuff in them and in street trim they weigh in at about 2300-2400 lbs.
On the price issue, these component cars can be bought turn key built to your specs for <$125k. The pre-owned market is developing [Not SL-C) and now slightly used they can be had for as little as $70k. There’s probably something to be learned from the comparison I just made, similar to the lesson in buying modified Panteras. They are not GT cars but anyone that wants a max performance street machine they can track really needs to take a hard look at these cars. They are a great value in this respect.
I joke with my friends that driving my 40 is like being stuffed in a 50 gallon drum with a little oil and fuel in the bottom, set out in the sun, while someone beats on the side with a wrench. –Man it’s fun. My Pantera actually seems civil afterward.
Back to the potential for a new DeTomaso super car, on the first go around Ford offered the Pantera at twice the price of a Corvette. Everyone knows the various gaffs that were made along the way but from a business perspective it was not a success, at least for Ford. Today the field is much more crowded for such cars, and the entry costs, level of regulation, and the performance bar set much higher. Entering this market with a car at 2x the Z06 today?
For reasons mentioned earlier in this thread about the present Pantera following, and the fact that it’s not a recognized brand/marque I can’t see there being much of a pull from it in the market for those who buy high end sports cars as status symbols. Would they boast to their friends about their new DeTomaso? If so it would be on the merits of the car itself not the past.
Sorry fellas don’t mean to be a killjoy but all sentimentality aside, if approached I’d have to pass on that investment (that being bringing such a car to market).
K