Reply to "lower A arm faillure."

Another Pantera owner familiar with other Italian cars told me he thought the front suspension components (a arms) were lifted exactly from Maserati.

If there is such a thing as a production Maserati of that era, blame Maserati's sub-contractor.

There is no question that Ford was very "nervous" about their entire Detomaso involvement. They had reason when they saw the quality of some of these components and even the assembly of the Panteras body in some cases.

Whoever the Ford Project Engineers were that were sent to Italy to work on this, they definitely knew the parts suppliers and sourcing routine there.

For "production" components the a-arms are much more then sufficient. When you go racing you stress everything to the max.

Explain to me exactly the level of welding technology available in 1970 for production car components.

A lot of the Mustang components are mild steel, and that's for cost reasons. There is little difference with the thinking in the Pantera production.

The car easily could have reached into the Ferrari $15,000 category without serious restraints.

The "team" Trans-am Mustangs all got attention for reinforcing the tubs by the '68 season.

The Mustangs are semi-monocock (brain is only partially functioning this morning) and has similar stiffness and localized chassis strength considerations like the Pantera.