Hi all! I am brand new to this board and feel fortunate to have found it!
Since I was a child, I have had a real love for exotic cars. I have been an avid reader of motor trend and road and track since about the age of ten. My extensive collection of "pocket cars" (which are far superior to hot wheels or matchbox cars, but no longer made)has since been handed down to my 2 year old son, and included a silver and black pantera.
Recently, I have been considering the fullfilment of my life long dream of owning an exotic car. I am leaning toward a later model Lotus Esprit, as they seemed fairly refined and are reasonably priced.
Today however, I had occasion to talk to a new neighbor, who happens to own a Pantera. He is a very nice guy, who was totally willing to show me his car and share a bit if his experiences with it, with me.
His car is beautiful! As it turns out, he purchased it as a project in 1989, and spent the next 7 years rebuilding it from the ground up. There is no bondo on the car, rather all new sheet metal. ALL of the running gear has been replaced with either new or rebuilt components. This thing is a gem! In fact, it is probably better than new, because the fit and finish he put into it has tighter tolerances and better detail than when new. (something I have heard of before)
All that said (and sorry for the long winded post) he has decided he wants to sell the car. Basically, because there just arent that many places one can drive it as it was meant to be driven. So, I checked out traderonline, and see that these cars (I am pretty sure he said this was a 74) sell for less than 30K. I didn't ask him what he would sell his for, but he did comment that these cars just never struck a major chord with that eclectic group of collectors.
So, although this is a much older car than I was thinking of buying, I believe it may be a better long term deal, because even though the pantera isnt too expensive, I think it might at least hover around the price I paid for it, should I opt to buy it. Plus, I consider this car to be a bit of a "vintage/classic/exotic" car from the era of "REAL" muscle cars.
The adrenaline inspiring scream of a mid engined good ole fashioned V8. Not to mention, the simplicity due to the lack of stupid computers, catalytic converters, etc.
Finally, I am rather fond of the look of the new model with the flared fenders and high wing. I know this is prbably sacreligious, but is it possible to add? Perhaps just the wing, although I am not sure how that might look. I am not toally up on Panteras, so I figured I would defer to the experts here.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to read and respond to this post! I will try to keep them shorter in the future!
John
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