Reply to "May be a stupid question, but..."

Converting an early unflaired Pantera to the later GT-5 or GT-5-S look is possible; Gary Hall has done numerous cars as has Wilkinson Panteras and others. But to do this right, expect to pay upwards of $15,000. There are probably 50 ft of welds to make after the purchase of the four new fenders and other essentials. The entire car is stripped to the bone for the work. Then you'll need much wider wheels and big tires that will add maybe another $5000, especially if big brakes like the late cars used, are added. This is one reason why the late cars sell for $40-60,000 (not counting their rarity- only about 150 were ever built) while a nice early Pantera can be had for maybe $22-28,000, that will do most if not all that a late car will do except look curvaceous. I advise looking for a late car, or an early that's already converted (which may need redoing if it wasn't done correctly).