quote:Originally posted by Whiplash:
Our BB has over 1,400 members and is growing. For everybody that joins, there are at least 2 or more people that haven't joined up. We invite all of you to participate by signing up. If you haven't registered, you won't be able to see attachments or otherwise participate. Your privacy rights will be respected. We welcome all new enthusiasts and we hope your experience with the DeTomaso hobby will be a great one. We bought our first Pantera in 1974 from a Lincoln Mercury dealer and have never been sorry. We considered a 427 Cobra and also a Daytona, however, we settled on the Pantera because it was a car we could drive everyday, we loved the looks and we are big Ford fans. Tell us how you got became interested in DeTomaso cars. We think you will enjoy the unique fellowship and enthusiasm that surrounds the DeTomaso marque. Forza! Paige, Linda and Dave Adler
When I was ten years old my brother got me a model kit of the Ford GT-40 Mk IV. I remember how well the car was laid out and how the details made more sense the more you thought about it. I remember growing up through my teen years fantasizeing about driving a GT-40. Finaly when I was in college they had a Pantera at the local LM dealership. My college buddies and I just had to see it. $10,500???? Who in their right mind would ever pay that much for a car?? Heck you can almost buy a house for that!! Or so we thought at the time. Needless to say, out of reach for a young college kid. After graduation I kept an eye on Panteras hoping that a used one would become affordable. I do remember them getting down to about $7000 but not much lower. So later I married, had kids and the mid engined exotic car dream faded in to oblivion. A poor and humble engineer raising a family is not meant to have such things. It is the realm of the elitists playthings that were not meant for the common man.
So one Sunday as we were reading the paper as we had done hundreds of times on a Sunday afteernoon, my wife casualy asks me "Dear, what is a Pantera?" I jumped from my chair, curoiouysly my heart was beating faster. It is an old car I said, why are you asking. She said a local car lot is trying to sell a car that is almost twenty-five years old for twenty-five thousand dollars! It must be a missprint." WHOA!! I was out of the house in a flash!! I had to see it. From that moment on, I was hooked solid. I did not buy that particular car, but one that was in better shape. My wife was against it from day one, but she did not diovorce me. I am a very lucky man.
