Reply to "Pantera #2375 barn find"

This Pantera sold for $19,500 + 15% buyer's premium, so $22,500 all in. Unfortunately, it was not sold to me...

It is a daunting project. Hearsay on the mindset of the deceased former owner indicates that all the parts and pieces are probably still there somewhere, but everything's just tossed in boxes with no indications of what it is or where it goes...

Protective undercoating had been applied at some point and aside from chips and flaking there was surprising little rust on the rockers, floors and frame. The worst of it was the brackets in the rear which connect the body and the frame and serve as the mounting points for the upper A-arms. Those brackets had significant rust through in the area where they are welded to the frame and, in my opinion, would have needed to be replaced. Also, the cross-rail that connects the frame and the rockers in front of the driver's seat had a good-sized crush and dent and the driver's door didn't sit flush with the quarter panel. Not sure if this was a factory fitment issue or caused by the deformed cross-rail.

Body rust was evident, but not too bad, relatively speaking.

56,xxx on the odometer.

I have a bad feeling that the new owner intends to chop it up for parts and that would be a REAL SHAME! This car deserves to be restored, in my opinion, if you're going to drop 22K on the purchase, you might as well see it through and throw another 20K into a restoration. The motor and transaxle have already been rebuilt.

I'll try to post some pics later on. My dumb flip phone takes lousy pictures and no longer has e-mail, so I'll have to get my GF to send me the pictures she took.