Reply to "Pantera #5900 - Real Group 4?"

Chassis 5900 was 1974 job 1 (the first 1974 model). I have read this in a couple of different documents.

1974 California Panteras with 1973 registration is not unusual, its the norm!

I can explain the California situation. The US Federal Government did not change tail pipe emissions standards in 1974, they remained the same as the 1973 standards. BUT the state of California did change their standards, the NOx emission standard was lowered by 35%, and the 351C 4V with manual transmission did not comply with California's new standards. Ford responded to this by not offering the 351C 4V with manual transmission as an option in the state of California. However, the 351C 4V with manual ZF transmission was not optional in the Pantera ... it was standard, and there were no optional motors or transmissions. California was the largest market for the Pantera, rather than ban Panteras from their largest market Ford redocumented all Panteras destined for California as 1973 models (both the L model and the 40 GTS models). Easy enough to do as there were no visual changes between 1973 and 1974. There were no mechanical changes made to Panteras to sell them in California during 1974, they were just redocumented.