Reply to "Pantera year of manufacture vs VIN"

Here's the break-down

Push Buttons (hand built models, a few were actually built before January, in 1970)
Chassis 1001 - 1382
January 1971 - April 1971

Pre-L (The beginning of the assembly line models)
Chassis 1383 - 2292
April 1971 - December 1971

Total 1292 cars in 1971
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Pre-L
Chassis 2293 - 4268
January 1972 - August 1972

Pantera L (These are officially called 1972-1/2 models)
Chassis 4269 - 4839
August 1972 - December 1972

Total 2547 cars in 1972
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Pantera L (this is the short 6 month model year)
Chassis 4840 - 5899
January 1973 - June 1973

Total 1060 cars in 1973 (only 6 months)
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Pantera L (aligned with Ford's production year, then extended. Should have ended June 1974)
Chassis 5900 - 7380
July 1973 - August 1974

Total 1481 cars in 1974 (14 months!)
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The things that differentiated an L model from a Pre-L were the motor with EGR, the impact resistant bumpers and the switch to Arriva tires. It doesn't really matter which dash it has, the dash didn't define the model. The change in dash design was just another running change. The change to a side mounted fuel filler didn't start right away either.

The L requires a different body, with pods up front for the turn signals. Its only a hunch of mine, I have no solid evidence, but since DeTomaso was a small manufacturer trying to build cars with as little waste as possible, I'd bet they didn't start using the new L-style coaches until all of the Pre-L coaches had been used up. Because once the change was made a Pre-L lacking the impact resistant bumpers would not have been capable of being sold in the US.

Now the interesting thing about the 1972-1/2 L models, they were built to comply with regulations that applied to 1973 models. In my opinion the 1972-1/2 L models should have been considered 1973 models, meaning the DeTomaso 1973 model year would have began in August 1972, half-way to being aligned with Ford's model year. But its silly to argue that from my arm chair 40 years later, the truth remains that DeTomaso and Ford agreed to refer to the first L models as 1972-1/2 models.

-G