Reply to "Should I buy this Pantera?"

In today's market and at $17K I think this looks like a reasonable project for someone with the aptitude to do much of their own work, or as you suggest 'know a man that can' for some of the stuff that is beyond the average garage mechanics ability or more often resources.

My question is do you want a GT4 conversion? If the answer is 'yes' then this looks a good place to start. If not, then restoring this one back to original would take a lot of work and $$.

From the pictures it would appear the previous owner put some effort and thought into this car. S/S firewall, lay-down radiator & Flexalite sucker fans etc. It would be worth taking a knowledgeable Pantera owner with you to inspect the car and determine what other unseen upgrades there may be. This will aid in both gaining some insight into the previous owner and also help determine a value for the car. For instance the wheels do not look like Campi's (which could value as much as $3K for the 13's and 10's width), more like a painted steel rim.

There is one burning question that remains in my mind, which is whether the flares are steel or fiberglass? You would have to place more value on steel ($1750 just for the flares, without mounting etc.) vs. fiberglass that can be had for ~$400. The work involved in the steel flares is significantly more complex, but the front fender crack you show leads me to think they are fiberglass.

If it were me I would be very tempted to take this car 'as is' and not have someone quickly try and get it running and/or moving. To my mind more damage than good could ensue from that because if it has been stood as long as the photos would indicate there may be internal surface rust and/or seized rings etc. The oil in both the engine and ZF will have been sitting at the bottom for all that time. I would take it home, tear it down and send the ZF to a reputable Pantera vendor for inspection and rebuild. The motor may need nothing more than strip down, clean and reassembly at this point.

I've probably used up my 2 cents plus some change, all that remains to say is "Good Luck" with whatever you decide to do.

Julian