Reply to "Ultra rare Pantera Gr.3 Prototype for sale now on ebay"

Well one thing Gary was good at was telling a story that created some controversy. There are a number of them that he was the source of and when I repeated them people would just shake their heads at me and look away.

The 10" Campi story is no exception.

I got my car in '85. I immediately started gathering the "update" parts for it.

Hall had the 10" listed for $1500 a pair new. That wasn't cheap. I called and knowing that he was a squirrel that stored certain items away, thought I might be able to save a few acorns by buying a used pair?

His response was sure I have those but they are $3000 a pair? So I asked why. His answer was that the "originals", as he called them, only had come on new Euro GTS cars.

The difference between the new version and the original he said was to many an insignificant detail.

It was that the gussets, the little triangles on the inner rims, on the originals, all were full and extended to the outer rim.

The new version, only every other gusset did.

This started into the, "I own the molds, I bought them from Detomaso" discussion.

That being, that Campagnolo owned the molds and they weren't really interested in making car wheels any more, a couple at a time.

They are bicycle wheel manufacturers. He said the molds were offered to him for sale as a result and he bought them.

At the time, Carol Shelby had re instituted the Shelby Wheel Company and his son Pat was running it.

Gary said the molds were there and Shelby was making the new ones for him.

Now this is a good example of how there was never a simple answer from Hall. There was always a degree of truth from what he said but it was for you to determine that.

Oh. I think the story was told to me because he was out of stock on new 10 inch and was waiting for more? No matter. He like a major league pitcher rarely threw a pitch straight down the middle of the plate? It always wiggled or broke in a direction one didn't expect.

My turn on this is simple. I said ba-humbug to the entire thing and placed a wanted ad in Autoweek.

I got a call from a Porsche dealer in Austin. He had a pair he had bought in Europe he was going to put on something else he owned (a Lambo or something) and found out it would need addaptors to fit, for, now get this, $500, and to sweeten the deal would throw in a pair of 8's?
Not bad huh?

Well those are the wheels that I have on my car now. They have the full gussets and the other observation is that they obviously look sand cast because the centers are not smooth like the "current continuation" wheels are.

But to me, if this is all true, even though the current wheel say Campagnolo Detomaso on them, they aren't. So I use the term, reproduction to differentiate between the "original" and the "current".

This group 3 "prototype" has got the staggered, large/small gussets on those wheels.

I can't remember where I read, or who told me, but I was "told" that magnesium wheels are not permitted for racing in the US, they are unsafe? Don't know where that comment came from.

I guess Gary infected me with this inability to say anything simply. Everything needs to have a big long story to it?