#1239

So Kid's car and this one (see link below) could be very similar in that they are push buttons and a GTS?

PushButton GTS

quote:

they are push buttons and a GTS

NO, this is not very likely AT ALL.

The GTS option did not appear until well after the very early pushbutton Panteras were made.

Unless as Kid mentioned, someone returned this car to the factory for a proper GTS conversion, this is just a pushbutton with some painting changes and an added rocker panel decal.

Please remember our cars (for better or worse) have always been viewed as fair game for ANY modification the current owner feels like doing.

In common car guy terms, there are a lot of Group 4, GTS, GT5, and GT5S clones in the Pantera world.

But in our world, there are no hidden clues in the VIN (not counting just a few exceptions) to tell us what is real and what is not.

It can cause a lot of incorrect assumptions about what any given car truly is in the sense of what they were when they left the factory.

A very prime case of Buyer Beware.

Larry

In August 77 my car looked like this.

It's so far unclear what happened with the car in between build date in January 71, what appears to be its first use in December 73, and August 77. I'd really like to know that...

No decals here, but (hand)painted on the car.

quote:

Originally posted by Kid:
In August 77 my car looked like this.

Actually, the picture could be older than August 77. This picture has been used to register the car back in 77 (dated and stamped), but that doesn't necessarily means the picture was taken in 77.

One thing I could maybe do - try to track down when the Austrian licence plate shown on the picture was in use. Back in 77 they also knew the car was for the first time used in December 73, so there had to be - and maybe still are - somewhere documents which do prove so...

Maybe I should put one of my freinds who does spend quite some time in Austria to work

quote:

Originally posted by Polymath:
So Kid's car and this one (see link below) could be very similar in that they are push buttons and a GTS?

Pushbutton GTS

Something which did get my attention...
The "GTS" description on that car.

On the left side, the "GTS" part is located at the rear wheel side, on the right side towards the front wheel. Mine does have "GTS" at both sides back to the rear wheel.

I have only two vents in the center of the dash, this one three. I do have a clock.

Pictures "stolen" from that site...woops

Larry, you have a GTS too?? That is great. Mike Drwe told me he had seen factory GTS with one side or the other decal put on backwards, but mine was the only one he ever saw with BOTH sides put on backwards. :-D
I guess that makesw mine a 1 of 1 as they say in concours talk.

quote:

Larry, you have a GTS too

Nooooo.

But I could turn it into one.

Larry

It also appears that the black PB is running Single Slot campy's up front and double slot campy's in the rear...

Also, not really feeling the sugar scoop.

quote:

Originally posted by Polymath:
Also, not really feeling the sugar scoop.

What does this expression means? I'm jusst a stupid Belgian remember...

quote:

What does this expression means?

First off, the 'sugar scoop' is a nickname for the spoiler mounted at the forward edge of the rear deck.

"Not really feeling" is like saying-

I'm not too thrilled with the sugar scoop.

Got it?

And your English is no doubt a hell of a lot better than our Dutch, or German or French, which appear to also be official languages of Belgium.

Larry

I'd always thought that there were no all black Ford era Panteras offered by DT.

If so, that car was repainted and someone other than DT applied those decals, no?

Were any L-M dealers known to or allowed to dress up a ford era car with GTS embellishments, and sell it as so, perhaps as some kind of dealer installed option?

quote:

that car was repainted and someone other than DT applied those decals, no?

Yes, no doubt a repaint.

quote:

Were any L-M dealers known to or allowed to dress up a ford era car

Not to my knowledge, but in DT Land, anything goes.

Larry

quote:

Originally posted by LF - TP 2511:

First off, the 'sugar scoop' is a nickname for the spoiler mounted at the forward edge of the rear deck.

"Not really feeling" is like saying-

I'm not too thrilled with the sugar scoop.

Got it?

And your English is no doubt a hell of a lot better than our Dutch, or German or French, which appear to also be official languages of Belgium.

Larry

Aha - I Googled for the expression, but couldn't really find anything making sense to me...

I'm Flemish, know my French, manange myself in German, and know the basiscs of a couple of other languages. English is my second best, although I still have soooo much to learn...

quote:

Originally posted by larryw:
I'd always thought that there were no all black Ford era Panteras offered by DT.

If so, that car was repainted and someone other than DT applied those decals, no?

Were any L-M dealers known to or allowed to dress up a ford era car with GTS embellishments, and sell it as so, perhaps as some kind of dealer installed option?

You are right, the Ford era GTS was not offered in all black. My GTS is all black also, but I had an expert look at my car and he said they had masked the decal when they repainted it. How he knew that, I dunno, but that expert was none other than Bill Gaino, known here as "Last Pushbutton".
I think my car was originally gray and black. Mine has the coffee table wing on back and I know that wasn't original either.
Some of the fun of owning a Pantera is just trying to figure out what it is you do have.

quote:

Originally posted by DeTom:
Some of the fun of owning a Pantera is just trying to figure out what it is you do have.

Is it a bird, is it a plane..? Noooooo, it's a Pantera

Kid, just bought 1238 today. Was originally yellow, now French Blue or Richard Petty here in the South. Car has all Italian gauges,aluminum gas tank, etc. There is an article about this car in the PI Fall 1996 issue.

Another pic of 1238.

That is interesting!

Wonder how they did get an early Euro car through emission control in the US...

One thing I note at first sight - the more straight (horizontal) exhaust tips. As far as I know, the early cars had exhausts with the tips facing more upwards.

Did your car came with any old documentation, pics and such?