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Hi guys n gals.

Im mike from south africa. Ive loved the detomaso pantera since a little kid. These are the best memories i have of me and my father.

I would so love to buy this car back from the current owner, perhaps he is on this forum.

The beauty is as far as a know and understand a genuine group 5 or GT5 twin turbo model. It is a grey wide body with metal flares etc. I remember it having omp buckets an "authentic" fire extiguisher system and momo stearing wheel.

As far as i know it was sold in 99 / 2000 to the director of MTN mobile. Apparently it was sent to the ferrari factory in italy for a respray and then off to austrailia. But i cannot be sure.

If anyone knows of a grey or once grey twin turbo with roughly 800hp in aus please let me know. I need to buy the car back. It will bring back sooo many memories my father and i had.

I have a picture of it in my safety deposit box(yes it means that much to me) i will tey scan it soon.

Thanks
Mike
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Mike,

If you have more details, it would help a lot. Was the car LHD or RHD? When you say "grey", was it light, medium or dark? You state that it had metal flares, but the GT5 cars didn't — they are fiberglass. So were the flares added after by someone, or was the car actually a GT5-S? The factory never added turbos (that I am aware of), but many guys have modified the cars, although very few have done twin turbos. What colour was the interior? Are there any other details you can provide such as what model year it was?

If you have a modern smart-phone, you can probably take a half-decent shot of your photo if getting access to a scanner isn't easy.

But taking a quick stab in the dark, here is a grey, steel-fendered GT5-S with a supercharger. Way less than 800 HP, no bucket seats and painted in California not Italy. But it is in Australia now.

Mark

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quote:
Originally posted by Mark Charlton:
Mike,

"But taking a quick stab in the dark, here is a grey, steel-fendered GT5-S with a supercharger. Way less than 800 HP, no bucket seats and painted in California not Italy. But it is in Australia now."

Mark


Hi Mark. That's my GT5S Yeah Baby!

Here's a more recent photo.

Mike good luck with your search.

Lui

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Mike:

The email Bosswrench posted for me is not quite correct, so please just send me a private message on this forum if you want to contact me directly.

I can't recall any cars matching your description offhand, but I will have a more careful look through the registry and let you know if I find anything. I suggest you also search through the ProvaMo registry to see if any cars seem to match the one you are looking for (I provide the ProvaMo registry with all the Panteras I find and so summaries of all but the newest listings I have are posted there).

http://www.provamo.com

I would be surprised if the car you are looking for is in Australia because Joe organizes the Australian De Tomaso club and so if he does not know about it, then it is likely not there. A twin turbo GT5 or GT5-S Pantera is a very rare thing indeed, and would likely be known by the community if it was still around and configured that way. There is only one late model race car in Australia that could be mistaken for a genuine Group 5 race car, #9242, but it is Australian-built and has never left the country as far as I know. Due to their rarity, I would be very, very surprised if your dad's car was a factory Group 5.

I would urge you to scan and post the photo you have of the car, because we may be able to spot some other identifying features that could lead us to locating it. It would also allow us to narrow down for you whether it is a GT5, GT5-S or a Gr 5.

- Peter
quote:
Originally posted by Dtmgt5:
Hi Mike
If you have the chassis number I can help you.
I think it is now in Tasmania.
Joe


Sorry for the late reply all. I have not had a chance to get the picture yet. It is rhd medium grey delta wing intake scoops for the turbos black interior. My father passed years ago and so i dont have the chassis nimbers. This is why i want the car so bad. I want to try feel closer to the old man. It also had a big tachometer with shift light on the dash.

Dtmgt5, does this sound like the one in tasmania? Big Grin

Yes i wouldnt sell either but sadly with what happened back then, it had to be done.

Thanks for the input everyone its greatly appreciated. Sorry im not so social, its an extremely busy start to the new year. I will contribute shortly. Smiler
Mike,
would you be able to get the local transport department to search for vehicles under your dad's name and maybe find the chassis number?

Easy to ask, and all they can say is no. I would actually go to the counter in person as opposed to just a phone call, for that personal "this is important to me" touch.
Easier said than done when dealing with this countries pathetic new government. I will try to get more info soon.

Curious to hear from Joe if the devil in tasmania matches the description i gave.

Some of the best memories i have of me and my dad are with that car.

I also remember something about it having 2 big Garret turbos.the dyno read roughly 600hp at 4500rpm before the big pirellis started smoking and losing grip. This was before the turbos were at full boost. So the power was estimated at around 750-800 hp at the wheels. I also remember the old man saying that it had group 5 suspension brakes motor and transaxle and something about the side shafts being 1000hp rated shafts.

I have to try remember things from 15 years ago so bare with me please gents Smiler
Mike
I think this is the GT5 your looking for.
It is a 1985 built. British RHD delivery.
Taken to South Africa and restored there.
It was then brought to Sydney Australia.
ID on chassis plate> 08182> Engine EU 2749
No C14
Colour medium grey
Side air intakes, I think the large tacho was removed, there is the large red light on the dash. I think it has every thing you mentioned. It is now in Tasmania.

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Oh my! I think that could possibly be the one! Seem a little darker than i remember. Any other pics perhaps? Another interior shot or engine bay shot?

Thank you so so much for the help. Next step is to contact current owner and make an offer he cant refuse.

Ill be putting the big tachometer back -_-

I believe my dad was the one who brought it into south africa as a n/a v8 gt5. He then imported suspension, brakes and the twin turbo motor and zf transaxle. The motor was tuned by a muppet who blew the motor on the dyno. The motor was then rebuilt with new parts and as i said before was set at 1.5 bar boost. The dyno run ended at 4500 rpm reading 600 or 650 hp when the car lost traction. After many failed atempts to lock it down more they estimated the power at full boost to be around 750 to 800 hp. If it has been kept in the twin turbo configuration and tuned correctly there in aus it should still be pushing that power.

Again i cant thank you enough!

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