.

Andy,

Congratulations on your purchase. Your car looks great and I hope you get much enjoyment out of it. Extremely undervalued compared to the Shelby cousins, in my opinion.

Can you send any photos of the engine, interior, and front boot? Your car certainly looks right.

Enjoy,

Mark

Hi Andy!

FANTASTIC looking car - looks like it rolled out of the showroom yesterday! Looking forward to seeing it up close in May in Belgium!

I like the photos btw - quite artistic.

Wow, beautiful car. I'd be proud to own that.

WoW Andy! Congratulations, what an absolutely GORGEOUS car. !

When you get ready to sell it let me know. I guess I could figure out how to drive in the passenger seat.
Jeff

Hi Andy,

Interior looks better than the exterior; if that is possible! Great find. Whoever had this one kept it very nice -- very nice indeed.

Enjoy!

Mark

How does one post multiple pics on a single post?

quote:

Originally posted by JTpantera:
How does one post multiple pics on a single post?

You must use img links to pictures hosted at another website like photo bucket or similar.

K

Absolutely beautiful car. I wonder if those seats are from the factory? They sort of look like the factory special order racing seats. I recently bought a red 1988 GT5-S that looks very similar to yours, but with black interior. I had the factory racing seats but swapped them out in a trade where I got a pair of factory GT5-S non-racing seats from Kirk Evans. It will be much easier for my relatively big body (6 ft 2 1/2 230 lbs) to get in and out of the car now.

I agree with another poster that the pictures were very artistically done with beautiful backdrop.

I noticed your car doesn't have a wing. Was the wing removed or was this one of the rare cars that came without a wing?

David

Lets see if this photo fits

Another photo of 9465.

Hi Andy,

Mine is a 1988 Amerisport. I am doing a few cosmetic changes. I like the little eyebrow front bumpers like what you have on your car more than the bigger bulkier front bumper that's on mine. I am changing that out. Also having done some mechanical upgrades for reliability. I plan to drive this car.

Your car is a winner. Doesn't look like you need to do a thing to your car.

Enjoy,

David

quote:

Originally posted by Andyuk:
My car was one of a few that was specified from new with "spoiler delete". I obtained a wing from Charlie McCall but am getting to like it without so may not actually fit it.

Well if it was a factory wing delete and bearing in mind wings are for birds....

Seriously, your car looks beautiful on the outside and then IMO the light tan and red interior really sets it off to complete it.

Congratulations,
Julian

quote:

Originally posted by adoberetreat:
I like the little eyebrow front bumpers like what you have on your car more than the bigger bulkier front bumper that's on mine. I am changing that out. Also having done some mechanical upgrades for reliability. I plan to drive this car.

I assume the Amerisport cars still have the impact shocks on the bumpers? If so that will require some panel filling and bodywork. I know it's been the topic of another thread, but if you are doing bodywork anyway you might consider removing the side markers and replacing with the Euro style buttons too.

Julian

Julian,

quote:

I assume the Amerisport cars still have the impact shocks on the bumpers? If so that will require some panel filling and bodywork. I know it's been the topic of another thread, but if you are doing bodywork anyway you might consider removing the side markers and replacing with the Euro style buttons too.

Yeah you are right. There are three holes that need to be filled on each side when you remove the big Amerisport bumper and replace it with the eyebrow bumperettes.

I didn't even think about the side marker lights. But now that you mention it, I do slightly prefer the little Euro button side lights. Hmm, maybe I'll talk to the paint shop. It's soon to be painted a darker red. The factory orange/red isn't my favorite and I decided to change it.

David

David,

Actually it looks like the side markers on the Amerisports are surface mounted with only a hole for the wire, unlike earlier Panteras where the whole light is recessed into the fender. That should make the switch easier in your case, just find the right size button light to fill the hole.

Good luck,
Julian

David,

Hmmm. Darker red, Euro bumperettes, small side lights... tell me you're removing the rear wing and I'll have yet another GT5-S to covet.

Have you selected the red yet? Perhaps a dark metallic? Like this one? (not my shot but I love the look).

Mark

Have you selected the red yet? Perhaps a dark metallic? Like this one? (not my shot but I love the look).

Mark,

I selected the Lamborghini metallic red called Rosso Vik for my GT5-S. It is a bit deeper red than the factory orangish/red the car came with.

One maybe controversial thing I am doing is swapping out the wheels. The original 15" wheels look too small in diameter in my opinion, especially in todays world where most modern day cars have 19" and 20" wheels or bigger. Besides that, it is very difficult to find tires for 15" diameter wheels. I'd have to order tires from Europe or somewhere I believe. So I decided to go with GT40 clone wheels that are 18" diameter. Some people may think that hurts the original look of the car. I can understand that because I want to keep the car as stock looking as possible too. But then again I am painting the car a color that was never offered by the factory so the stock look is blown to hell anyways. So for the sake of convenience, and for appearance I decided to make the change.

David

GT40 18" clones.

Good looking Wheels! What Brand are they? Thats a Great Color, it will look Great on your Car! Be sure to post some photo's!

Cuvee,

This is the first Pantera I have ever owned. I live in Los Angeles and I flew out to New Jersey to look at the car when it was for sale 5 months ago. A Pantera enthusiast named James Malin offered to inspect the car for me. James lives in NJ, just 20 min from the seller. James also owns an '88 GT5-S that he bought directly from Kirk Evans many years ago. After we inspected the car, I bought it and then we drove the car to James house. James has a beautiful house with a huge garage, he's got a lift, and a million tools. It's basically the ultimate setup for working on cars. While the car was in very good shape considering its age, it still had many tired and aging parts.

James and I decided to completely restore the car. The car has an expensive all aluminum fontana engine with a solid roller cam with heavy duty springs- but a bit too radical for the street. James is replacing the cam with a more mild hydraulic cam because I intend to drive this car often and I wanted something reliable. James is fuel injecting the engine, along with doing many other upgrades such as all new suspension and bushings, new shocks and coil overs, he adjusted the camber to eliminate tramlining, new clutch, all new hoses, powder coated many parts, new paint, smoothed out engine bay area of tack welds and such so engine bay will be painted body color, changed out some of the electrical wires that looked frayed, new stereo and speakers with bluetooth and NAV, installing radar detector with laser jammer,installed new quad headlights, new and upgraded A/C, changed out the carpet in front trunk and interior,installed dynamat material under carpet to keep out heat and reduce noise, new reapolstered GT5-S seats, reconditioned the dash, new burlwood. The list goes on.

As for the wheels, I wanted to get larger wheels than the stock 15" wheels. But I didn't want a wheel that looked too modern, given this car is nearly 25 yrs old. I wanted something vintage that suited the car. I decided I wanted to get GT-40 type wheels. There are a few vendors that reproduce many different styles of vintage wheels. Problem is the largest size they make is 17" for the GT40 style wheel. James made some calls and found someone who custom built the wheels for us. If you want to know more about the wheels contact James directly. James has a website Malinmotors.com James is a super guy who is extremely talented and he's very helpful.

Our plan is to keep the car as original looking as possible in the interior and exterior yet add the technological improvements of todays cars to make this GT5-S a driveable roadworthy and reliable machine that I can take out often and enjoy driving. The car should be done in a couple of months. It should look quite nice when it is finished.

David

David,

Wow, beautiful car. I really enjoyed reading this thread. Your car sounds like it will be a great ride once you get it done. I like what you have done to the headlamps and the front bumpers.

Enjoy the car!

Mark

I just caught this thread and the GT5S is definitely a beautiful car. I think it really looks best with the factory GRP4/5 wheels but I understand the required change because of the lack available tires for those old 15" wheels.
Congratulations on the purchase. Customizing to your taste makes it yours.