71 Push Button

They started with 1001; there were maybe 400 prototypes (pushbuttons) sold, many in Europe, while Ford took control of production. The latest one we know of is #1376 while the earliest registered is #1006. Incidently, the doorbuttons came from the Mangusta. Much of the trim on the first 50 or so cars is completely different than even the pre-L cars, so no matter what shape your suuff is in, hold onto it. Some had the battery behind the pass. seat next to the headers, cable release for the decklid and odd placements of accessories. There is a technical manual recently made available by PI, POCA and others that deals mostly with the pushbutton cars (Pantera Service Highlights, from Ford in '71) that would supplement whatever Pantera books you now own

MARK,
I AM THE OWNER OF PUSH BUTTON CAR #1223. MINE WAS IMPORTED FROM FRANCE IN 1983 TO THE EAST COAST. IT MADE IT TO THE WEST COAST IN 1997. ONE THING I KNOW FOR SURE IS THAT A LOT OF THE PARTS ARE DIFFERENT THAN THE FORD PRODUCTION ONE. YOU SHOULD HAVE GUAGES THAT ARE IN ITALIAN WITH A 300KPH SPEEDO. THE TRANSMISSION WILL BE MOUNTED DIFFERENTLY IN THE BACK. MAKE SURE THAT IF YOU BUY BODY PARTS YOU MAKE SURE THAT YOU TELL THEM THEY ARE FOR A PUSH BUTTON. HAVE FUN WITH YOUR NEW CAR, I KNOW I DO!!!!!

The early pushbutton cars like yours were essentially hand-built, and differ in many, many small ways from the later production cars. The emblems on the back, for example, were only used on the very earliest cars, and are virtually unobtainable now. Mike Coffell and Steve Wilkinson literally looked for years to find them for his restoration on #1116.

(BTW, the VIN is totally different on the early cars--instead of 11 characters, like THPNLX0XXXX), the early cars are just seven characters, like yours: DT01089

Many if not most parts from later Panteras will fit your car, but some are very unique, such as the front spindles. Your gearbox is probably a Dash-1 ZF, which is also a bit rare, and parts are more expensive for it. You may even have lower gearing, resulting in better acceleration but lower top speed (130 mph)

The major difference in the early cars is that the chassis is purported to be substantially weaker. Early 1971 cars destined for the USA were all recalled by Ford and treated to an extremely extensive chassis reinforcement program (detailed during 2000-2001 in Pantera International magazine). The Ford parts book lists a whole bunch of gussets and reinforcement pieces which don't appear in the De Tomaso book.

The European cars were marketed and sold by De Tomaso, not Ford, and De Tomaso had a rather cavalier attitude towards things like his cars falling apart. So they didn't receive any of these upgrades (which were all performed in the USA.) At Ford's behest, the chassis design was changed midway through 1971, and all cars benefited thereafter.

Yours is the black car that was for sale at the dealership in Costa Mesa, right? It benefits from a Hall Pantera chassis stiffening kit, which hopefully will go a long way towards introducing desired chassis rigidity. But those 17-inch wheels and tires will really twist it if you push the car hard.

I was about to fly down to check out the car for a prospective buyer when you beat him to it. I think you probably got an absolutely fantastic deal--congratulations!!!!

Bobby Byars had already volunteered to check out the car for free--we were going to drive it over to his shop in Brea. Since I believe you are still in the So-Cal area, I suggest you take him up on his offer, let him put it up on a rack and really take you to school.

Cheers!

Mike