European GTS brakes

I am pretty sure that there is no difference between the two.

The only different brakes used on the Pantera would be those used on the factory built race cars.

I believe those used 1.25" thick vented rotors front and back. The front stock caliper had a spacer installed between the inner and outer halves to make it accommodate the thicker rotor.

Another modified stock front caliper was installed in the rear with the thick rotor.

I don't know for sure the source of the rotors but if you look at them closely, they look just like the 67 Ford Thunderbird rotors which will bolt right up to the Pantera.

You have to remember that at the time Ford was essentially running the show with Detomasso as the out front man. This was all Ford money and the method at the time for Ford was to pull parts out of the system that already existed.

You can call the Pantera a Detomaso if you will but Ghia and Vignalli were both owned by Ford at the time. None of this is coincidence.

The Mangusta wasn't even a Detomaso design. It was a design that was created for I think Bizzarini who used Corvette engines in his cars, and they didn't like the design, so it was then offered to Detomaso. Ford didn't like any of these shanagans so they bailed on the Mangusta. But I digress.

This part sourcing system was also true of the Shelby and Cobra lines as well. Brake components often came from the big car lines as well as the F series of trucks. You could consider this parts sourcing as the beginnings of a Corporate modular system. If not for the street production cars, then certainly for the race cars that were never intended to be street driven.

GM certainly used it. If you look at the early Corvettes, Duntov often sourced chassis components from GM trucks.

The real tragedy on Fords part with the racing Panteras was that as told by Detomaso, he got no help with the racing engines from Ford. Now I don't know if that is really true? How else did they wind up with Bud Moore engines?

It's more likely that Detomaso was just incapable of running a race team like Ford could do with the GT40 program? It was said that the money for that came directly from Ford himself since he needed to win at any cost.

Detomaso simply couldn't afford to compete with the likes of billionaires such as Ford and Ferrari. Not many could.

It might just be bad timing for Detomaso on those engines since as I recall, NASCAR was still running big block engines at that time and the 351c needed more development time as an endurance engine since the heavy duty engine racing components seemed to all be there?

People like Dyno Don Nicholson seemed to get more back door help with parts then anyone else. Recalling it all now, memory as what memory is, there was virtually no reporting of European racing here in the US at that time, and Fords theory of race on Sunday, sell in the showrooms on Monday, their dollars were better spent here in the US?

What would be the point of different brakes for the European street cars since the US versions were already developed and more then adequate, especially if you were selling less then 100 European street versions per year?

Sorry to go off on a tangent and digress on a simple question, but sometimes it helps if you understand the greater picture?

Hi Alexopm,

Check out the De Tomaso registry where the Euro GTS details are described: http://www.provamo.com/Members...GTS/GTSEuroModel.asp
There it says ventilated rotors were used. I think there are more details elsewhere on the internet or in some of books on Panteras - just can't quite remember where right now.
Cheers, Tim.

Thanks a lot guys. This will be the first Pantera I restore and all information is valuable.
Cheers,
Alejo

No riveted flares.
Metric speedometer.
10" rear wheels.
No heavy bumpers, or attachment shocks.
Some differences in the tags.
Chassis numbers from earlier years.
Hand formed and welded fenders.
No ford badges. De Tomaso script on sides.

Leather upholstering with mouse hair dash covering.

My 1979 Euro GTS has some additional differences
No riveted flares.
Metric speedometer & gauges.
10" rear wheels 8" fronts
Fiberglass bumperettes like the GT5
Serial # prefix different.
No ford badges. De Tomaso script on rear
Left rear red marker light
Mouse hair inset leather seats with mouse hair dash covering.
Rear window defoger
No side marker lights
Radio antena on top center of roof.
Rear decklid scoop
My 79 has 4" dropped floors and Embo Coach frame
The brakes are the exact same as my 73 L pantera

The Euro GTS was what DeTomaso sold to the rest of the world '72-up while Ford was building Panteras for the U.S. When Ford pulled out and sold the operation back to DeTomaso in late '73, DeTomaso continued to sell the 'GTS' as a baseline model up thru the late-'80s. Some countries got specific parts (seats & lights among others were nation-specific). Plus, many GTS's were optioned up to the Gr-3 street-legal club-racer in Europe & Australia, which is where some of the confusion comes from. None of these options were available to U.S. owners, and even today many don't know what was available from the factory for the rest of the world. At one time there was an actual multi-page 'Optional Parts' Book. In the back of the black 1985 Pantera Parts & Accessories book is an abbreviated listing that includes Weber 48 IDA carbs and intakes, full roll cages, 10" Campys, ventillated hoods & brakes, oil coolers etc. Some of these parts (or similar ones) eventually became std. on wide-body Panteras of the mid-'80s.
Bottom line: since it's likely no two Euro GTS cars were built identically, you will either have an easy time 'building' one since no one knows exactly what they contained beyond Euro-faced gauges & parking lights, or a really difficult time documenting your add-ons. Good luck.