Exotic Embarrassment

Robert,

that was just the Italian mistress testing you. Driving you a little crazy, because she knows you can't resist her. She likes making you squirm from time to time, just so she can watch and enjoy the power she has over you.

I'll have to tell you about my first ride in 6018 someday.

cowboy from hell

Oh that's funny; oh that's sad.

I've been there my man, and I guess we all have. Seems like there should be a book, "The Day My Car Tinkled on Me and other stories from real men".

My Dino 246 ran flawlessly on the Autostrada (not me driving; I was clutching the leather armrest so hard the ghost of the cow who donated it moaned.) I buy it. It ran perfectly when loaded in the nose of the Alitalia transporter. When I get it out of LaGuardia, it RUNS FOR LIKE 150 FEET AND KEELS.

So I WALK back to Alitalia to get somebody, anybody, to help me resurrect it. When I get back, one of New Yorks'finest is parked 3 inches from it waiting on the idiot who left it. (For about 8 minutes.)

The story is much longer, but you get the idea.

WE HAVE BEEN THERE. And somehow, when 'almost' your car misbehaved, it was secretly plotting to make your first real date in it equally memorable, for an entirely different reason.

You're going to love it, quarrels and all. Keep us posted. I've loved reading your adventures thus far!

Heh! this reminds me of a friend who was doing some bodywork on an F328 for a customer. He decided to take it into town to get some lunch.
It was left hand drive, so in the UK the drivers door opened straight onto the curb. He was wearing overalls.
Lovely sunny day, girls all around etc.
As he got out the handbrake lever in the sill went into the hammer pocket of his overalls. He fell over and was completely hooked upside down for 10 minutes until 3 passers by lifted him off.

He only sprays Porsches nowadays.

Phil

....I pulled into the daycare parking lot and parked up next to the front of the building to drop off some paperwork. For some reason, I was distracted by the thought that the three moms walking in would be impressed by my cool car so I forgot to put it in gear like I usually do - I just used the parking brake. Well, that was the day the brake decided it was done working so as I was walking away from the car it was rolling forward into the curb. Tall curb + low spoiler = loud noise. One of the moms offered up this observation: "I think your car has a problem."

The car came to a stop when the tires bumped into the curb. The worst part, was when I got into the car to move it, my weight caused it to sit even lower. As I backed up, the spoiler scraped along the curb and the daycare director came out to see what on earth was going on.

Not one of my finer moments....

When my engine blew up there were huge clouds of billowing smoke rolling out of the back. I am sure the witnesses assumed it was a misquito fogger truck that must have gone by.

My first drive was from Phoenix to Northern Colorado in the dead of winter. The trip failures included: radio, heater, signal light actuator, headlight motor, high/low beam switch, and stuck throttle cable (high revs, not low!).
Add an 80 mile stretch of glare ice in the fog and you have a true white knuckle road trip.
I think the car wanted to go back to Phoenix!
Mooso.

This is tuning out to be a great subject, "memorable break downs".

I took 5845 on its first photoshoot after buying her. While at a State park, she died and refused to start (on the main park road where everyone had to pass). Oh I forgot to mention that I was scheduled to fly out to vegas in a few hours but wanted to take "one last ride" before I left. For some reason all tow companies with a flat bed were tied up for at least 3 hours (I didn't know there were that many Panteras here!) I ended up disassembling the carburetor, fixed a stuck needle valve and got back on the road and home in just enough time to make my flight. Other than that she's been a reliable ride ever since.

I went to the local hot rod swap meet in Pomona with 2 friends with Pantera’s. If you have ever been there you would know that the line to get in can be quite long.

While sitting in the bumper-to-bumper traffic waiting to get in the third Pantera in line started to overheat. A short time later, after a big boom and steam everywhere, the third Pantera had to be pushed since all of her radiator water was now on the ground.

So now we have 2 Pantera’s still running and 1 being pushed. A short time later my car stalls and wouldn’t restart.

Now we have 1 Pantera still running and 2 being pushed. You can imagine how embarrassing this was. Hundreds of hot rods are there and we have 2 of the 3 Pantera’s being pushed. One passerby yelled “Should have bought a Chevy”.

As it turns out the 3rd Pantera that blew it’s hose had a blow Radiator Fan Fuse, that is why it overheated and my car decided it was time for the coil to go bad. I bought a new coil at the swap meeting and the Pantera with the blown hose got to ride on a flat bed for the drive home.

All these stories confirm that keeping my Jetta was a wise decision.

Robert

My maiden voyage with the Pantera was to a HUGE car show in Vancouver. It was the anniversary of the Birch Bay picnic so we reserved a patch on the concours grounds. I had not had much time to tune the motor as I had only had it on the road for 3 days. As I started the car to go(with my initialy large startup enrichments) it was belching an enormous cloud of smoke that didnt clear until the engine warmed up a bit. Although it was my own fault it was certainly embarassing. If this wasnt bad enough I blew an alternator belt and had to sit on the ferry as all the other cars unloaded to wait for a jump.

Blaine

I took my car out on an early spring drive down to the "Point",a state park on the Bay front that has a turn around loop.A couple of corvettes and other mixed blends of cars were also at the"Point"with some nice looking ladies all just hanging out on a nice spring day.They were checking out my car as I drove bye making the loop.I started to profile and kind of slouthed to one side and blype the throttle just being cool when all of a sudden I herd something pop and had something draging from under the car.It was my overflow tank coming lose from the strap and falling down to the road draging by it's rubber hose connection.I had to pull off into the weeds and temperary wire up the tank.Luckily,a buddy in another car was behind me and he had some wire in his car to fix mine.I made a great impression to the onlooking gallery who by this time had a pretty good chuckle.I was quite embarrased and know, we didn't have any bra's or panty's thrown are way.I just slid down in my seat and drove away.

RobertVegas - Look what you've started!

Georgie, man, I hope you see an article just on these stories - - makes me feel like I'm in good company to know others too have been humiliated publicly while posturing oh-so-cooly.

There was a similar thread on the F-chat site, so this phenomenon is nowhere near unique amongst Pantera brethren. Keep 'em coming though!

One fine autumn afternoon in 2005 i decided to take the pantera out as it had not been started in 5 weeks. I have to drive through the centre of my town now as all the back routes out have speed ramps installed. it always creates a stir, and the noise sometimes sets off car alarms on parked vehicles. As i got to the outer side of town i was accelerating gently, and noticed people at the roadside waving and pointing, and then oncoming traffic began flashing lights. i looked up in the rear mirror and couldnt see anything with the smoke. I pulled in within 50 ft, and turned off the motor but the smoke from the rear decklid got worse, and then began to appear from under the dash as i got out of the car. I pulled the bonnet and tried to pull the battery lead with my right hand while calling a local mechanic on the cell phone with my left looking for a 10mm spanner.He had no idea what I was ranting on about as I was shouting in panic, and coughing with the smoke.I dropped the phone and managed to pull the lead off with both hands and within 5 mins the smoke had gone. A collapsed starter solenoid had caused a short to the wiring on the firewall and spread through the loom, which had to be remade. I was lucky as there was no visible damage but a few more minutes and the car would have ended up in flames as the wire to the fuel sender had started to burn. Pretty embarrassing sitting on the roadside waiting for help.

hmmm.On the 21 april i have ben asked to set up my car at a lokal car show 90km away,so it seems i now know what to expekt on the firs time on the road whith my italian mistress........#1371
Per

quote:

Originally posted by #1371:
hmmm.On the 21 april i have ben asked to set up my car at a lokal car show 90km away,so it seems i now know what to expekt on the firs time on the road whith my italian mistress........#1371
Per

Mystical Exotic Car Misadventure Rule #18 States: The more prepared you are for a breakdown, the less likely it is to happen.

Thus if you take 80 pounds of tools, a trailer of spares, 4 volumes of cross-directories, and have an expert Pantera tech on speed-dial or better yet in a chase car, nothing will ever go wrong, ever. Just a thought.

quote:

Originally posted by A Hudson:
...The more prepared you are for a breakdown, the less likely it is to happen...have an expert Pantera tech on speed-dial or better yet in a chase car, nothing will ever go wrong....

James Dean had his mechanic with him in the passenger seat when he died!

cowboy from hell

You all see how important a piece of wire is.....and we still keep doing this...i love it. -
Come on George, dont keep us in suspence. We wanna hear yours.....We've sttled in nicely here.....lets hear it cowboy.

Well, I changed the alternator and battery over the weekend. The amp guage bounces around a bit, but I think the problem might be solved.

Thinking I had established a new understanding with the car (that I would keep it maintained in exchange for hastle-free driving) I took it for its first wash. Nothing serious, just a quick squirt at the do-it-yourself car wash. All I wanted was to get the dust off it from four years in storage.

After a few minutes of spraying and wiping, my wife and I jump in the car to fire it up for some folks that have been watching us rinse it. As the car refused to turn over I remembered something from my distant past...that I should keep the distributor from getting wet.

Rather than call for a tow, we test my distributor theory and try to start the car every 15 minutes...and after ninety minutes it started.

The only high-point was the ball of flame that shot out of the carburator at one point, basically setting the carburator on fire (I had taken the air filter off). My wife leaped from the car. Running and screaming? Hell no! She grabbed the fire estinguisher from behind her seat, ran to the back of the car and got ready to blast. That's my girl!

So, the car may be determined to embarrass me, but my wife makes up for it!

Robert

Your Pantera just has to show you who the boss is. BTW, big cats hate being sprayed with water. You are lucky she didn't hurt you worse. Next time dry wash.

Well, it has happened again.

I was on my way to the shop for a fluid change and tune up (still working on getting the car road-worthy after four years of storage) when disaster struck...with witnesses.

I had one of my designers in the car with me for his first ride in the beast. One of my other employees was following to take us back to the office. Two blocks (luckily) from the shop I notice the back window is starting to fog up. Then, steam starts pouring from the hack hatch. I haul *ss the remaining two blocks with my passenger laughing and a guy in a car next to me yelling "your car is on fire!"

As I roll to a stop at the shop, the owner runs out with a fire extinguisher. It only takes him a second to smell the coolent and realize nothing is on fire.

I had an appointment, so I threw him the keys and said "I guess you need to check out the cooling system too."

R.

She's toying with you.

I guess it comes with the territory but as I approach my 2 year anniversary with Pantera ownership, yesterday, on a sunny and pleasant Friday afternoon, as I was accelerating in a brisk manner, from a very "visible and popular" Atlanta intersection, I was greeted by new sounds, sort of like a sickening bang followed by the sounds of many recently formed "parts" grinding and rattling inside my engine. Immediate loss of power ensues, but with a good "glide ratio" establihed, I very noticeably roll across two lanes of traffic into a very popular Starbucks parking lot, coming to rest under the gaze of many,many eyes...not quite the Friday afternoon drive I had in mind. After a couple of hours of humiliation and answering "what happened" and "what is it", for what seemed like a million times, I did have the good fortune to meet an exceptionally well qualified tow truck service and operator.
Next week I find out just what new ownership experiences #5835 has in store.

I get my beast back in the next few days.

Fluid change, tune up, new carb, fixed cooling system (weld fix on a pipe, new hoses) and charged AC system.

I'm looking forward to another "first drive", this time with no overheating, stalling or tail pipe plumes upon startup.

Whoop whoop! Maybe I'll even track you guys down this weekend while you are in town. I have spent the last three weeks in design hell (new magic show opening at Planet Hollywood) and have completely lost track of joining POCA and tracking down the event info.

R.

Great thread Robert!

After waiting for four weeks for 6808 to arrive, the proud day finally happens. I unload and park 6808 in front of the shop, right in the middle of the drive way, set the "line lock" brake. I go to the DMV to finalize paperwork, and get tags, in my moms Expedition. Return from DMV, find 6808 in a diffrent location than I left her, with a BIG rock under the front tire as a block. Seems as though she decided to go for a stroll on her own across the parking lot, no worries though, my truck parked across the lot "stop" her journy . And so started the restoration of 6808!
Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

Mark 6808

So there I was, agonizing over how to get my new purchase (#5357) back from Carson City to Tucson... Do I try and borrow a trailer, rent a flat bed, or what?

The seller looks at me and says: "Dude... Why don't you drive it ?" (He didn't really say "dude").

What a brilliant idea!

Got pulled over coming out of Tonapah (82 mph, but my speedo said 75, or so I told the cop), but he let me go... I had this huge mish-mash of paperwork, my license, a handwritten bill of sale, a signed title, insurance paperwork from two companies.. The cop probably just wanted to see the car, and didn't want to deal with the paperwork... "Sir - I've only had this car for 2 days!!!"

So anyway - there I was on my 2 day journey down Highway 95 to Vegas (I stayed at a hotel on Mt. Charleston, because I didn't want to deal with the traffic & valet parking on "The Strip").

I made it all the way to Tucson with no trouble. I got to the final stretch - a long, straight road that heads quite directly to my house, and the car stalls in an intersection! I made it 855 miles, with 4 miles to go, and the flippin' thing dies at a stoplight!

Right being me a carload of 99%'ers just laid on the horn, and started yelling at me... I guess they saw their chance to get back at one of the "elite" who could drive an exotic supercar. They were a real bunch of a$$es.

I got out of the car, and said "What do you want me to do"? They finally got tired of honking and yelling, and went around me.

Anyway - another guy stopped, and gave me a push through the intersection, he told me "my uncle had one of these cars"!

We decided to give it a push start it. Vroom! It started right up. Once it was going - I didn't want to stop. I yelled out the window - "I'd love to show you the car - but I can't! I've got to get this thing home!" and roared off....

I felt a little bad, because the guy had helped me out, but anyway - I made it home. That was the beginning of my carb / electrical troubleshoot - did you know that 90% of carburetor issues are electrical? I learned that eventually!

Rocky

PS> It was a distributor pin slowly failing.

...Here's Mine!

I title it, 'Never use Clear Vinyl Hose for the Fuel Tank Vent Line!!'.

I'am Cruising down French Camp Road, in the Central Valley, just south of Stockton, Ca.
The Kat is running Beautiful! All gauges reading perfect. A Smile on My Face....And Then!!
I could Not believe My Eyes! Was I having a Nightmare?? In the Rearview Mirror, just behind the Rear Window, a Candle Sized FLAME! Nothing Instills Fear, Like FIRE! I Immediately pull the Kat Over, Kill the Engine and the Fuel Pump. I don't even open the decklid, I reach in, with driving Gloves on, and try to smother the Flame, NOT WORKING! By now the Flames are Escalating...Fast! Now hitting the Accelerator Pump (Diaphram) of the Forward-Most Fuel Bowl, of the Dual Quads, and Growing, PANIC GROWS as a Semi Truck pulls up, on the other side of the Road, heading in the opposite direction. What seemed like Years, but must have been Seconds, the Driver hops-out and grabs his Fire Extinguisher, runs over and puts out the fire! Just as the Flames were Starting on the Fuel Bowl and reaching the roof. That was Close! Flat-Bedded her home. Love that AAA!

What Happened: I had Just Topped the Fuel Tank Up FULL. The Vinyl Vent line was Mistakenly laid over the Top of the Distributor Cap(don't really know Why I needed it to go to the Right side of the Engine). The High Tension Coil Wire to the Center of the Cap, had Loosened Just Enough to expose a Little Bit of the 'Brass Contact'. The Forward Float Bowl(of Dual Quads In-Line) Positions Directly Over the Distributor Cap and Just clears the Plug Wires.
A Spark from the Exposed Contact, 'Attracted', Seeking Ground, by the Dense Fumes in the Vent Tube, arced to the Tubing and in time, Burned a Hole Completely Through It! Once the Fumes were released, The 'Candle Flame' lit up.

Now, I always Carry a Extinguisher.
The Black Rubber Vent Hose is Re-routed to the Rear. The Coil Wire was Inserted Tighter (Now It's All 'Distributorless'). And I think Long and Hard before filling Her Up to the Brim!

I told My Boss about the Excitement....He Said "Just Throw Dirt On It!".
Yes! It WAS a NIGHTMARE!! One I Could NOT Wake-Up From! I Lost a '69 Mach 1, Totalled to Fire, years ago! This was a Reminder.

I Did IT to Myself!...Or Was It My Italian Girlfriend!?

...One More story, I just have to tell, as it, to this day, has remained a Complete Mystery!!

Perhaps one of You may have a clue as to 'What Happened'?
This may be quit long, Feel Free to pass it if you wish.

...The Wife and I took the Kat to Las Vegas one year, 2001. We stayed off the Main at a Very Nice 'Suites Motel'. We were enjoying the room and unpacking our 'small luggage', when it Started!
A Knock at the Door, the House Security Guard...
"You Can't park there! Move it or We'll have to Tow It!!" WTF!! When we arrived, I was able to park right under our second floor window, in a 'Confirmed', Lined Space, just like Everyone else was parked. At the END of a Row of Cars.

I ran to the window and WTH...My Pantera was Out of It's Space and was Slammed Right up Against the Side of the Building, at and Angle right under our window. I said to the Guard, "I DID NOT park like that! Did someone try to Steal It?" He Shrugs "You can't park there! Your Blocking the Lane!" I Grabbed the Keys and headed for the Kat, thinking 'Did I Forget to lock the Doors'.
Here is what I discovered.
I approached the car, NO One was Around, the Doors WERE Locked. The car sat at an angle, with the left Corner of the Rubber L Bumper, 'Minutely' crushed into the wall of the building. I Immediately Smelled a Intense Smoke Smell of Burning Electrical Wiring, I may have seen tiny puffs of smoke, don't remember from where.
The Clues:
I do Not have a Parking Brake, so I have to leave the Car in Gear.
I Opened the front Hood...The Battery was SO HOT That the sides were Bulging! I Found out shortly, the it was COMPLTELY DRAINED, DEAD!!
Also the Starter Motor had BURNED OUT.

What Happened? My Theory:
Parking at the Very End of the Row of Cars, Put My Kat a Foot and a Half from, Right Next to, The Very, Very LARGE Major Power Transformer. I mean this thing was aprox. 8' by 10'.

I believe that the Transformer either 'shut-Down' or Re-Cycled causing a 'Induced Voltage' into the Panteras' 'Starter Solenoid', barely 2 Feet away. This ran the Starter Motor and drove the car out of place and into the Wall. With the Starter Still activated, but Stalled from Not being allowed moving the car any further, the Starter Burned-Up, But Continued to Drain the Battery until Dead, and Fuming HOT!
A new Battery and Starter Motor got us back home. A Lucky Thing the Napa Parts house was open on Sunday, and the House Limo Driver was Kind Enough to Drive me around Town. Ofcourse, If I was really Lucky, this Never would have happened in the first Place! And Then Again...There could have been a FIRE!

Weeks later I took the Solenoid apart and found Nothing amiss!!
Was It a Short in the 'Ignition Switch'? I Don't think so, as there was Never a Problem Before or After this affair. Though, I have since removed the Ig. Switch, and gone to a Heavy Duty Switch, Relays and a Push-Button Start. The Wife tells Me, She will NEVER Ride in It Again! It's Cursed! But She has.

I have since Installed a 'Battery Disconnect' Switch.

What is Your Take on this Experience?

...Remember when I wrote, 'I get so frustrated with this Car, that I am 'This' Close to Throwing a Brick through the Windshield!!'
GOD help Me!

quote:

The Vinyl Vent line was Mistakenly laid over the Top of the Distributor Cap(don't really know Why I needed it to go to the Right side of the Engine).

Because that's where the vent was originally routed to the charcoal canister. Your charcoal canister has probably long since been removed, but the prior owner still had the vent hose routed to that side.

Well here is one of mine,
A friend of mine (of 20 years, since I was 16, he was 25) had a 1937 Ford with a 389 Pontiac engine with three two barrels (it was fast!) so we are driving to a car show in 2001 and he decides to kick it, I do the same. I have always played second fiddle to him I never had a car that could beat him. My new to me Pantera (1999 bought) was just complete and he had only seen it. I just installed a NOS bottle in my baby and figured I would give him a taste of his own medicine, you know show him the taillights for once.

WELL LET ME GIVE YOU JUST ONE PIECE OF ADVISE!!! When you stomp on the gas do it like an Italian vs an American... yep I snapped the gas pedal right off, and coasted to a stop. Today he still never lets me forget it (still friends 37 years)

I was reminded that my story is 8 years overdue ... so here it is.

I picked-up 6018 at a prominent Pantera dealer in June 2005.

My son Justin had dropped me off at the dealership, and he was following me back home to Fillmore which was about 45 miles away. We hopped onto the Hollywood Freeway (170) and headed north towards Interstate 5. It was mid-afternoon, closing-in on the afternoon rush hour. The freeways were already congested, but moving along at about 65 MPH. Typical for that time of day on a southern California freeway.

On the transition from the Hollywood Freeway to the northbound interstate 5 one of the little coolant hoses in the interior blew, the one right next to the accelerator pedal. It was a hot summer day, I was wearing flip flops (sandals). Steam was blowing out of that little hose right into the foot box. I could not put my foot onto the accelerator pedal or the brake pedal, when I tried the steam scalded my right foot.

Unable to keep my foot on the accelerator pedal, the engine died. I jabbed the clutch with my left foot and quickly palmed the gear shift into neutral. The Pantera and I transitioned onto the northbound interstate 5 coasting at 65 MPH in rush hour traffic, unable to see where we were going because the interior was full of steam!

The 170 merges with the northbound interstate 5 on the left hand side of the interstate, i.e. it merges into the fast lanes! So after merging the Pantera and I were in lane #2 of about 6 lanes! We were in the middle of the interstate, our speed was slowing while everyone around us wanted to keep going 65 mph.

I rolled down the driver side window and could see via the rear view mirror Justin was still immediately behind us. He could tell the Pantera and I were in trouble, and had flipped on his right hand turn indicator and begun to slow, clearing a path in traffic for us to move right towards the slower lanes and the shoulder of the interstate. I couldn't see anything else forwards or backwards, only Justin in the rear view mirror, so I followed him as he slowly merged towards the right.

We made it to the shoulder thanks to Justin's intervention, but the Pantera and I were still coasting at about 40 MPH on the shoulder of the interstate. With the window rolled down the steam had cleared a bit from the interior, I had some forward vision ... up ahead I could now see we weren't out of trouble yet. The shoulder was coming to an end due to a freeway over-pass, we were headed straight for a concrete barrier, we needed to come to a stop.

So at this point in the story I need to mention that 6018 is equipped with Wilwood brakes, those brakes are one of the reasons I purchased it! Well, typical of a Wilwood upgrade from that era, it doesn't have a parking brake.

I tried to depress the brake pedal to slow us down, but my foot was scalded and I found I couldn't hold it on the brake pedal. I pulled the parking brake lever, but it was non-functional. I knew that, but in the excitement I had forgotten. All I could do to bring us to a stop and avoid colliding with the fast approaching barrier was to make quick jabs at the brake pedal over and over, jabbing as often as I could endure the pain from the scalding coolant. The Pantera and I rolled slowly to a stop about 10 feet or less from that barrier.

This happened during afternoon rush hour traffic on California's main interstate, in the middle of the San Fernando Valley, in front of a whole bunch of people. Yeah I was embarrassed.

A tow truck took us back to the dealership, Mike & Eldon made things right. No complaint.

I have never - ever regretted the purchase, I have never - ever tired of that interior smell when I open the door (some call it pleather). To this day I swear if somebody could bottle that smell as a cologne I'd give-up Old Spice and wear it daily.

Pretty exciting stories!

Thanks for sharing!

Rocky

Man o man!
after reading these, I don't know if I want to own an exotic.

George -

You need the W-Wadeco "straight shot" heater hose modification, with the rear mounted heater valve (mine is cable controlled from the stock panel). I am surprised you still have a right foot!

IMO the heater is useless in our area.

Great story, George. In other Panteras that have a stock heater valve hose and no shut-off valves, I've heard of someone's wife being scalded when the steam jet was angled in a different direction.

quote:

IMO the heater is useless in our area.

Usually, yes.

However.......

I've attended the Monterey events for years now. Stay with the PCNC gang in Carmel Valley.

On several occasions, the early morning drive over Los Laureles pass to Laguna Seca has seen very heavy fog on that snaky little two lane road.

One year I'd forgotten to flip my heater bypass valves back to open and the inside fogging of the windshield, not to mention the fog on the outside - should have applied more RainX or heaven forbid, actually had the wipers mounted - created a difficult-to-see situation.

That was my motivation to install the 12VDC bypass valve, so I can open-close the heater valves from the cabin.

If you retain the Pantera A/C, there is really no reason not to keep the heater/defrost functions.

The Evaporator, fan and ducting remaining in place for the A/C work just - obviously - fine for heat. There really is no weight savings to be gained by blocking the heater lines at the engine.

I'd suggest to always keep the heater system operational. Open the lines and use the heater a couple times a year to keep it flushed and functional and not stagnant.

Larry

Wow. Great stories - all! They almost make me miss those early days in a badly behaving cat.

Almost