Gas Station Stories

I had a cop who thought it was a kit car
a NASCAR mechanic thought it was a Lotus
Several who guessed Lambo
one person pointed out my GT40 to his friend
several Ferrari guesses
The local Superformance dealer just said it was a nice Pantera and offered me a ride in any of their show cars. He was one of the few who have a clue.

Filled up just today and a guy pulled up in his Maverick and knew exactly what it was. In fact most guys My age know what it is. Only younger folk, which is more bigger crowd everyday, don't seem to have a clue. Some look at me like I am lieing when I tell them it is a 73. BTW, not many females give a hoot one way or another.

I had kids come by on skate board one time. They ask but I made them guess. The 3rd kid guessed it!!! They had one on their video game at home!

quote:

Originally posted by DeTom:
BTW, not many females give a hoot one way or another.

Maybe so, however at least 25% of the time I take the car cruising the coast on PCH I get a female flashin the boobs. Often they have been pumped up and modified, but what the hey so are our cars

Someone asked me one time if my Pantera was a Karmann Ghia. I politely said something like "uh, no". Nothing against Karmann Ghias by the way.

quote:

Originally posted by DOES 200:

quote:

Originally posted by DeTom:
BTW, not many females give a hoot one way or another.

Maybe so, however at least 25% of the time I take the car cruising the coast on PCH I get a female flashin the boobs. Often they have been pumped up and modified, but what the hey so are our cars

Hmmm. I drive the worng highways it appears.

Flashing her what? You can't do that here in the NE. Those things will perk up like Mt.Everest. Maybe that's where the expression, it's getting a little nippie outside, comes from?

I had a couple of giggling girls pull up along side in a Buick Riviera. Something was going on. The driver was gaoding the passenger.

I think they just wanted to see if they could give the old guy a heart attack.

There was a seventeen year old girl walked up in the gas station and said, "so what's the big deal? My boyfriend has a Camaro too."
I was good though. She almost got the yeh but "does your boyfriend have a 10" extension for his ratchet?". Discretion is truely the better part of valor.

I was in my driveway the other day adjusting the lifters on my 1968 Camaro. This older gentleman drove by, stopped, backed up and got out to talk to me. He said he had been a mechanic up until he retired and just wanted to look at the Camaro. We had a nice chat and he noticed the Pantera in the garage. I told him a little about it and he finally said "yeah, I built one of those years ago for a friend of mine." -I think he was implying that it was a kit car -he seemed somewhat suprised when I told him it had a 351C in it!!

I have had my car mistaken for Ferarri a few times although the reactions so far have not been anyting worth mentioning. However the thing i enjoy most is telling people it has a 351C in it. I usually save that for last!

quote:

Originally posted by lmguy:
I have had my car mistaken for Ferarri a few times although the reactions so far have not been anyting worth mentioning. However the thing i enjoy most is telling people it has a 351C in it. I usually save that for last!

That doesn't bother me. What bothers me is being mistaken for Gabby Hayes!

on the way back from Monterey last year, someone at a gas station in Oregon thought my car was the one from Hardcastle & McCormick.........
very laughable!

http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/coyote/site_coyote/site_coyote.htm

John
#2647

I've had a lot of people tell me it's "a nice Lotus!" And a few months ago I stopped at the local Kragen Auto Parts and one of the employees hurry's over to the guys at the parts counter to tell them "there's a yellow Ferrari out front" and to "come check it out!" When they returned, I told them what it really was and gave them a brief Pantera education. When we were done, there was no doubt in their minds that it was "the baddest car on the road!"

Anyway, here are some more from the Banzai Runner Pantera website's "Close Encounters - funny tales from those unfortunate soul's unfamiliar with the Pantera"
http://www.banzairunnerpantera.com/history_quotes.htm

Odd you mention the coyote. I wanted one of those until I found out how expensive they were and how cheap they were made. Never drove a coyote but have sat in one. I did like the gated shifter and view of the road with almost no hood. Kind of why I fell in love with the pantera.

I have of course had the usual Ferrari, Lambo, Kit car suff. Often some old timer knows what is and says how he raced against them in the 70s and how fast they were. One of the best one night was when I convinced some guy that thought it was a kit that I had welded two volkswagen motors together to make an 8 cylinder. It is just so fun to play with those people.

I've had a lot of fun with people who think mine is a front engined car. When they ask what engine is in it I just tell them it's a V8 & they say "no way"! So, I just have to pop the front trunk lid & point out the small can of "V8" vegetable juice I keep stored there for just this occasion. Of course,then I have to tell them the truth!

Yeah, I pointed to the Vacuum box & master cyclinder and told the insurance lady that was a nuclear reactor. She bought it too.

Some day I'm gonna wire up my car with a Microphone so I can listen in discreetly while these experts pontificate about the car. Maybe even a hidden camera. Should be fun!

I stood next to a guy in my local parts store one day listening to him tell the guy behind the counter about "that car outside," how he hadn't seen one for years since Roger Moore drove one in "The Saint" - and how his uncle had one in the 60's. As I am well known for my odd autos in my local parts store, the guy behind the counter said "yeah - it's his." and pointed to me. "You know what it is then?" I says. "Volvo P1800" he says. With eyebrow raised in typical Roger Moore style "Gilbern Invader" I says.

His face went all contorted for a bit then he picked up his headlight bulbs and left without a word.

It's just as well I wasn't driving my old Stimson Minibug that day or he'd likely had a breakdown.

Look it up - you'll see what I mean.

I like the microphone idea. May have to do a wireless one for next summers car shows. What is probably the most fun is listening to some guy trying to impress his girlfriend. Those guys will make up some of the craziest stuff.

I heard a kid say "James Bond" I thought what?
Last year a girl pointed to my chrome air cleaner and said "does that bit spin around?" After I stopped laughing, I said actually, that is not a stupid question, because on the Porsche 917 it does..

Johnny

I took the 'Goose out to a local "cruise night" car show last night. About 10 people complemented me on my nice Lamborghini.

yesterday a gas station owner came out and said, "Nice Pantera!"

today a group of schoolkids trouped by it parked outside a coffee shop in Leesburg, VA (i took it to the DMV for plates) and I heard them guessing whether it was a Lambo or a DeLorean. the teacher told them it was, "Just out of her league." i don't think they suspected i was the owner, cuz i was dressed like a skateboarder - Vans hi tops laced up tight, Santa Cruz sweatshirt hood up against the cold breeze.

i immediately felt bad for teachers, and i spent the rest of my coffee contemplating the negative impacts of 'No Child Left Behind'. we need to pay teachers a heckuva lot more, and not bog the system down with crazy testing (i was also dismayed by the research i dug up when i got home).

sorry for the digression. most folks 'round here seem to know it's a Pantera. women don't give a hoot. men roll the windows down to listen, after chasing me down to pace along side. i'm sure that's common in every location.

When I went to the GreatCanadian Cruse In last fall I stopped in at the local Tim Hortons for coffee (who makes a cup holder for a Pantera?) and a bunch of guys came up and said how appropriate it was for a Pantera to be parked in Tim Hortons. It seems just the old guys know what it is.
Richard T.

By far, the most common question I get asked is.."isn't that the car Tim Horton died in?"
This is a picture of my car in front of an old Tim Horton's nearby. It's done in a way to make it look like a painting.
Will