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I have Pantera #6973 that was brought to the US from Europe via the gray market process in the mid 1980's.  It has the large rubber bumper in the front and I am now learning that the car probably had small chrome bumpers when it was originally sold in Europe.  Apparently federal law required that the car's bumpers had to meet US federal standards upon entering the country.  Does this sound correct?  I am considering putting it back to small chrome bumpers but want to ensure that I am keeping the car original in this regard.  I am aware that large holes may have been cut in the sheetmetal of the car for the bumper shocks and thus there will be some body work involved to put it back to Euro spec.

Here is the current bumper:

B2F8BD5F-154D-426C-8F2C-FF42D7704C76

Here is an example of the replacement bumpers:

72_Euro_L_front_bumperette

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  • 72_Euro_L_front_bumperette
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In the registry it is noted as a 'Lusso' or L model by Claude Dubois, so I wonder if it didn't leave the factory with the L bumpers as it also has the US side markers, so perhaps a US car pulled off the line to meet a Euro customer order? I would expect by 1974 the Euro cars were using the black bumperettes rather than chrome.

Can you inspect inside the front fenders and see if previous bumperettes holes are filled or welded up?

I just now checked and there are four holes for mounting the chrome bumpers.  And it definitely has the large cutouts for the bumper shocks.   I have an email message to Claude Dubois asking if the car was delivered to his distributorship with the rubber bumper or chrome bumpers.  I showed the car to Wilkinson yesterday and he thought the car likely came out of the factory with chrome bumpers.

Did the Ford imports have four small holes along with the large cutout for the bumper shock?

Last edited by stevebuchanan

If you don't feel like doing body work (or in the interim) there's a small set of 2.5" PIAA lights that just about fit perfectly in the bumper shock holes. You can also get some red led brake light options or reflectors for the back.

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Last edited by joules

I am also kind of surprised they were not small black bumpers. Did bumper color (chrome or black) correspond with window trim? I can't find the pictures, but I also saw a car converted from big to small that used the large holes to place a set of small toe hooks. I am unsure how they were attached on the inside, but it was done well on the visual side.

@rocky posted:

The “L” bumper also required some smaller holes in the body for some smaller diameter fasteners used on the “L” bumpers....

like these . . .

GunnerZ shop, is talking about using "plugs" that will be leaded in so a seam will show AND they can be knocked out if want to go back to the baby buggie bumper.

thanks for your pick as I fowarded to shop so he can see the locations for the chrome.

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  • mceclip0

Did you have the exhaust tilted up too? I'm driving mine around with the rear bumper off right now, and it's bugging me that the exhaust is just coming straight out so may do that now.

If it's not to forward of me to ask, could you PM me how much your shop charged you for both? I'm in the process of pricing out the costs around me.

The exhaust is Wilkinson's Pantera GTS headers and mufflers in stainless.  He offers them with the tips straight or tilted up.  I bought the straight tips earlier this year.  Fortunately, Steve has a process where he can tilt up the straight tips and we did that with mine.  On a previous Pantera, I tilted them up myself by partially cutting the tips with an angle grinder, bending them up, and then a muffler shop welded them.  However, Wilkinson process is much better than what I did (the tips are bent but not cut) but he is only setup to do this on his tailpipes.

Regarding cost, I did as much work as possible myself.  My painter did the bodywork at my place for $750.  This included welding with my welder.  I got the bumpers from Wilkinson.  The fronts are NOS (new, old stock) and the rears are nicely done replicas.  Please check with Steve for pricing.

Last edited by stevebuchanan

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