Gretinas!
I recently purchased my 1971 DeTomaso Pantera - chassis 1417 - and have been putting together the car’s history from the paperwork that came with it and some (very limited) information that I have been able to find online.
The car was originally purchased on August 17,1971 at Urich Lincoln-Mercury in Whittier, California. The interesting thing is that on August 17, 1971 the original owner (Arthur Knox) was also provided with a three page quotation for parts - including a front wheel, steering wheel, fender, quarter panel, rocker box, roof, windshield(s), side glass, gas tank, and miscellaneous parts totalling about $1,500. All of the parts quoted by the Urich dealership were purchased at Murphy Lincoln-Mercury in Long Beach in the first half of 1972. In March of 1972 the original owner had the frame straightened (and roof cut) at Irvine’s Alignment in Harbour City, CA. In November 1972 he had the car physically repaired at Ross Auto Body in Long Beach, CA to the tune of $2,400 (at $8/hour).
So… piecing all of this together, it seems like the car was sold at the original dealership in August 1971 after being crashed at the dealership… before it was sold. Based on a hand written note it appears that he bought the car for $2,400… retail at the time being around $10,000. I have no idea about the circumstances of the pre-sale damage… but it was clearly smoked early in it’s life.
The car, as delivered, was Grabber Blue but it appears that Art had it repainted silver in 1972. In 2000 the car was for sale at PI Motorsports - I actually saw the ad at the time - and it was red and in pretty rough shape with 27k miles on it. PI says it sold but what they don’t say is that it sold to the original owner’s nephew. His nephew drove the car for a while… repainted the car yellow at some point and then, a few years ago started a big restoration project at @Reeds Autobody and Paint in Redding, CA. Unfortunately the project was never finished as the gentleman passed away a couple of years ago and ownership passed along to a caretaker who kept the car in storage for a couple of years until I bought it in April.
In looking in to the car there have been a few interesting things that I’ve seen. When I first bought the car I was “warned” that 1417 was a transition car - obviously post-push button but still with some push button characteristics. I have found this to be both true and not-true. The car is equipped with a 25-1 which is consistent with what I had been told. The car has a front mount battery which is contrary to what had been suggested - there is no indication that it is not original nor is there any indication that the battery was ever mounted in the back. The window frames do appear to be single piece Mangusta style castings (I have not physically measured the doors but I was told that they may slightly longer than later cars). The dash has two heater vents but I am not sure that it is the original dash (the car came with two).
When I bought the car it had had been pulled out of a body shop nearly ready for paint. As you see it now it’s in primer and is heading back to my body guy to be “finished” which should be an interesting process.
Cheers
James
