Andy and I from Ottawa met the crew from Montreal at an exit along the highway to Kingston. It was still looking pretty bleak.
But the grey skies made the cars look cool — especially Jerry’s GTS
But as we rolled in to our favorite Marina meeting spot, a place we usually gather when meeting in Kingston, the weather was beautiful.
Russ was one of the first to arrive with the south-western Ontario/Toronto guys in his always-gorgeous winged-wonder.
The cars looked awesome against set backdrop of sky, trees and water.
It was nice to catch up with friends who came a long way to hang out for a few hours. We haven’t seen Wayne since he replaced his blown-up ZF, but he made the longest drive by far to join us.
It was great to see Matt’s impeccable ’72. One of the shiniest Panteras I've seen!
He’s been working to bring it back to as close to stock as possible and is off to a great start with the engine bay.
Matt painted his 17” Campy clone wheels to keep the original look, but with modern rubber.
Jerry’s GTS has a great original patina to it, and the gold wheels really make it distinctive.
Jonathan almost wasn’t able to make it because of work, but made it with his freshly-rebuilt motor in his GT5, just as everyone was about to sit for lunch.
The only mishap was a broken muffler hanger on Carmen’s car, which was quickly remedied.
I just had to re-take a shot of my car in the same place I had photographed it many years ago (before I even owned it).
We all sat on the restaurant deck overlooking our cars and had a great lunch filled with even better conversation.
I took the opportunity to grab a panoramic of the cars all lined up.
Eventually we started to make our way home. Carmen was one of the first to leave, and made up for his quiet entrance with a less than quiet exit.
The rest of us followed on shortly after we all said our farewells.
Of course, hours of driving makes any Pantera thirsty, so we did a pit stop for our favorite 94 octane fuel.
And after fueling we enjoyed a beautiful drive home. Another great day owning & driving Panteras, and hanging out with great friends.
Thanks a lot to David, Russ & Michel for organizing and coordinating, and to everyone who made it out today. We were hoping to see a few of the new area Pantera owners but none could make it for one or another reason. Maybe next time.
Mark
