License Plate Opening

I couldn’t find any “early “ Pantera that had that… 🤔 The mystery continues…

Pantera Parts Connection's Larry Stock's black '74 non-GTS car sold in the U.S has a wide rear license panel. Call him for details. We always wondered about that too. And as far as changeover dates with DeTomaso models, NOTHING was set in concrete. Ford was only interested in finishing the cars and getting them out the door. I imagine much weird stuff happened when the Pantera project cancellation notice hit the factory in early '74. You don't just unplug a stamping and assembly plant!

Well logically I would speculate that both of those US cars had rear sheet metal damage at some point and the original USA panel was changed out for the EURO panel.

I have seen absolute artists with sheet metal that are as good as plastic surgeons on faces where you will not only never see their work but not even suspect that any had been done.

I will also point out that, to the best of my knowledge, there were no USA black cars ever produced by the factory so that right there fits into a story that the black car is not original to a USA build.

Also Kevin Marti only has Ford's records of cars SOLD in the US. He does not have Detomaso's Euro records.

I was also ADVISED that in some cases with other cars Marti is fabricating "window 'stickers" with information from other sources then Ford. That I can't confirm, who can, but it is something to keep in mind when Marti's reports conflict with information from other reliable sources.

The purpose there being that they look original and the more they look original, the more that people will believe they are accurate?

Thank you Doug. Keep in mind my car is not a U.S. car. It was built for the Euro market and first sold in Italy, and later in its life imported to the U.S.

Fuzz

Fuzz, it’s my understanding, as mentioned by Doug, if you have a European Pantera, you should not be able to obtain a Marti Report. It would be interesting to see a copy of it. What does it state for port of entry, zone office, dealer, etc?

To be clear, I DO NOT HAVE A MARTI REPORT. All they told me is that they DO NOT have a report for my car because it is a European market Pantera. That is the extent of the information they gave to me. So no Marti report on my car. Sorry if my earlier post was confusing.

Fuzz

And they (Marti Report) promptly refunded the money I had sent them, which was awfully nice of them.  These days one has to chase their money for at least two months to get a refund.

EURO market cars are built to provide room for the "billboard" plates they use in Europe.

Everything you now are stating is consistent with your car being a European Market build.

I actually looked at one to buy here that was a '72 model Euro build and to my memory, it DID NOT HAVE the bigger plate indent?

The difference in size is so apparent in person it is difficult not to notice it but memory being what it is, I could be mistaken?

I didn't think much of it then since I didn't buy it because it had rust EVERYWHERE.

The seller tried to convince me that "it is just cosmetic".

It did have metal ID plates riveted to the striker pillar posts with the name of the person that imported it and an EPA certification number which I had never seen before and found to be more cautionary then interesting actually.

@panteradoug posted:

EURO market cars are built to provide room for the "billboard" plates they use in Europe.

Everything you now are stating is consistent with your car being a European Market build.

I actually looked at one to buy here that was a '72 model Euro build and to my memory, it DID NOT HAVE the bigger plate indent?

The difference in size is so apparent in person it is difficult not to notice it but memory being what it is, I could be mistaken?

I didn't think much of it then since I didn't buy it because it had rust EVERYWHERE.

The seller tried to convince me that "it is just cosmetic".

It did have metal ID plates riveted to the striker pillar posts with the name of the person that imported it and an EPA certification number which I had never seen before and found to be more cautionary then interesting actually.

American cars back then (when I was young and in Germany)  usually got the square license plate from the “DMV” or they gave you moped license plates which is about the same as the US plate….