Back in 2002, my first Christmas of Pantera ownership, I posted this to the POCA forum.
It is just as true today.
Thanks guys, for continuing to make my membership in the De Tomaso Family the very best gift I've ever received.
Larry
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All,
This year I got a present that couldn't be wrapped, wouldn't fit under any tree, isn't found in any store or catalog, and is priceless beyond words.
It came from good, new friends and total strangers from all over this great country, and once in a while from overseas. It came from the understanding and love of my wife, Donna. It came with no strings attached from business owners who I have never met, at no charge, in the middle of their busy days. It came in face-to-face conversations, it came over the telephone, and it came in emails from near and far. It came as advice, sometimes wisdom, often as encouragement and occasionally as skepticism. It involved the hospitality of strangers, the trust of sellers and sometimes, I'm sure, the patience of a Saint. And it all revolved around my decades-old wish, my dream and my hope; one that others before me had realized and who helped in their own way for me to also find and obtain.
What I received as a result of all this, and more, is visibly seen in the form of a titanium silver 1972 Pantera. It is a beautiful car, now entrusted to me to maintain and repair so it can, alas, someday (in a far-off time) be entrusted to another owner as the realization of their dream.
But the real present has no shape or form, no color or sound, no more substance than a butterfly sneeze. It is the knowledge that I belong, along with all who are reading this, to the De Tomaso Family. An eclectic group of folks all affected with The Fever. A Fever that finds a common bond in the love of cars too old to be dependable, too unpredictable to be practical, too uncommon to be appreciated by the masses. And yet the cars live on. Maintained with the care, wisdom, sweat and blood of The Family. Through individuals, clubs and vendors we selflessly nurture and support each other for the common goal of enjoying a relative handful of thirty-year-old cars. The dream I found in a Lincoln-Mercury showroom nearly three decades ago is understood, yes encouraged, by an amazing group of strangers near and far. I look forward to many years with The Family and The Fever, and I will continue to strive to return to The Family that which has been given to me.
I have received so much from you all in my search for 'my' Pantera. It seems not enough to just say 'thank you.'
But I hope you all know how much this Priceless Present means to me.
Wishing you and yours the very best holiday season, and a very happy New Year!
Teach Peace - Larry Finch
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