New prospective Pantera owner from upstate NY

Can you find out the last four digits of the the S/N (actually, the whole thing is better).

A picture or two would be great too.

Good luck.

That price seems high (to me), but I am not a "Concourse Shape" kind of guy....

Rocky

Rocky:
Here is the VIN#THPNNA05869

I looked up the car on Provamo. There are many super nice pics of that car!

I am also not a concourse guy, and while that is a pretty awesome looking car it surely is not 'original.'

That price would probably make it the highest I've seen yet. I'm not sure what Lou intends to do with a car like that - but I would think putting it on a pedestal and polishing it would be a nice pastime.

Nice to have that kind of money for a cat, but at that price driving it could be pretty dangerous.

Hi David
Well it is funny that you say that I will be putting it on a pedestal my wife always teases me about my cars that I treat them like family. I do a lot of shows during the summer we enjoy that. Aside from cruising and enjoying the cars. I just wanted to inquire opinions about you folks whom are more familiar with these beauties. Thanks for your input.
Regards
Lou

quote:

Originally posted by David B:
I looked up the car on Provamo. There are many super nice pics of that car!

I am also not a concourse guy, and while that is a pretty awesome looking car it surely is not 'original.'

That price would probably make it the highest I've seen yet. I'm not sure what Lou intends to do with a car like that - but I would think putting it on a pedestal and polishing it would be a nice pastime.

Nice to have that kind of money for a cat, but at that price driving it could be pretty dangerous.

As David stated, this is an extremely nice car. VERY clean. And, as he stated, it is definitely not original. I'm not familiar with the concours circuit I would think you would want an all original car, especially if you're investing that kind of money.

Gorgeous car! Not "concours" as others have already pointed out. Check out my page on How to Buy a Pantera to learn more about what to look for.
http://www.banzairunnerpantera.com/how_to_buy.htm

Tks Garth
Lou

Nice looking car but that price is way out of line.
Keep looking and you will find a solid car for MUCH less.
If you have not yet joined POCA, you should. Like this forum, good people and information, it is how I found my car. Good luck to you! Joe

Hey, If Lou thinks it's worth $145K to him .. then it's worth $145K. I just read a prior posting about us bad mouthing high asking prices .. knock it off gents.

The man wanted people's opinion on the subject. I gave him mine. I wasn't bad mouthing anything or anyone. Relax

Thanks Joe, I am still pondering on my decision too early to tell. I will be looking at another car today in Long Island NY but this is a GTS 1974, not crazy about the body panels etc but I wil look at it.
Tks
Lou

quote:

Originally posted by Joe A:
Nice looking car but that price is way out of line.
Keep looking and you will find a solid car for MUCH less.
If you have not yet joined POCA, you should. Like this forum, good people and information, it is how I found my car. Good luck to you! Joe

Guys I appreciate and value all of your opinions and input no need to argue about it. At the end of the day I will be only one to blame if I make a wrong decision. BTW I spoke to the dealer of this car and it is a consignment from an individual who performed a full in depth restoration and updated brakes, cooling system and all electrical systems I will be back later with more.
Tks
Lou

quote:

Originally posted by Robbie:
Hey, If Lou thinks it's worth $145K to him .. then it's worth $145K. I just read a prior posting about us bad mouthing high asking prices .. knock it off gents.

To high priced? I think it is priced about right
The problem is our cars are UNDER valued.
A upgraded car can have over $100,000.00 in improvements.A good deal is when the buyer is happy and the seller is happy, period.
I stopped counting around 8 years ago when I went flying past $100,000.00, calculator in hand, a quick off the top of my head tally of just my engine compartment 47,800.00

I think Robbie's response was a little "tongue in cheek"...

Let's not get too serious!

Have you considered any of the cars advertised right on this site, Ive seen some REAL nice ones of late pop up here in different threads....

Nice to see another person from NY. I am originally from upstate Ithaca, no Panteras there that I know of. Did you see the black car in person? In Looking for a car, do you have to have original? I have a couple modified show cars if you want to consider: https://www.flickr.com/photos/...ms/72157639169285255 https://www.flickr.com/photos/...ms/72157639222739254. Doing google on the vin shows that black car under $100k (maybe old advertisements?).

OK here is an update, Thursday I went to Long Island NY to Exotic Classics and test drove a 1974 Pantera. Here are my thoughts from the get go, the previous owner installed carbon fiber hood and rear deck lid--not the best fitting and does not wow me too much, good thing that the original parts are available to the buyer in case he wants to retrofit it to original.

The color is nice no flaws but I am partial to black, my Cobra is black so is my Navigator and my Range Rover so that would have to change if I decide to purchase this one. The flare fenders riveted to the body are nice but it would have been nicer (to my taste) if the flaring was natural on the fender vs the riveting, it reminded me of my son's Jeep CJ-7.

The engine bay needs a lot of attention (not show quality) it has been fitted with 4 Weber carb/fuel-injection system and while it sounds nice Webers are very finicky to tune; I know because I installed 2 in my 1967 Volvo 123 GT and I went through numerous jettings before it was fine.

Now the drive, the car is fitted with coil over shocks but these are so tight that you would feel driving over a dime, the engine has great torque for (400 + HP) and sounds great but I felt an overpowering smell of gas inside the cockpit almost like AV fuel if you will. Not that my Cobra is holier than though regarding gas smell but I have an open cockpit and it dissipates quite a lot.

The body fitment is tight for me, I am 6'1" and 260lb ingress/and egress is pretzely and I the head clearance is virtually 1/2" the wife would be fine she is 5' 1" but I am sure she will complain about the fuel smell and the tight suspension. The bumpers are European so that is fine. The price is fairly firm at $124,000 .

My overall rating is a 7.5 on a 10 point scale. But again that is just my humble opinion.
I did fell in love with a 1987 Testarossa at $164,000 but the belt service at $10K makes me skittish to get involve with Ferraris at this age. I just want to enjoy a cruise and show them at shows, not into racing anymore, had my big share of that already.
Folks these are my 2 cents on this car for now--still looking.
Regards and have a lovely Sunday, off to chasing Bamby ;-)))
Lou

Here is another picture of the entire car

Lou,

I believe that GTS is a '74 not '84. If you could find a later post Ford 80's (9000 series VIN) car for sale you'd find that they are constructed quite different, one aspect being a lower floor pan offering more headroom.

A lot of folks with early cars have found creative ways to create headroom from removing seat tracks, installing different seats or lowered floor pans.

Julian

Julian:
you are right my typo.Yes the other Pantera I am looking the 1973 the floor was lowered as well as the seats.I hope this does not devalue the car.
tks.
Lou

quote:

Originally posted by Joules:
Lou,

I believe that GTS is a '74 not '84. If you could find a later post Ford 80's (9000 series VIN) car for sale you'd find that they are constructed quite different, one aspect being a lower floor pan offering more headroom.

A lot of folks with early cars have found creative ways to create headroom from removing seat tracks, installing different seats or lowered floor pans.

Julian

Basque,

Were neighbors and there are a bunch of nice cars in the area ... get in touch with me I could maybe guide you to some local cars

Ron

My 2 bits about concourse- I bought a 74 Gts that had been a concourse contestant in Monteray . Concourse implies that you can virtually eat off of any part of the car including the underside. These cars are better than factory new. If the black car is such ,it is probably worth 140k. Concourse would imply probably the top 5 or 10% nicest Panteras in existance and it would take over 140k to buy and build one of that quality-IMO

For local shows, all you need is a nicely painted and shiny Pantera.

For small concours shows you need something more original with the correct wheels. If you are lucky, no judge will know that the trim came only in chrome. And they will probably ask if the color is original, but they wouldn't really know. Large headers with pipes sticking out the top will get you a trophy at the local shows but not at a concours.

One show I went to the announcer just happened to be a former Pantera owner and kept asking questions like "is that the correct steering wheel?" - NO. Did they come in that color Blue? - No. Wasn't the trim all chrome and why is yours all black. Yes it was, because I like Black. He just kept going at it, far more than the judges at the Boca Raton Concours where the only question was what was the original color (yellow). However at end of the day I was awarded the Best In Show for Vintage Exotics. That was at the Miami Speed Festival.

Another words, do you really want to pay out the nose for a car that will only be trailered to a Concours, will need extreme detailing and most judges will think its a kit car. Or, go for a really nice, slightly modified but extremely drivable week in week out local show car/cruise-in car that you can really enjoy. I go for the latter.

Here is mine after I took off the dam and replaced the big-A** wheels with the original 15s. this was at the Boca Raton Concours. I didn't win my class, but I had a great time, met some great people, had Wayne Carini try and buy it and smoked some great cigars. That's what its all about.

ANd this past weekend, Edsel Ford II, gave it Best In SHow at the Ecoboost 400 Championship All-Ford car show. He even said he liked the blue. Not one mention of whether it was original or not. Said it brought back fond memories.

In case you were wondering, the guy in the white shirt in the previous message
is Edsel Ford II. I am the guy in this reply.

Great colour!

Raiden :
Great looking car and very good information to deal with. I don't expect to trailer any of my cars. The only way I would trailer it is if more than 250 miles from home. I understand the requirements of a true Concours, I am not that OCD about my cars but I do like to see them nicely kept, I will keep the forum informed of my progress.
Tks
Lou

quote:

Originally posted by Raiden:
In case you were wondering, the guy in the white shirt in the previous message
is Edzel Ford II. I am the guy in this reply.

Hi Lou,

I was in your shoes earlier this year. Took my time to learn as much as I could from this forum and talking to many Pantera owners over several months. FWIW, I talked to Rick at Diversion Motors (link below) about the same time I ended up buying from the PI forum here. Both cars appear to be nicer than average based on pictures and description. I have not seen the cars in person.
Just thought I would pass them along to you. The '72 is #3491 and is not in the Provamo registry. The blue '74 is #6968 and some history is in the Provamo registry. I believe the blue car's asking price was just under $80K.
Good luck hunting
Tim
http://www.diversionmotors.com...sic-Performance.html

Basque1,
Welcome to the forum, there is a ton of good information here and a wonderful group of people.
I am sure you will find the right car for you, if it happens to be in Florida PM me and I will look at it for you before you spend the cash to fly down and check it out yourself.

Joe

Tim:
Thanks a lot buddy I am taking my time, Friday I will be looking at a 1974 from a nearby neighbor who is a long time Pantera owner so I will pick his brain as well,
Happy Thanksgiving
Lou

quote:

Originally posted by Tim S:
Hi Lou,

I was in your shoes earlier this year. Took my time to learn as much as I could from this forum and talking to many Pantera owners over several months. FWIW, I talked to Rick at Diversion Motors (link below) about the same time I ended up buying from the PI forum here. Both cars appear to be nicer than average based on pictures and description. I have not seen the cars in person.
Just thought I would pass them along to you. The '72 is #3491 and is not in the Provamo registry. The blue '74 is #6968 and some history is in the Provamo registry. I believe the blue car's asking price was just under $80K.
Good luck hunting
Tim
http://www.diversionmotors.com...sic-Performance.html

Hey Lou

if your in the area give me a buzz I'm in Suffern rjlombardo@optimum.net

Ron

Hi Ron:
PM me your phone I will call you this weekend.
Lou


QUOTE]Originally posted by accobra:
Hey Lou

if your in the area give me a buzz I'm in Suffern rjlombardo@optimum.net

Ron[/QUOTE]

Today I joined the Provamo Registry but I am a bit confused on how to get info despite that I share a posting already.
Any thoughts anyone?
Lou

quote:

Originally posted by Basque1:
Today I joined the Provamo Registry but I am a bit confused on how to get info despite that I share a posting already.
Any thoughts anyone?
Lou

Hi Lou,

Once you send pictures of a car you found with the complete VIN you will be given total site access. If you have any questions email Chuck at ImageProcessor@DeTomasoRegistry.org he runs the site and is helpful.
Cheers! Happy Thanksgiving,
Tim

Tks Tim, I will do that, happy Thanksgiving to you too.
Lou

quote:

Originally posted by Tim S:

quote:

Originally posted by Basque1:
Today I joined the Provamo Registry but I am a bit confused on how to get info despite that I share a posting already.
Any thoughts anyone?
Lou

Hi Lou,

Once you send pictures of a car you found with the complete VIN you will be given total site access. If you have any questions email Chuck at ImageProcessor@DeTomasoRegistry.org he runs the site and is helpful.
Cheers! Happy Thanksgiving,
Tim

Joe:
Tks buddy I will PM you if need more info.
Regards
Lou

quote:

Originally posted by Joe 1974 L #6656:
Basque1,
Welcome to the forum, there is a ton of good information here and a wonderful group of people.
I am sure you will find the right car for you, if it happens to be in Florida PM me and I will look at it for you before you spend the cash to fly down and check it out yourself.

Joe

Good morning folks:
Another update from yesterday, I met with a neighbor friend who owns a very nice 1974 Pantera GTS. He has done all the work himself and the car looks and sounds great. He is not selling it but he is instructing me on what are the do's and don'ts about Pantera ownership. My biggest concerns still are fitment in the cockpit, I am 6'1" and it is not comfortable to ingress/egress the car. He has done lots of modifications to the engine and the cars has serious HP.
I am still very much undecided about any purchase due to the above concerns.

I did not drive his car for the weather was not conducive to take the car out, but I have seen the car in action in the past and it is very nice.
I will keep you guys posted.
Regards
Lou

Basque, there are three different 'stock' seats. The earliest used in '71-'72 are three piece: the backs completely remove. Later ones are welded into one piece and '80-up cars use such thick seats & bases, I cannot find a comfortable spot. I find Recaros to also be uncomfortable. It's a 10 minute job to modify the seatback rake on early seats. Mine are set up so I can adjust rake while underweigh, to accomodate my 5'2 wife driving (I'm 6'2"). I also had the seats re-padded & reupholstered in leather. 6 hr rides do not produce backaches! Try attending a few of the big shows and you'll find a combination that fits you in someone's car. Then you look for that combination, or duplicate the parts. Good luck.