PANTERA INFO PLEASE

If you tell us what the VIN is, we'll tell you everything you want to know about the car. Well, not exactly true, but we can tell you when it was built, and whether it is definitely a pre-L, definitely an L, or made sometime during the transition and it is difficult to say.

One thing that is easy to say is that if it is a 1971, then there is no way it is an L. They hadn't been "invented" yet. This is neither good nor bad, as an "L" has no more or less value than a "pre-L" - it mostly comes down to which do you prefer more.

You ask how you can tell if it is stock? If it is a 1971 car it will have small chrome bumpers, front and back. Later model cars had large, black rubber bumpers with hydraulic ram-things... If it is a '71 with these bumpers then you know someone has modified it...

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Charlie McCall
1985 DeTomaso Pantera GT5-S #9375
"Raising Pantera Awareness across Europe"
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/gt5s_1985

The earliest 'L model is supposed to be serial # 4269. Its sister car, S/n 4268 is known to be a pre-L type. Both were built in July of '72. On your car should be a stamped serial number above the pedals & visible from the front trunk. The same # should be on a rivited tag at the upper left side of the dash, visible thru the windshield A 3rd copy of the same serial number will be stamped into the bottoms of both headlight buckets unless they have been replaced, visible only after removing them from the car (and maybe paint-stripping as some were completely filled in with paint). A white plastic build date tag is normally found rivited to the door sill. So if your car was built or sold in 1971, it is a pre-L, not an L. Questions like this are why all Pantera owners should send their cars information to Bill Milburn in TX [hugoct@aol.com ]to be included in the DeTomaso Registry, 2nd Edition. Joining a local Pantera club is helpful, too. "Secret" owners sometimes pay a heavy price for their privacy.

An article in Vehicle Identification Numbers will, or has, appeared in the most recent issue of PI. This issue should be arriving very soon. A very difficult subject, it seems to be a reasonable article.

Chuck

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Originally posted by jack deryke:
The earliest 'L model is supposed to be serial # 4269. Its sister car, S/n 4268 is known to be a pre-L type. Both were built in July of '72. On your car should be a stamped serial number above the pedals & visible from the front trunk. The same # should be on a rivited tag at the upper left side of the dash, visible thru the windshield A 3rd copy of the same serial number will be stamped into the bottoms of both headlight buckets unless they have been replaced, visible only after removing them from the car (and maybe paint-stripping as some were completely filled in with paint). A white plastic build date tag is normally found rivited to the door sill. So if your car was built or sold in 1971, it is a pre-L, not an L. Questions like this are why all Pantera owners should send their cars information to Bill Milburn in TX [hugoct@aol.com ]to be included in the DeTomaso Registry, 2nd Edition. Joining a local Pantera club is helpful, too. "Secret" owners sometimes pay a heavy price for their privacy.

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR INFO. I WILL GET ALL THE #S TOGETHER AND GET BACK TO YOU IF THAT IS ALRIGHT.

charlie im sorry my car is a 72.i have a 71 mustang and a 71 torino gt.here is the vin #thpmny04650

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Originally posted by JOEYMINMD:
DOES ANYBODY KNOW HOW TO TELL IF A PANTERA IS ORIGINAL? I HAVE A 71 I WAS TOLD IT WAS AN L,HOW DO I TELL?IS THERE ANY #S THAT CANT BE MOVED FROM ONE CAR TO ANOTHER?THERE IS A # ON THE FIREWALL IN THE METAL THERE IS ONE NEXT TO IT THAT IS RIVETED ON AND ONE IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT.I BOUGHT A FRONT CLIP FOR PARTS AND THE DRIVERS DOOR HAD A PLATE RIVETED TO THE DOOR JAM.MINE DOESNT HAVE ONE IN THE DOOR JAM.IS THERE ANY HIDDEN #S THAT I CAN FIND?DOES THE MOTOR #SHOW UP IN THE VIN?

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