Pantera Kit Car

Have you seen this one? http://www.members.shaw.ca/david.p.brown/pantera.html

If the original Pantera could not be sold in the states, wonder if Detomaso could sell a "Rolling Chasis" "Kit Car" with no engine like the Superformance cobras?

Gary
#1905

There is also the "Long & Newman" car.
Select it off this links page:
http://www.geocities.com/provamo72/Links_1.html

Chuck

I don't know about you but I am pretty flattered that kits for our much loved Panteras are being produced. Hopefully, they don't go overboard as the Cobra kits have.

The Superformance coupe was actually developed assisted by the original designer Peter Brock. When they produced the original Coupe, the design stopped at some point and it had to be put into production. Superformance gave Peter Brock the latitude to go from where they left off finishing the design the way they had originally intended. The car is twice the original car. Peter was not going to work with a Kit car company but they convinced him that the car was way beyond a "Kit Car". If the Pantera was aproached in a similar fassion, rolling chasis, it could again be marketed in the US.

Gary

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Originally posted by Tuscan:
I don't know about you but I am pretty flattered that kits for our much loved Panteras are being produced. Hopefully, they don't go overboard as the Cobra kits have.

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I think it would be great if something along those lines appeared. As long as the quality like you are describing with the Superformance Cobra was in place.

I was thinking of direct from Detomaso; With maybe a few improvemnts to the old design. They could even start with the pre-L if it was a "Kit-Rolling Chasis". The later Pantera is neat but it does not replace the timeless design of the Pre-L.

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Originally posted by Tuscan:
I think it would be great if something along those lines appeared. As long as the quality like you are describing with the Superformance Cobra was in place.

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Originally posted by gow589:
I was thinking of direct from Detomaso; With maybe a few improvemnts to the old design. They could even start with the pre-L if it was a "Kit-Rolling Chasis". The later Pantera is neat but it does not replace the timeless design of the Pre-L.

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The question you are asking is EXACTLY what Kirk Evans and Amerisport did in the mid-late 80's. He bought GT5-S bodyshells from DeTomaso and installed the engine, transmission, trim pieces, and the rest of the little details and finished them here. It has been done, but wasn't found to be economical in the past (Amerisport closed).

The Factory has told me that they no longer have the tooling required to make either Classic or New Pantera bodies. I wouldn't be surprised if behond their warehouse, where they have rusting jigs of just about everything they've ever made, they don't have the necessary jigs. Santiago DeTomaso tells me that it isn't economical to do anyway, and if that's what he believes then I wouldn't hold my breath.


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

Good point Charlie but what if they just sold the rolling chasis without engine? It seems a large number of Pantera enthusiest are hands on type of people.

Gary

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Originally posted by gow589:
Good point Charlie but what if they just sold the rolling chasis without engine? It seems a large number of Pantera enthusiest are hands on type of people.

Gary

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A perfect topic for discussion in Alejandro`s neighborhood bar... If DeTomaso were so motivated, I think it could be a great idea. Somebody with legal knowledge of how to register kit cars would have to be involved to make sure that the car could be registered afterward.

I also wonder what would happen to the image of the company if they converted themselves into a kit car manufacturer? Possibly not much, since they are trying to become a budget Russian SUV manufacturer....

I'd actually almost prefer to buy a Pantera in kit form. That way you could put the brakes on that you want, build the powerplant that you want, install the seats you like ,etc etc etc.


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

As far as the name and image, I am not sure it would tarnish it. I think of the company that make rolling chasis a little differently than the Kit car companies. People love to do different engines setup combinations so that flexibility would be great. They could create a "Sub" company name or use a Distributer name or a joint name if they wanted to distance it a little from the De Tomaso name. It would really boost the pantera companies here.

Gary
#1905

quote:

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Originally posted by Charlie McCall:

A perfect topic for discussion in Alejandro`s neighborhood bar... If DeTomaso were so motivated, I think it could be a great idea. Somebody with legal knowledge of how to register kit cars would have to be involved to make sure that the car could be registered afterward.

I also wonder what would happen to the image of the company if they converted themselves into a kit car manufacturer? Possibly not much, since they are trying to become a budget Russian SUV manufacturer....

I'd actually almost prefer to buy a Pantera in kit form. That way you could put the brakes on that you want, build the powerplant that you want, install the seats you like ,etc etc etc.

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quote:

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Originally posted by gow589:
Good point Charlie but what if they just sold the rolling chasis without engine? It seems a large number of Pantera enthusiest are hands on type of people.

Gary

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This is what deTomaso did with AMERISPORT. Sold them the body minus the engine...and hence are registered not as a deTomaso but an AMERISPORT.

Yea, but they need to sell them to us.

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Originally posted by Highway Star:
This is what deTomaso did with AMERISPORT. Sold them the body minus the engine...and hence are registered not as a deTomaso but an AMERISPORT.

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