Hi I was trying to find an online source for general De Tomaso vehicle changes in conjuction with vin numbers. ie 4 bolt mains where used up to #1950, flat decklid #1700-#2800, etc. Or am I dreaming? Thanks in advance, Seth
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You're dreaming. First, the changes were so extensive, volumes have been written. Second, we're speaking of limited production ITALIAN CARS. Therefore, production was, as expected, more-or-less chaotic. Some of the info you're looking for is published in the 255-page DeTomaso Registry, but due to owner apathy a decade ago when the 1st edition came out, only maybe 1000 Panteras, 100-or so Mangustas and fewer of the others worldwide are listed, of the maybe 10,000 total-all DeTomasos ever built, and not everything is known about those so listed. There are many known exceptions to the serial number ranges as to when certain upgrades were intorduced, so we suspect many more exceptions. A new edition is in the works but the former and current editor of the Registry are/were computerphobics and are doing this on their own nickel, so likely this will NEVER be on the Web.On top of this, Ford never codified a host of changes to the 351C, including the 4-bolt-main engines- for instance, the 4-bolt and 2-bolt blocks are identical including being cast from the same foundry batch, same date code etc. The sole difference was two extra 3/8-16 bolts in each main cap. The caps themselves were different, but one has to have the pan off to verify. Sorry.
Jack pretty much described it... Assembly at DeTomaso has never been the most systematic. To make matters worse, you may find cases where problem cars were pulled off the assembly line and then finished later, which means that car #4000 has features that more resemble car #2500 than #4001 or #3999.
Even "radical" changes like the pre-L to "L" model were phased in - you can't say that the first true "L" car was number X - they changed the dash, then a few hundred cars later changed the bumpers, then a few hundred cars later changed something else...
So the answer to your question is that such a list doesn't exist. Not really a problem, however, since few cars exist today totally stock. Decide which features you like and I'm sure that you'll be able to find a car that corresponds to those features.
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Charlie McCall
1985 DeTomaso Pantera GT5-S #9375
"Raising Pantera Awareness across Europe"
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/gt5s_1985
Even "radical" changes like the pre-L to "L" model were phased in - you can't say that the first true "L" car was number X - they changed the dash, then a few hundred cars later changed the bumpers, then a few hundred cars later changed something else...
So the answer to your question is that such a list doesn't exist. Not really a problem, however, since few cars exist today totally stock. Decide which features you like and I'm sure that you'll be able to find a car that corresponds to those features.
------------------
Charlie McCall
1985 DeTomaso Pantera GT5-S #9375
"Raising Pantera Awareness across Europe"
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/gt5s_1985