Anyone on the boards know of or maybe themselves raced a Pantera in SCCA club races?
Is this a totally insane and idiotic idea?
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That Pantera that was for sale was an ISMA race car. Not sure if that was an SCCA thing or not. I think SCCA would say the car was too old and to go race Vintage. The Vintage guys would probably say unless it was a race car back in the day, goodbye. You could always drag race it in stock class but you will lose all the time cause you can't bang shift a Pantera. About the best option is that over the road racing stuff cause it really lets the Pantera acentuate it positives. There is even a Pantera racing team already formed, and one of the guys will give any Pantera owners a million bucks if they can go faster than him.
No not insane, SCCA club racing is a great way to get on the track and enjoy your Pantera to it's fullest. If you want to get more serious then HSR could be a way to go too, but I'm not sure if the car has to have 'historic' provenance to be eligible.
There's a guy here locally who is unfortunately going through a divorce and his SCCA prepared '73 Pantera is up for sale for $38K. It was on Ebay a coupe times, but I don't think it sold.
There was another SCCA or HSR racer on Ebay maybe 6 months ago, so it's not that uncommon.
I'm not sure what SCCA class you would race in, probably an unlimited (engine size) which means competing with the likes of Vette's and Viper's. Just go to the SCCA website for tech rules, or join your local SCCA chapter to find out more. The local Reno SCCA chapter puts on PDX (Personal Driving Experience track days) to get track time in road cars too. Much less stringent on Tech rules and a good way to drive fast and build experience.
There's a guy here locally who is unfortunately going through a divorce and his SCCA prepared '73 Pantera is up for sale for $38K. It was on Ebay a coupe times, but I don't think it sold.
There was another SCCA or HSR racer on Ebay maybe 6 months ago, so it's not that uncommon.
I'm not sure what SCCA class you would race in, probably an unlimited (engine size) which means competing with the likes of Vette's and Viper's. Just go to the SCCA website for tech rules, or join your local SCCA chapter to find out more. The local Reno SCCA chapter puts on PDX (Personal Driving Experience track days) to get track time in road cars too. Much less stringent on Tech rules and a good way to drive fast and build experience.
SCCA racing is fantastic, racing a Pantera in SCCA, not a very good idea. SCCA is real racing with real crashes! Your Pantera would be reduced to scrap in no time. My first weekend in SCCA my car (not a Pantera) was dragging behind a tow truck before the first practice session. I didn't even survive the "test day" And which class could you run in? Showroom Stock (SSB & SSC), not likely, mostly late model 4 cylinder cars. Maybe Touring (T1 & T2), this is where you'll find mostly stock late model Corvettes and Vipers, but not a 35+ old Pantera. So that leaves the GT classes, these are full on race cars with tube frames. Typically the driver with the most money wins. Also typically if you are racing GT2 or lower you're the only car in your class so is that really racing? GT1 is lucky to even have 5 cars in a race.
I did a lot of on track performance driving in the Pantera with an outfit called Track Time. And the SCCA PDX school is a good way to get some triple digit laps too, but it's not racing.
When I decided to go racing, I knew it had to be in a "real" race car. Something cheap and easy to fix and maintain. It has it's own class in SCCA and it's called a Spec Racer Ford (SRF). It's a very competitive class, typically I'm racing against 20 to 40 identical cars. A major race could have even 80 SRFs racing at once. Closed wheel, open cockpit, tube frame, replaceable three part fiberglass body, sealed engine, and all spec parts. The best driver usually wins, not the person with the most money. If you like to race with a roof over your head, then I recommend the Spec Miata class in SCCA. For more info go to http://www.scca.org/home.aspx
For more about my exploits in an SRF, go to
http://www.racerdave.com/
As far as Vintage racing, it really depends on the local club. Some of the vintage guys have way more money than brains and smashing their car or your car is no big deal. I'll try to find the link to a Vintage Race at Road America a few years ago. They destroyed over a million dollars worth of cars before the green flag even waived. Cars were plied three high! Fortunately no one was killed. Which reminds me, nobody has ever suffered a serious injury in the 20+ year history of SRF. They are one of the safest race cars ever! And you can actually rent an SRF to go racing.
Save the Pantera for a "Track Day" and go "racing" in something else.
I did a lot of on track performance driving in the Pantera with an outfit called Track Time. And the SCCA PDX school is a good way to get some triple digit laps too, but it's not racing.
When I decided to go racing, I knew it had to be in a "real" race car. Something cheap and easy to fix and maintain. It has it's own class in SCCA and it's called a Spec Racer Ford (SRF). It's a very competitive class, typically I'm racing against 20 to 40 identical cars. A major race could have even 80 SRFs racing at once. Closed wheel, open cockpit, tube frame, replaceable three part fiberglass body, sealed engine, and all spec parts. The best driver usually wins, not the person with the most money. If you like to race with a roof over your head, then I recommend the Spec Miata class in SCCA. For more info go to http://www.scca.org/home.aspx
For more about my exploits in an SRF, go to
http://www.racerdave.com/
As far as Vintage racing, it really depends on the local club. Some of the vintage guys have way more money than brains and smashing their car or your car is no big deal. I'll try to find the link to a Vintage Race at Road America a few years ago. They destroyed over a million dollars worth of cars before the green flag even waived. Cars were plied three high! Fortunately no one was killed. Which reminds me, nobody has ever suffered a serious injury in the 20+ year history of SRF. They are one of the safest race cars ever! And you can actually rent an SRF to go racing.
Save the Pantera for a "Track Day" and go "racing" in something else.
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I couldn't find the video of Historic racing, but here's a picture.
More at http://www.pbase.com/atrltd/bric2005
Car & Driver, October, 2005 edition, has a 3/4 page spread about the crash. Interested in how much some of the vintage racers costs, they ran some of the numbers...
'64 Corvette convertible $78 - $88K
'67 Camaro $60 - $72K
'65 Corvette $82 - $94K
'66 Corvette $84 - $91K
'69 Corvette $62 - $74K
'69 Trans Am $80 - 90K
Cobra $250,000
'70 Mustang Boss 302 $74 - 89K
I'm sure there is room to squeeze a Pantera in there too, Miles.
More at http://www.pbase.com/atrltd/bric2005
Car & Driver, October, 2005 edition, has a 3/4 page spread about the crash. Interested in how much some of the vintage racers costs, they ran some of the numbers...
'64 Corvette convertible $78 - $88K
'67 Camaro $60 - $72K
'65 Corvette $82 - $94K
'66 Corvette $84 - $91K
'69 Corvette $62 - $74K
'69 Trans Am $80 - 90K
Cobra $250,000
'70 Mustang Boss 302 $74 - 89K
I'm sure there is room to squeeze a Pantera in there too, Miles.
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Julian-that car is back on ebay as of a couple days ago. His original ad is what gave me the idea becuase he mentioned "SCCA prepped". That's an expensive car to go banging around a track though. But the thought has crossed my mind (obviously or I wouldn't have posted)
Dave-I have goose bumps from seeing your spec car. I just joined the SoPac (California Sports Car Club-Cal Club) region of SCCA this weekend and spent a little time in the local CSR shop (MBI Racing) looking at his new (new to him) SRF. They fully support all the SRF races at the three tracks Cal club races each year (Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Willow Springs, and Cal Speedway-Fontana). After that I spent the rest of the day flagging on turn 15 at Buttonwillow with the cars only 10-15 feet away. WHAT a rush!!!! Nothing like having a GT1 700 hp Camaro bearing down on you and hard braking into a turn!! The spec classes were definately more competitive than the open classes since it all comes down to driver talent (or lack of it). After talking to a few racers I got the strong impression that the Spec Miata class is not very "Spec". I really like the idea of minimal downtime and max seat time that the Spec classes see. Everyone I talked to said the SRF's are darn near indestructable and easy to fix. And for only a 100hp Focus motor they still motivate around the track nicely. I will check out your site and if possible I would like to talk more about your SRF experiences-good and bad.
I thought of the idea of racing the P-car, probably in GT2 or T2, because I could combine two things I love. I don't have to run at the front. I can't afford to have a Pantera and go racing so I thought if I don't have to make a choice why would I? Classic case of having my cake and eating it too. At this time in my life I think I want to race more than I want the Pantera ownership.
The issue is expense. The number one thing racing has to be is inexpensive (I know that's relative-very relative) but if I have a budget set each year for racing I can get more seat time in a spec car than in the P-car. I think I just figured out my sloution.....
Thanks for all the feedback everyone.
Also I can't imagine what I would do if my exotic Italian was under that pile.......
Dave-I have goose bumps from seeing your spec car. I just joined the SoPac (California Sports Car Club-Cal Club) region of SCCA this weekend and spent a little time in the local CSR shop (MBI Racing) looking at his new (new to him) SRF. They fully support all the SRF races at the three tracks Cal club races each year (Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Willow Springs, and Cal Speedway-Fontana). After that I spent the rest of the day flagging on turn 15 at Buttonwillow with the cars only 10-15 feet away. WHAT a rush!!!! Nothing like having a GT1 700 hp Camaro bearing down on you and hard braking into a turn!! The spec classes were definately more competitive than the open classes since it all comes down to driver talent (or lack of it). After talking to a few racers I got the strong impression that the Spec Miata class is not very "Spec". I really like the idea of minimal downtime and max seat time that the Spec classes see. Everyone I talked to said the SRF's are darn near indestructable and easy to fix. And for only a 100hp Focus motor they still motivate around the track nicely. I will check out your site and if possible I would like to talk more about your SRF experiences-good and bad.
I thought of the idea of racing the P-car, probably in GT2 or T2, because I could combine two things I love. I don't have to run at the front. I can't afford to have a Pantera and go racing so I thought if I don't have to make a choice why would I? Classic case of having my cake and eating it too. At this time in my life I think I want to race more than I want the Pantera ownership.
The issue is expense. The number one thing racing has to be is inexpensive (I know that's relative-very relative) but if I have a budget set each year for racing I can get more seat time in a spec car than in the P-car. I think I just figured out my sloution.....
Thanks for all the feedback everyone.
Also I can't imagine what I would do if my exotic Italian was under that pile.......
What a mess of mangled classics! Did they ever post the video of that accident? You couldn't pay me to put my car on a track with those drivers! If they did it once....
Angelo
Angelo
quote:Originally posted by ANGELO B:
What a mess of mangled classics!
Angelo
No bid deal! I'm sure every one of those cars have been rebuilt better than before that accident. However I don't think insurance helped. In fact Art's Pantera accident makes that look like a fender bender.