Thinking of buying a Pantera have Questions

Hi new guy,

It looks like I am the first to throw in my $0.02.


1st Will i fit in a Pantera i am 6,2 212 lbs.
Yes you should fit fine. It may take some practice getting in and out though.

did the car ever come with tilt steering.

No, you are out of luck there.

2nd do Pantera's have AC

Yes
3rd How hard is a Pantera to restore and modify, I have restored 2 cars so i have the tools and equipment.

depends on your starting point.

If you can afford a new M3 you can probably afford to get a Pantera that is in excellent condition.

I am sure someone local to you would be more than happy to show you their's up close. Also check out these two websites as they have helped me out a lot.
http://geocities.com/provamo72/
http://www.panteraplace.com/

Good luck!



[This message has been edited by madguy (edited 09-07-2002).]

First! Welcome to the club!! I am 6'6" and I fit, just bearly! I also took out the seat adjusting rack/rails, took out the bottom springs of the seat, and removed the foam rubber from the seat bottom! Yes! All Panteras came from the factory with Air Conditioning! Weather it was removed, still there, or even working, is the question. If you can fix cameros and chevelles, I see no problem with you learning the Panteras! Do get yourself the technical manual(s) They have them in the P.I. store(at a discount to members). And finally you'll have to be like a "traitor" to chevrolet and come on board the Ford Team!! But you will be welcome here! Good-luck finding your special Pantera!(There is a red one on the ebay auction you can get right now for $18,000. I would take a friend that really knows Panteras, with me to look it over very well!!), and again, welcome to the DeTomaso pantera team! All the best, Marlin.

[This message has been edited by MARLIN JACK (edited 09-07-2002).]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by MARLIN JACK:
[B]First! Welcome to the club!! I am 6'6" and I fit, just bearly!

WOW! Marlin you are 6'6" and you fit in a Pantera. I am 5'7" and I fit fine but I couldn't imagine being a foot taller and fitting in there.

Try this legendary website for more info!
http://www.hottr6.com/pantera/

Hello, All I can say is I did a lot of looking and homework on the pantera before I got my first one. and you should also! You want a rust free car or a good body man. A lot of pantera's say no rust, but take a person that knows or take a chance.
that is my 0.02 cent.
P.S. If you back the M-3 down the driveway people dont stop, back up and drive down your street to get a better look.

Yes! Believe it or don't! It's a chore just to get in and out of this machine. But I wanted one bad enough, I make myself fit!! Marlin.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Pantera!!
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the dropped floor pans that some of the Pantera vendors sell. They lower the floor about 2 inches.
You will also want to subscribe to the deTomaso list. See: http://realbig.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso Lots of good information there. If you have a couple of months free, read through the archives.

I would lower the floor pan in a minute! Except for these reasons. The Expense, Time involved, possible weakening of the frame structure, pan closer to scraping speed bumps. Also, I just went to a lower racing seat, and I am satisfied with my positioning at this time. Regards, Marlin.

As I understand it, the lowered floor pan sits in the existing braces and is even with the bottom of the existing crossmember. No greater danger of scraping than you already have. Should not affect the structure either.

Re the 'dangers' of running dropped floorpans: Larry Stock's Silver-State racer has 2" dropped floor pans. He hit a hump-backed bridge at around 160 mph during the June Pony Express open-road race. The car flew over 100 ft (eyewitnesses) and hit hard enough to remove a visible part of the concrete bridge approach. After finishing the race and DRIVING HOME to Reno, Larry & his crew removed the excess concrete(?) examined the bottom of the car and decided that it needed no repairs... My wife & I drove this car to Monterey for the Historic races at Laguna Seca a month later, with no problems. IMHO, don't worry about dropped floorpans & structural problems in Panteras.

GO GOOSE GO GOOSE GO GOOSE GO GOOSE