Too tall???

Lowered floors are as common as 6'-3" Pantera owners. With stock seats and no seat rails you can even wear a hat.

Hi Bob,
Just my .02 worth, but unless you purchase a car with dropped floor pans, at 6'3" you are never going to fit comfortably.
Doug M

You'll fit better in a Pantera than any other exotic, unless you get a Ferrari 308 and throw away the removable roof.

Seriously, we have a number of club members who are 6'3" or taller and they fit with no problem. There are all sorts of mods to get you the additional headroom you need...

• Remove the 1/2" spacers under the seat tracks
  
• Remove the seat tracks and bolt seats directly to the floor
  
• Install a smaller aftermarket steering wheel - Momo Prototipo or LeCarra
  
• Change seats
  
• Install a dropped floorpan kit
  

And, none of them will diminish the value of your car. Go to a club meeting and sit in a number of different Panteras. You'll find they all fit differently depending on the seats, steering wheel, and any mods to the seats, tracks, or floorpans.

Just scroll thru the board here and you'll find owners who are 6' - 6" and others well over 6' who fit inside ...with their helmets on!

Syclone/Typhoon is so awesome! I've wanted one since I was a teenager.

What year are you looking for?

The later #9,000 series cars (GT5 and GT5S) have dropped floor pans a standard.

Where in Ontario are you located?
I'm 6'5" and have no problem at all.
Well, actually, I'm 5'5" but talk like I'm 6'5"
Will (suffers from small man syndrome) D

I am 6'2", 210#. I have Halls lowered floor pans and have found that I didn't need them.

The key to legroom, I think, is to space out the pedeal assembly 2" under the dash. It is an easy modification to do and could always be returned to stock if you didn't like it.

Talk to Wilkinson. He can hook you up with what you need to do the modification.

At some point I am going to ATTEMPT to convert a Honda Civic, tilt, telescoping steering column into the Pantera. I find everything wrong with the stock column, the angle, the location of the wheel, you name it.

The ONLY thing that no one can do anything about is the intrusion of the inner front fender well into the cabin.

Take the seat out to drive the Pantera home and you will have no problem. You will need a seat that sits on the floor no more than 1/4" padding and same for the back against the firewall or dropped floor pans.

I'm 6'-1" and will fit with helmet on

Ramtera,

I am 6"1' and I own a '74 car. With stock interior configuration I had no problems. To add more headroom I took out the 3/4 inch aluminum carpet spacers. I kept the seat tracks etc. I can fit with a helmet.

I replaced my stock seats with Recaros. I kept the Recaro sliders etc. and still have no problems.

It is difficult to say whether you will have a problem or not. It depends on your height build. If you are 6'3" and long in the "butt to top of your head" measurement (i.e. proportionatly short legged) you may need to make a minor mod like I did. On the other hand if you are long legged, you may need to extend the pedal box - another relatively minor mod.

In any case, the factory GT5 and GT5S cars (after S/N 9000) came with lowered floor pans that offered more headroom than the other models. Some owners have added dropped floor pans to their cars as an owner modification. Another thing to remember is that there are at least 3 different stock seat configurations. So depending on the model year, one type of seat may work better for you.

I strongly recommend you try a few different models and years on for size. When I was looking, I tried an 71 car with stock seats and found the fit very tight. On the other hand, a 74 car seat fit me very well. That helped me narrow my search.

Finally, all mid-engined Italian cars I have tried are very tight. I can drive Lambo Countach/Diablo, Ferrari 308/328/348/355, Dino 308GT4/246GT provided I put my head sideways. I cannot even sit properly and use the pedals in a DeTomaso Mangusta. A Maserati Bora or Ferrari 512BB's fit is about the same as a DeTomaso Pantera.

HTH

OK MarkM. I give up. Who is she? She will have no problem fitting in my Pantera? Hum? Maybe it wouldn't be mine for very long now huh?

Women like her cause major traffic accidents. (:

As far as what Andryko says about the 'goose, saidly it is very true. It is a very small persons car.

I'm 6'6" 235lbs and I fit in my car with dropped floor pans and aftermarket seats.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by PanteraDoug:
OK MarkM. I give up. Who is she? She will have no problem fitting in my Pantera? Hum? Maybe it wouldn't be mine for very long now huh?

Women like her cause major traffic accidents. (:

I'm not sure, but I carry the mastercard in my back pocket so that we have something to talk about when I find her.

quote:

Originally posted by Mark M:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by PanteraDoug:
OK MarkM. I give up. Who is she? She will have no problem fitting in my Pantera? Hum? Maybe it wouldn't be mine for very long now huh?

Women like her cause major traffic accidents. (:

I'm not sure, but I carry the mastercard in my back pocket so that we have something to talk about when I find her.

I'm sorry to make unfounded accusations Mark. It must be the testosterone effecting my brain again. It happens every so often.

You are correct though I think in that it is better to pay now up front then later. My credit limit wouldn't even cover the costs of the lawyers I'm sure?

quote:

Originally posted by 4NHOTROD:
Where in Ontario are you located?
I'm 6'5" and have no problem at all.
Well, actually, I'm 5'5" but talk like I'm 6'5"
Will (suffers from small man syndrome) D

Too funny, Will!

At 6'5", I was picturing you as a member of KISS with those 12" tall platform shoes!

Michael

I'm 6'2", slightly long in leg & short in torso, I fit in my 1974 Pantera L OK, my hair rubbed the headliner.

I altered the mounting of the drivers seat, I bolted the rear mounts of the stock drivers seat directly to the floorpan, with no spacers, I installed about 1 1/4" spacers between the front mounts and the floorpan, this gives the seat cushion & seat back a little rearward rake to them, supports the thighs better and makes more head room.

I don't have the leg-room issues Pantera Doug had, so I think he must be longer in the leg than I am.

The foot pedals are very closely spaced, I think many owners struggle more with that than they do with the headroom issue. I resolved that for my self by driving with my shoes off.

Believe it or not the Pantera is one of the roomier sports cars of its era, definitely the roomiest mid-engine car. Tall people learn to adapt themselves to the car or adapt the car to themselves; some people amazingly taller than myself own Panteras.

cowboy from hell

quote:

Originally posted by Cowboy from Hell:

I resolved that for my self by driving with my shoes off.

Believe it or not the Pantera is one of the roomier sports cars of its era, definitely the roomiest mid-engine car. Tall people learn to adapt themselves to the car or adapt the car to themselves; some people amazingly taller than myself own Panteras.

cowboy from hell

Wow, and I thought that there was just chicken cooking in the front?

It isn't too bad room wise at all. Definitely bigger then a GT40 which Gurney said was virtually a luxury GT to him.

I think it is more the seating angle where the steering wheel isn't directly in front of you and my right thigh being up against the console to reach the accelerator which seems to be tucked into the center tunnel of the car. That combined with no place to put your clutch foot.

When I moved the pedals forward, suddenly I had a place to put my left foot flat on the floor.
Now my only issue is that I keep wanting to tilt the steering wheel down and push it farther away.

I guess I'm just not going to give up until it is like a Lincoln in there? After all I put the effort into putting 12 way power seats into the car with a power lumbar I might add.

You know the thing that really bugs me in the cabin is that the talking backup devise although definitely female also has a distinctive Japanese accent. She talks to me like I am stupid or something with an attitude? I wonder if my wife had anything to do with that?

Wow-great feedback and many helpful answers-thanks to you all
Think my preference from an aesthetic point of view is a post #9000 S/N car anyway-if the budget allows
Have folded myself and my long legs into some small stuff(bug-eye sprite,cooper S, and ac cobra 289) over the years so sounds like the Pantera, happily, will fit after all.
For the respondant(4NHOTROD) who asked where I was in Ontario-am presently in Unionville with a planned move to Kingston within the next 2 years-party's at my house when you all come up there!
PS -Can anyone local allow me to photograph their car for my new website-haven't got a Pantera on there yet-www.highbeams.ca
Thanks again everyone-great enthusiastic response
Bob

Bob,

You won't want to shoot my car (a 1971), but if you tell me what type/colour etc. that you're looking for, I might have a shot or two for you.

It will be nice to have another owner in eastern Ont. Welcome here!

Mark

Mark-Am in Ottawa almost every second weekend and would be honoured to both meet you and shoot your car(s) if you would allow me to
Nothing wrong with having several Panteras on the site-I never know what my customers want or what colour they like when fitting into a certain decor
My Parents are in Rockcliffe and we are in the process of moving them into a retirement home-selling the house and disposing of furniture-big and emotionally draining job topped off by 9 hrs on the 401!!
Cheers
Bob

Hey Bob, at 6'6" 230 lbs I fit fairly well. My big feet are a issue if I wear the wrong shoes, working the clutch and brake can be a safety concern.
My car has the stock seats with Hall dropped floorppans on both sides. The car was like this when we got it. Unless your wife is really really tall I would go with the dropped pans just on the drivers side. My wife has issues with not being able to see out of the car sometimes.
Jeff

My first pantera I bought was from Matt Merritt, who is 6'-6". He not only drove this car alot but also ran track events with a helmet, without dropped floor pans. He had installed Racecraft seats without any rails, and bolted to the floor. These seats did not have much padding in the seat area which made the difference. One of the guys in our Arizona club, sold his first Pantera to a very large guy (probably well over 300 lbs). He simply removed the seat and had some padding installed on the floor and firewall, and that is how he drives the car!

That's very interesting and in general is a very interesting discussion.

Someone touched upon the thought that the tall guys, like 6'6" already, long, long ago had learned how to fit themselves into just about anything, how to deal with it as everyday life and don't bitch about it.

I think it is a guy like me, that is kinda' in the middle that has difficulty accepting being twisted and compressed into a "cockpit". One similar to a current US military fighter plane. By race car standards and by WWII fighter plane standards, this is a car which by comparison to them is a virtual limo.

I think Rapid touched upon a very critical factor here also, i.e., total mass.

I know that on my home planet of Zluto, I am considered a runt. That is in fact why I got assigned to this very pretty yet universally insignificant oasis. But I degress.

I, with the Pantera in the stock configuration could wear a helmet under the following conditions; 1) the drivers window had to be open 2) I could not look directly ahead since the helmet was against the bulkhead window and pointed my head down. Thus the decision to lower the floor pans 2".

Granted that on the passenger side it is debateable whether or not the passenger should get the same opportunity.

I thought that with the impossible to deal with bubble from the bulkhead projecting largely into the passenger side AND the fact that with the lowered pan the passenger would definately have their knees higher then their eyes it would be a particularly good viewing position for the driver with a female passenger wearing a miniskirt.

Now banish me as you will but I think that it is very important for a Tech from Zluto to know for a fact whether or not the passenger is wearing underware?

Now hold on here...males simply do not qualify as passengers in my Pantera and I don't care if you Scotsmen wear underware under you kilts.

Now see? You guys never considered this criteria before did you?