US grey market GT5

Peter H (Havlik) on this forum is the 9000 series guy.

there are a lot of easy to see details about the difference on an early car whit a kit or a later build Pantera.
need to see pictures
Simon

Thanks for the quick response. The images that the owner sent me are to big to attach and I don't know how to edit them down to a file size that will fit. I'll ask my kids for help when they get home. what I can tell you is that the interior is a very nice two tone leather (black with Tan leather rapped dash and door panels. The exterior has the fiberglass wide body fender flares and front and rear spoilers. The odd thing that I see is that the seem between the fiberglass fender flares and the steel body are Black, the car is Red. So the seem doesn't appear to be painted to match the car. however the Flares are color matched perfectly. Is there anything else that I should be looking for?

The black space between the body and flares is correct. It's filled with black sealer called "dum-dum". The description and vin do fit for an original GT5. If you'd like more input, feel free to email pictures to me at mark-at-markscars-dot-ca. I can send them back sized for posting here if you choose.

Mark

That's good to hear. I'll send you some pics.

#9362 should be an '85 or '86 Pantera; #9364 is, as well as #9359. Your prospective car is unlisted in the various Registries. As far as starting ANY car after 24 years of dry storage, IF you try fresh gas or starting fluid, have a fire extinguisher close by. Fuel lines made prior to that time would not withstand 'modern' gas with its witches-brew of carcinogenic chemicals, and line ruptures/fires are common. The tank holds 22 gallons and the drain plug is usually rust-welded to the tank.

If it starts, resist the urge to drive it more than up-and-down a driveway until you replace all the rubber in the car: fuel lines, brake lines, water hoses and test the brakes for sticking pistons in calipers. It will also give you a chance to try shifting the transmission into all gears under power. Rebuilding a ZF is beyond most owners and non-specialty shops, and can be VERY expensive (over $10,000). Rebuilding calipers is simple and cheap but one of the sloppiest jobs imaginable. This is also the time to replace old brake hoses and maybe brake pads. These machines even in poor tune will hit 150 mph and thats fast enough to do you and the car serious injury if something suddenly malfunctions.

The electrics may be problematic because most of the system comes from Lucas of England and uses non-plated connectors everywhere, so surface corrosion and loose grounds are common. Patient cleaning fixes almost all such problems without buying parts. This Forum and WWW.POCA.com are the world's main resources for newly purchased Panteras!

Boss, thanks for the advice and the VIN info. With the help of one of the other members I have established that it is in fact an authentic GT5.

As Bosswrench points out, your VIN indicates #9362 falls in between two known cars in the registry, #9364 and #9359, with the latter car being thought to be a 1985. The VINs were sequentially numbered and #9374 was the last car in the GT5 production run before De Tomaso transitioned to the GT5-S in 1985 (except for custom orders). Consequently, it is most likely a 1985 build year.

The "title" (are you referring to a bill of sale or the registration?) may refer to the model year, which could be a year later than the build year. If the car was registered previously in Europe, this will confuse things because there they refer to a car's year as the year it was first registered, which was often later than the build or the model year.

Please note that none of this means it is necessarily a GT5. Both the GT5 and GT5-S eras were interspersed with custom orders of GTS Panteras and other variants.

For us to give you any meaningful feedback, you will need to post as many detailed photos as possible. You should also be sure to ask the seller for any paperwork in their possession that would give you information about the car's provenance.

If it is important to you that this car be a legit GT5, the only way to be 100% certain is to get the factory paperwork. I believe RS Corse in Modena may be willing to provide you with the factory build records for a fee.

I received more info. You are correct, the build is listed as 7/85. The US title (owners registration) states that it's an 86. I will post pictures that I've received so far. But it looks like I can only post one at a time.

Picture of the engine bay

interior

rear shot

picture of gauges

After reviewing these pictures, give me your thoughts. GT5? I have some VIN plate pics. Let me know if seeing these will help.
Thanks for your comments.

Based on the photos you have posted, the car certainly appears to be a GT5. The rear wing and the seats are not factory original, and there are some other aftermarket parts installed, but there is nothing I can see that would indicate it is a conversion.

It is interesting to see the combination of a Euro-spec metric speedo with US-spec imperial gauges. The square side marker lights and the rear bumper indicate it is a US spec car and so the speedometer may have been retrofitted. Perhaps some of the GT5 owners on this forum with US spec cars can weigh in and tell us if they also have this combination, because it would be interesting to know how common it is.

It is a genuine 9000 series car, as Peter says to know whether it left the factory as a GT5 one would need to obtain factory records.

Someone has gone to some lengths to homologate the car with a one piece rear bumper (you can see the holes from the original euro spec bumperettes). It also appears to be minus front bumperettes. The addition of the side markers, rear bumper and gauge combination would lead me to hypithesise the car was perhaps brought into Canada initially and required to meet soem basic safety standards. Could it be a John Scotti import?

In one photo it wears black wheels in the latter one gold wheels? Are the original Campi's with the car as that certainly adds value, to repalce them is ~$10K alone.

Julian

This car is in Chuck Melton's registry. Additional pictures are on the site.

Note that the gauge combination is not exeptional...

My Euro PB has the same combination (Euro speedo and rev counter, US spec center gauges), and I'm aware of a couple of US cars which do have the opposite combination too.