Great stories!
I’ve loved the styling of the Pantera ever since I saw my first one in the mid 70’s. I don’t remember when that was exactly, but I instantly became fond of the car’s beautiful Italian lines. One of my earliest impressions or memories of the Pantera came when I was just a young boy, probably about 10 years old. One of my dad's co-workers had a Pantera. At a company picnic he told the story of driving it from Oregon to California in the mid-late 70's (possibly when he bought the car) and that a Porsche Turbo Carrera came up alongside him on the highway and wanted to race... He said the Porsche downshifted and he just mashed the gas pedal until the Porsche was a mile behind. I already loved cars and was immediately smitten!
In 1983 I attended the Nor-Cal Shelby Club's first "Mini Nat’s" at Sears Point Raceway. I was there to look at Shelby GT350’s and generally anything Cobra. However, I remember admiring two Panteras that were at the event. I even recall how much I liked those Campy wheels – unbeatable uniqueness and style!
Five years later I was living and working in Santa Barbara, California and stumbled onto a beautiful Pantera (possibly an L-model) on the "Showplace Automobiles" used car lot on Chapala Street. The car was maroon with a black interior, and I was "in love." Anyway, I paid a number of visits to the car and began price negotiations with the dealer. However, I was also saving to buy my first home and decided I needed a house with a garage before I needed another car, especially one so deserving of a garage.
Fast forward to sometime between 1997-1999 and I saw a Pantera on a trailer at the Monterey marina. The car was an orange 72 that had been subtly and tastefully upgraded for track use, and it was beautiful! It had just started raining, but the owner graciously spent 10 minutes getting wet while telling me about the car. He and his wife were trailering it to Arizona to attend a driving school, and I believe they were subsequently heading to the POCA Fun Rally in Las Vegas. I wish I could remember their names or where they were from. On that wet afternoon I decided right then and there that I would have one, but it wasn’t the right time and I was soon preoccupied with my busy life, career and family again.
However, every year I attend the Monterey Historic Automobile Races with my brother, and continued to admire the Panteras in the PI club corral at the track - it was always a highlight of the event for me.
Then in 2002 I was looking for a fun car and was contemplating purchasing a used Porsche 911 or BMW M3. My wife objected to the cost to buy and likely maintain either of those marques, and then I remembered the Pantera. I was pleasantly surprised to find that at the time a decent Pantera could be had for less than I was contemplating spending on either of the other cars, AND it cost less to insure! The search was on, and six or seven months later the Banzai Runner Pantera became mine!
Here I am in Paso Robles with Al Manning, the former owner of #4033 for 25 years, on the day I purchased her in May of 2003.
