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Heine,

It is actually a lot of fun to play in the snow with the Pantera when there isn't much traffic on the road. Nail the throttle, learn to control the car when it does weird things. We were in the middle of Vermont in a snow storm one year with the Pantera (we really don't go out hunting storms in the Pantera...the storm just happened to find us) and headed for a Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream tour. We were headed south on Route 100 and started to head up an incline in the road which was covered in snow. We were only going about 20 to 25 mph and about half way up the hill the Pantera did the slowest 180 degree spin I have ever seen. It was as if God Himself reached down and grabbed the Pantera and slowly spun us around so that we were facing in the exact opposite direction we were headed. My wife and I immediately realized that this was the Pantera's way of saying it wanted no more of this white weather. We stopped in the next town and stayed the night. The photo below was taken on the road in Vermont a short distance after the Pantera's change of heart.

Pantera in the Snow
Worked for Ford Motor Company, Parts & Service Division, and happened to be working in the Minneapolis, MN District Office 1972-1980 (height of Pantera selling, & service). Can tell many horror stories of how customers where told that the mid engine Pantera was so well balanced that "it would handle well in just about any type of weather", only to see a number facing the wrong direction in just about any type of weather (including dry).
Also, after being transferred to Detroit in '81, witnessed a number of Panteras being transported by Security to the "salvage yard crusher". They were "buybacks" as a result of sales misrepresentation, corrosion, etc.
quote:
DRIVEN!!! Love it!

To drive or not to drive, that is the question. Now in my salty and damp country, I would never drive my Pantera on bad days. But I've driven my Longchamp for 2½ years as my daily driver, all kinds of weather, salty roads. Technically and reliability wise it was very good, had some minor issues the first month, but once they were fixed, it ran without problems every day. I washed it frequently, especially in the winter, so every Saturday morning I had it out in front washing it, in all kinds of weather, passers by thought I was, well, something.

But...I must admit it has come with a price. It's clearly worn from the experience. I see rust bubbles 1-2 places that I'm sure there wouldn't have been if it had been a sun only car. And if I look in the engine room, it looks like shit, a lot of surface rust and dirt. One or two spots on my ultra delicate ivory Alcantara have also been the result of me and family in and out on dark wet evenings.

So, don't expect a show car to stay a show car if you use it. So do I regret that 2½ years? No way! It was worth it. If you haven't driven a classic car on a daily basis, you haven't lived...

I'll just have to restore it again sometime. I almost look forward to it...
quote:
Originally posted by Qrtlow:
Here is Al Axelrod (2013 Fun Rally guest speaker) driving back to Colorado in April after leaving Phoenix. Check it out, his car matches the frosty Coors truck in the background.

Sorry for putting this post here but I own one of those ft covers I bought it not thinking about my 1974 L type ft bumper ... anybody need it?
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Originally posted by Rob Borruso:
Honestly spoken...that Coors pic makes me cringe. I like driving em, and hard too....but I think that's spitting in the face of the corrosion demon.. and he always wins. Frowner


I tend to agree with that statement.

Giving credit where credit is due, NO ONE in ITALY ever conceived of any of these "exotics" still existing 40 years down the road.

I'm not sure if you can point a finger at anyone and find intentional fault with the structural designs.

Unprotected steel on the interior structures of these cars, combined with monoque design philosophy and practice AND US rust belt weather and chemically treat winter roads just make a very poor combination for longevity.

In fact I will go even further and say that the condensation vapor that forms on the interior portions of the bare steel surfaces is really just sets of a chain of irreversible motion to a certain rusty death and often untimely.

I am still convinced that the only way you can even just slow that time clock down is to electrostaticly submerge the complete steel substructure and body sheet steel in a two stage vat primer, let it soak in there for a sufficient time, then put it in the oven for 40 minutes to cure it.

Then at least you have a fighting chance.

Anybodies sheet steel is already dying from the minute it is produced. This is simply a function of what an atmosphere containing 21% oxygen does to virtually everything, given enough time.

Those shots of a red car (I'm partial to red Panteras) in the snow, on a mountain road in the Rockies are MAYBE the most picturesque shots I've ever seen.

Granted they weren't intentional but personally I'll remember them for a long, long time...very positively! Big Grin
quote:
Originally posted by PanteraDoug:
Those shots of a red car (I'm partial to red Panteras) in the snow, on a mountain road in the Rockies are MAYBE the most picturesque shots I've ever seen.

Granted they weren't intentional but personally I'll remember them for a long, long time...very positively! Big Grin


Glad you liked them...I sure had fun taking the photos. Lifetime memories for my nephew and I for sure. The photos were taken 12 years ago and beleive it or not, my Pantera hasn't disintegrated into a pile of rust yet Wink

In fact, I just put over 75 miles on the Pantera today in our Winter weather (we only hit 50 degrees today....brrrrr Smiler I shouldn't have mentioned that fact....sorry to all you midwesterners, East Coasters, Canadians and Europeans...my condolances for the weather in your neighborhoods!

Within the next few weeks the Pantera will be closing in on 150,000 miles!
I have it on good authority that people who live in the southern climates get extremely bored of warm weather, sunshine and the general brown-ness of things. Some of them have been known to escape to the north just so they can see snow and their breath as they walk outside. OK, I'm not even convincing myself…

There is one great thing about winters though, and that is we can work on our cars with out really having "lost" any driving time.

Mark

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