1972 DeTomaso Pantera L

Owned by Guy Ramsey
Indianapolis, Indiana

Last updated on July 01, 2006
It is a '72 very early. The sixth "L" model. I got interested at a very early age...My dad raced SCCA in the late 60s and early 70s (He died of cancer shortly after, I was only 7 or 8 at the time.) He had a Pantera that I remember flying a round town in all the time. It was red. I have always been interested in them and this is my second one. The first one was a '71 that I never finished. Sold it for a 68 1/2 Cobra Jet. I figured I could finish that car sell it and buy a Pantera that was drivable. Has another 69 cobra jet that I had acquired too. I ended up trading both the 68 1/2 that I never finished and the 69 for the Pantera I have now. 

It's been a long road to finally own one that is a hope-in-and-go car. Well when I got the car home I drove it three miles and the heads started seaping. So that's when I started rebuilding the "top-end" of the motor. The only modifications to the car are in the motor, The original short block remains the same. I took the heads and had a 3 angle valve job and had them magnifluxed and checked the deck, new valve guides etc... The original carbs on these were junk. So I put a Holley on and an aluminum intake from Edlebrock and a set of new aftermarket headers that are 'Stock" looking. I also got rid of the original distributor with the dual points and opted for a Mallory unit to give me a hotter spark and electronic ignition. I have the original Arrivas that I am taking off ...(actually today on my lunch hour) and buying some beefy BF Goodrich TAs to save the Arrivas. They ride like shit anyway.

History of the car: Supposedly the car was a Detroit test track car, (I have not been able to verify this yet) which is very evident by the fact that the shifter gate is worn between first and second gear . After the car was used for test purposes it was stored in a design wharehouse. Two of Ford's top designers wanted to purchase the car. One of the designers hid the car so no one could find it in fear that the car might get sold to the other designer. Ford decided not to sell the car and kind of "lost it" over the years. Recently the car was found in the old warehouse on the Ford grounds in it's original condition. The car was bought by a Lincoln-Mercury dealer at a "FORD" action a few years ago. He used it as a collector's piece in his showroom. That's when I got hold of it. The title was still in Ford Motor Company's name until I had to title it this year. So technically It's a one owner car!

e-mail - gramsey@weisscomm.com
webpage - http://www.1968gt390mustang.com/myhtml/pantera.html