Purchasing the Dream!

​By this point in my life, I'd had lots of cars, Mustangs, a Z-28, a Renault Alliance, and everything in between.   I'd even done a little circle track racing.   I wanted something different.  Something that would go around a corner, fast and easy to work on.   After a lot of searching on the web, I came across DeTomaso Pantera's.    A mid-engine car, with a Ford motor, German trans-axle and Italian body. 

I was working for Tivoli at the time, and I actually saw a red Pantera in our 'Friday night' cars gathering.    I met the owner, Rob McMullen, and he was happy to show me all around the car.   I ended doing a little work on his car in my garage (replaced a blown Cleveland with a Windsor) and I got to know that car much better.    I started looking real hard for one of my own.   I found a couple in Florida that I wanted to check it out.

Rob did me a huge favor and flew with me to Ft. Lauderdale.    The first Pantera had some pretty visible rust on it.   I wanted to avoid rust, since I really don't like body work (having lived in Illinois and dealing with rust most of my life) I went to look at the second one.  This one seemed in much better shape and only a few more dollars than the rusty one.  After some inspection, a test drive, and price bargaining,  I purchased THPNNJ05171 from an eighty year old gentleman who said his arthritis made this car tough to drive.   His loss was my gain.   I was living the dream!   Now, to drive it back to Austin Texas, but that's  another story altogether!