DeTomaso Mailing List: September 97, Message #12
     



From: MikeLDrew@aol.com

Subject: Re:  Re: Fly paper and Panteras [was shipping a Pantera]

Date: Mon, 1 Sep 1997 12:35:31 -0400 (EDT)



Capt Mike Drew

150 Westgate Dr.

San Francisco, CA  94127



Home:   (415) 334-7860



E-mail:  MikeLDrew@aol.com





All:



1)  I witnessed with my own eyes as Shane started removing his numbers, and

peeled up spots of paint right with it.  I was THERE when it happened, so

realize that at least in his case, He Speaks The Trvth.  (That's not a typo

Nancy!)  It was very apparent where the previous owner had been affixing his

numbers, for there were several clearly demarcated zones where the paint had

previously been lifted off in similar fashion.



2)  Mad Dog, my buddy, my pal, ya gotta take a giant pill (may I recommend

Prozac?  How about Valium?) and lay off Andy.  You and he are talking about

totally different environments.  Pocono is a track with NO gravel runoff

areas (as I recall, it's been awhile), just long stretches of pavement

surrounded by grass.  With the NASCAR boys running there at 200 mph, they

sweep the track clean and there's hardly any gravel or rocks anywhere (just

mud and clods of grass in the infield); thus perhaps it's possible to draft

without damage (although many Pocono contenders run with some sort of

protective tape.)



Laguna Seca and Willow Springs, on the other hand, are tracks totally

surrounded by dirt and rocks and stuff.  One car strays even slightly

off-track, and all this crap gets pulled onto the pavement, to be sucked up

and spit out the back of the next car, into the front of the one immediately

following.  So it's more important to run that kind of tape here than there.



Finally, I took a look at Kip Patridge's Pantera years ago (Kip is Dennis

Quella's right hand man at Pantera Performance Center.)  The nose of his car

was TRASHED, the entire lower nose and the first few feet of the hood were

literally sandblasted and pockmarked, more metal than paint showing.  I asked

him how it happened, he shrugged and said, "Drafting.  We Colorado guys run

our cars pretty hard out here, and there's lots of loose gravel on the roads.

 We were running to Las Vegas and the paint was perfect, but I got up under

(some other club member) and drafted him for a few miles at 175 mph, and it

just destroyed the paint.  Oh well, we build 'em to run 'em, not to just sit

there and look at 'em."



Mike







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