DeTomaso Mailing List: January 98, Message #225
     



From: 	"Dom" <dom@syroxdev.co.uk>

Subject: C&SC Magazine Article

Date: 	Wed, 7 Jan 1998 11:22:04 +0000



The C&SC magazine with the Pantera article has just come out in the UK so it

should be available in the States fairly soon.  I was especially interested

as my car was featured in the photo shoot which was great way to spend the

day driving around the English countryside.   Living in London I don't

really get to drive the Pantera as it was built to be driven but then again

cruising the Kings Road and setting off car alarms in side streets can be

also be fun.



The article was a 'affordable super car test' and billed as 'Ferrari vs The

Best of Rest', the only disappointment was the cover photo,  a red 308GTB

overtaking a white Lotus Esprit.  The rest contains some excellent action

and still shots of all the three cars taken in The New Forest in SW England,

a protected area of natural beauty.  The article starts by saying how

relative affordable the cars were compared modern machines and then goes on

to describe the history of each model.  Next came a comparison between the

reputation and the actual driving of each car,  with the Pantera having a

slightly dodgy rep but actually great fun to drive.  Note the quoted

performance figures were strictly from the reference books.



As mine was the only owners car (the rest being being supplied by classic

car dealerships) the journalists were very friendly and interested in the

Pantera,  these cars are very rare in the UK.  I really enjoyed chatting

with Steve Cropley (the main writer and very well established motoring

journalist) and Gavin Conway (editor C&SC) who originating from Australia

and Canada respectively really enjoyed driving a fast US engined V8.

Readers of C&SC over the last year or so may have spotted Gavin's influence

in introducing more US muscle cars into the mag.



Steve Cropley's sum up for the Pantera was best looking car,  easy to drive

with lots of torque and very fast.  The Ferrari 308 GTB (a Fiberglas '76

model similar to a car he used to own)  was described as having dated looks

and old fashioned skinny tyres.  The Lotus was picked as the car to own due

to its relative youth, a 1992 year model and therefore it's usability.  This

summary may sound odd but remember Lotus's are fairy common in the UK,  well

common compared to Ferraris and DeTomasos.



Dominic Wood

74 US Pantera 6410