DeTomaso Mailing List: August 99, Message #242

Z Z Z Z Z Zack wrote:

>Does anyone know who makes the wheels on the P-car on the front of the 
August 
POCA newsletter? 

>>>Sure! :>)

>Are they 1, 2, or 3 piece? 

>>>Those are 1-piece aluminum Mustang Cobra R wheels.  The standard wheels 
come in 17x8 and 17x9; those were custom made in 17X10 for the rear.

>And who's car is that? Sweeeet. 

>>>Why, that's Gary Hall's car!  I was surprised Jack didn't recognize it.  
That same car appears in the classic book Panteras For The Road; it's the 
silver pushbutton near the front.

I happened to be in Gary's shop last week; he told me that he was able to 
sweet-talk Ford into building a special, custom run of Cobra wheels in 17X10 
to go on the back of the Pantera, and off-the-shelf 17X9 (I think, or maybe 
he uses the 17x8) wheels go on the front.  His car was in Vegas showing them 
off.

He's got 100 or so of these wheels in stock.  Dunno when or if he's going to 
get around to advertising them, but they sure are nice, eh?

>Also, in the 1999 Profiles #1, in the table of contents, there's a picture 
with a "26" in it. Anyone know who makes the wheels on the first car in the 
picture (6 spoke)? Are they 1, 2, or 3 piece? 

>>>That's Pat Mical's car; he's the guy who runs Future Auto in Chelmsford, 
Mass.  The guy is a total lunatic; that car is a 1974 (I think) Pantera 
converted to GT5 spec and powered by a freon-intercooled twin-turbocharged 
fuel-injected all aluminum Clevor motor that no kidding puts out 1000 
horsepower on pump gas and is as docile to drive as a BMW sedan.  I witnessed 
that very car speeding down the Pocono front straight at 205 mph when I was 
there in 1993 (radar gun speed), yet it's nice and quiet (turbos cut down the 
noise even before the mufflers do their job), very elegant and built to the 
highest level of detail.  Simply an outstanding car.  Pat's quite a nice guy 
too.  He's got a website that probably features his wheels; I don't have the 
URL handy but Andy DiFatta does--Andy, share it with us?

He used to offer special Simmons 3-piece wheels that looked slightly 
different; I dunno the make of his current wheels as pictured in the photo.

>And what's the best wheel size 
for a performance/street Pantera? Comments?

>>>That's very much a matter of opinion.  What looks cool might not work as 
well as something more pedestrian.  Dennis Antenucci, for example, had a set 
of massive wheels (17-inch rear, 15-inch front) fitted with expensive P-zero 
Pirellis, but when he drove his car at silver state or at the racetrack, the 
big showy wheels stayed on the trailer and the car ran on stock Campys with 
race rubber, because they worked better!

17-inch wheels are currently in vogue, although when it comes to Campy 
replicas I think there's no question that 17 inch rear and 16 inch front 
looks MUCH better and works just the same.

Some supercars are moving towards 18-inch wheels and it's only a matter of 
time before the Pantera vendors offer wheels in that flavor.

Once you decide upon a particular style, everything else will come together 
for ya!  Before you spend dime one, you need to come to Las Vegas and 
evaluate the other cars present for yourself.  ONLY there will you see 
virtually every possible combination! :>)

Mike