DeTomaso Mailing List: August 2000, Message #133

Hi guys,

I just got the latest issue of Pantera International magazine yesterday, and 
in there, Bill Harris had a short article on collecting Pantera posters.

Anybody who's ever been to my house knows that I am deeply into the whole 
poster thing, as virtually any vertical surface larger than your hand is 
covered with a professionally mounted and framed poster or lithograph 
depicting one of the cars I own.

However, one of my posters stands out above the rest.  Here, check it out at:

http://members.aol.com/mikeldrew/group4.jpg

This is virtually a one-of-a-kind poster which shows driver Paul Rubens at 
speed in 1975 in a factory Group 4 Pantera, part of the stable of Claude 
Dubois of Belgium.  While there's no way for me to be positive, given the 
lighting configuration at the front (giant spotlights hung off the nose) I 
have to think it's at Le Mans 1975.

This 24 x 36-inch poster was produced in Japan by an outfit called Gallery 
Elle in 1977.  I found it in Okinawa, buried in the back of a head shop.  
Apparently the owner set up business in the late 1970's, invested in a bunch 
of posters and never sold them.  This was the only Pantera poster I ever 
found there (well, I also got a smaller poster of the black MTC Pantera from 
England and gave that one to Jim Demick), but I managed to scoop up a fairly 
comprehensive pile of similar posters for '70's exoticars such as Lamborghini 
(when was the last time you saw a Urraco poster?), Maserati, Lotus, Porsche, 
Ferrari, etc.  I've sold many of them but still have a bunch left--have just 
lacked the requisite energy to market them effectively.

It's a fascinating photograph, and probably the best single resource I've 
ever seen to determine what equipment was found on the factory race cars.  
Note the passenger-side mirror located atop the fender, while the driver's 
side mirror is in the usual location near the window.  A battery cut-off 
switch lives on the driver's side front fender; at one point, these switches 
were located on the passenger side, but perhaps rules changes dictated the 
move?

Note too the original passenger-side fuel filler has been supplanted by a 
spring-loaded fuel filler in the roof--the Foster/Hohnhorst car also has this 
feature, although the cars were not originally built like this as far as I 
can tell.  Must have been a factory update, again, in keeping with rules 
changes.

Windshield wipers park at the straight-up-and-down position for aerodynamic 
efficiency.  Note also the lights in the doors, front hood, and roof to 
illuminate the race numbers (and whatever is on the roof?)

The Campy wheels are painted gold, but the front ones are blackened by brake 
dust.  Note also the improved front air dam which replaced the original 
"blade"-type front spoiler.

I wonder where this car is today?

Finally, for comic relief, take a close look at the banner at the top of the 
poster.  The Japanese took the name of the car from the factory script along 
the rocker panel.  The script doesn't really distinguish too well between the 
"A" and the "R" at the end, so the Japanese in their innocence labelled the 
poster as "PANTERR" instead of PANTERA! :>)

I've been talking with fellow nutcase Tom Todak about the possibility of 
getting a super-high-quality digital scan of some of our rarer posters and 
then offering them up for sale.  My question to you is--would there be a 
market for this?

If I had only one reproduction made, it would probably cost well over $100, 
but if I had more made, there could be economies of scale and the price could 
potentially drop quite a bit, although they'd still probably (guessing) be 
more than $50 each.

If you're interested, please let me know.  If I get enough interest perhaps 
it's something I'll pursue.

Oh, and if you're interested in posters of other Euro exotics, let me know 
and I'll e-mail you digital images of what I've got.

Cheers!

Mike