DeTomaso Mailing List: August 2000, Message #43

When I asked Shelby about the project a year ago, he
said Chrysler was never going to actually import the
car.  He said they wanted to achieve 2 goals with the
program:

1.  Study different configurations (i.e. front engine,
mid-engine, etc.) for the upcoming Viper; they could
get a Pantera easily (and cheaply because of the
relationship with DeTomaso) to use as a mule 
2.  Generate positive motorsports press about Chrysler
when the only good publicity they received was from
old hemi motored cars 

He insisted they were never serious about selling a
Mopar powered Pantera.  Whether this is the way it
really happened, and whether or not it worked, you can
judge for yourself.

Scott Black

--- MikeLDrew@aol.com wrote:
> Jim wrote:
> 
> >So who really does have the rights to
> import/distribute any car called a
> Pantera at this point??
> 
> >>>DeTomaso.  They surrendered that right in 1972 to
> Ford when Ford purchased 
> DeTomaso Automobili.  But then A. DeTomaso purchased
> his company back from 
> Ford (for a fraction of the cost) in 1974 and
> regained the rights.  
> 
> As part of the Qvale agreement, Qvale took over the
> rights to the name 
> Pantera, but as part of the "divorce", DeTomaso got
> the name back again.
> 
> >Didn't Lee Iaocca (sic) have the rights for awhile
> when he was at Chrysler?
> Seems I remember they put a low-powered Dodge V-8 in
> a prototype Pantera,
> then decided it would never work.
> 
> >>>Nope.  Iacocca and DeTomaso are buddies from way
> back, and Chrysler 
> dabbled with the idea of producing a
> Chrysler-powered Pantera as part of a 
> joint venture (since they were already involved in a
> joint venture with 
> DeTomaso-owned Maserati, producing the TC by
> Maserati.)  Shelby was also 
> involved as a consultant.
> 
> At least two late Panteras were converted to Mopar
> power; Shelby retained one 
> (a white GT5 if I believe; Scott Black is familiar
> with the car) and another 
> is a red GTS now owned by Paul Donderwinkel, late of
> England and now in New 
> Zealand.  The Donderwinkel car boasts a twin-turbo
> small-block Chrysler motor.
> 
> But at the same time, the Dodge boys had doodled up
> a cartoon car they called 
> the Viper.  They wheeled it out on the car show
> circuit and the whole world 
> went berserk for it.  And the TC by Maserati venture
> quickly proved to be a 
> major flop.  Finally, Chrysler had purchased
> Lamborghini outright, and thus 
> already had a corporate Italian mid-engined exotic
> in their stable.  These 
> unrelated events completely doomed any potential
> Chrysler/DeTomaso Pantera 
> venture.
> 
> Mike
> 


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