My Ital toys (Panteras, Biturbo)

My Ital toys:

Red Pantera GT5S (with rare Fontana aluminum 417 engine):
Photo Link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/102810426@N07/sets/72157639169285255/

History:
The Pantera is a 1973, custom built for a Ford executive by "Fat Jack" the famous hotrod builder, and then purchased by Jan as the executive needed room for a new GT40.

Publications:
The car has been featured in nationwide magazines, including the September 2007 issue of Octane, and February 2007 issue of Classiccars, and also received attention in the November 2008 issue of Velocity.

Body:
The car was built by the famous rod builder “Fat Jack”, using original factory GT5S steel flares and steel front air dam. Fat Jack did a complete restoration of the car, cutting out the stock body car fenders and welding on the wide GT5S flares, which is a very time consuming intricate process. The factory flares from Italy are much preferred over any of the aftermarket flares, but cost quite a lot more, in the range of $30,000 - $35,000 just for the metal alone. After the flares were applied, the car then underwent extensive prep work and finished in Ferrari Red Rosso Corsa basecoat & clear coat. Fat Jack obviously spent a great deal of time with the metal work and prep work prior to painting because the finish is so sharp you can see yourself clearly in the finish just like a mirror. It has also been modified with low profile halogen retractable headlamps, halogen driving lights within air dam, and Group 4 taillights. Front air shocks raise and lower the front of the car to avoid nasty driveway encounters.

It is interesting to note the misconceptions about Fat Jack. Many rumors indicate he is no longer alive, but his son from their shop in Lake Elsinore CA, he indicates Fat Jack is alive and doing well.

Engine & Engine Bay:
The engine bay has been cleaned, smoothed and painted Ferrari Red Rosso Corsa to match the exterior car color. For those not familiar with Panteras, the engine bay originally came with an ugly heavy black undercoating, but this car has all that removed, smoothed and painted. This process is a dirty time consuming process, but well worth the time and effort to produce a show quality engine bay. The engine is a highly polished 417 CI Fontana aluminum block with 4.125 bore and 3.9 stroke. Russ Fulp Race Engines completed the build, with Ross Racing Pistons providing the forged aluminum pistons and Ed Iskenderian Racing Cams providing the radical solid lifter cam. Quite a lot has been done to the engine both cosmetically and performance-wise. It is estimated over 600 horsepower, with ported and polished aluminum heads, aluminum intake manifold. MSD ignition, with 7000 rev-limiter chip. The engine and related parts have undergone extensive polishing to produce a brilliant finish. A 10 qt. oil pan with trap doors is used. GT5 headers/exhaust are Jet Hot coated. ZF transmission and related parts are all highly polished, with the ring gear safety wired. Other custom additions include chromed half shafts, stainless steel gas tank, polished stainless steel firewall, and chromed AC condenser housing.

Interior:
Dark charcoal color leather, V.D.O gauges, electric side mirrors, 4-point competition seat belts, custom red logo floor mats, dropped floor pans to accommodate taller drivers, cable driven power windows. The stereo system includes Kenwood KRC-535 receiver with hidden/rotating faceplate, four Blaupunkt speakers, and under the front hood is a Kenwood KRC-C667 six CD changer and a Crossfire 280 W amp. The front trunk contains new black felt, and a lowered battery box so that the CD changer and amp all fit nicely.

Suspension:
Powder coated A arms, Aldan fully adjustable aluminum shocks, one inch rear sway bar front and rear, with sphere bars and full cover rear DeTomaso sway bar plate, urethane bushings.

Wheels, Tires and Cooling System:
Billet aluminum wheels, with 10.5 X 17 front and 13.5 X 17 rear, in perfect shape, inside and outside of the wheels are highly polished. Tires are Michelin brand with 245/40 ZR 17 front and 355/35 ZR 17 rear. Cooling system is aluminum Fluidyne with stainless steel water tubes, polished stainless water & overflow tanks and aluminum water pump.

Driving Experience & Other Thoughts:
The car is a blast to drive, although it is a true show car and therefore only driven for maintenance every couple of weeks or to car shows. The aluminum block, aluminum heads and other lightweight aluminum parts make the car noticeably lighter when driving. The front air dam and rear wing are very functional parts on the car at high speed. Once you begin to enter greater speeds you can really feel the car squat down tighter to the pavement for even better handling. There is no sneaking around in this car. When you drive expect lots of thumbs up and your own personal instant car show wherever you stop.


Dark Cranberry Pantera Group 4:
Photo Link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/102810426@N07/sets/72157639222739254/

History:
1972 Pantera lives up to its license plate DOES 200. The car was built by Shell Burger, of Shell Burger Classics in Arizona for SEMA. His impeccable work has claimed awards at the topnotch Pebble Beach Concourse, which is quite an accomplishment for a car builder considering Pebble Beach displays the best of the best. It is obvious that Shell pays a great deal of attention to detail and quality when building and restoring cars.

Awards and publications:
The car holds numerous awards and featured articles, some of which include Best of Show & Best Engine Concourse Italiano, People's Choice Las Vegas, 2003 POCA Calendar Car, featured four times in Pantera International, and mentioned in the February 2007 issue of Classiccars and November 2008 issue of Velocity.

Body:
The body has Group 4 steel flares, butt-welded to the body for strength. The car has also been reinforced with metal in all of the critical places, such as around the taillights, at the top of the rear fenders near the roof, and around all hinges of the deck lid and roof. The body surface has been completely smoothed and flat like a mirror, with bodylines sharpened and accentuated. The paint is PPG Dark Cranberry #73866 basecoat & clear coat. The dark cranberry color is quite a few shades darker than a typical maroon or burgundy color, which gives the car a deep rich finish. The underside of the car has been bottom bellied and finished in a black satin powder coat, with room for the stainless steel pipes and hoses to travel through the middle of the car. It also has an aluminum gas tank and polished stainless steel firewall, special sound proofing double firewall, custom louvered panel section on the exterior rear between the exhausts, square quartz headlights, and Group 4 Carello taillights. On each corner of the deck lid, a small piece of metal has been nicely welded in and then a rubber grommet applied which prevents the common chips from hood rubbing at the corners. The Group 4 model is the widest Pantera made, slightly wider than the GT5S models.

Engine:
The engine is a 351 Cleveland stroked to 383 by Kuntz & Company in Arkansas. They hold numerous NHRA national records, many with Cleveland engines. Quite a lot has been done to the engine both cosmetically and performance-wise. It has just slightly over 520 horsepower and over 510 lbs of torque, balanced & blueprinted, with a compression ratio of just over 10.5 to 1. Kuntz & Company installed a high performance and very rare SVO stud girdle through the valve covers, a custom windage tray with scraper, Crane roller rockers, Crower 3/8" push rods, stainless steel valves, ported and polished S.V.O. A-3 aluminum heads. Jack Rousch, the famed race engine builder in Michigan, provided the polished aluminum intake manifold. It has a 3.75" stroker crank, Child & Alberts 6" rods, Venolia pistons, APR studs & bolts, and MSD ignition with 6300 rev-limiter chip. The cam is a solid lifter cam by Competition Cams, and has a gross lift of .562 on the intakes and .556 on the exhaust. Other goodies include a Carb Shop Holley 750 cfm four barrel with vacuum secondaries flowed to 870 cfm, 10 qt. oil pan with trap doors, and Jet Hot coated GT5 Headers.

Interior:
The stock seats have been recovered in Connolly leather from England, as is the rest of the interior, which is the same leather used on Rolls Royce cars. It has a custom burlwood center dash, Momo steering wheel, and V.D.O gauges. Kenwood speakers are installed behind each of the seats, and the amp is up under the dash above the glove box. Custom floor mats were designed with colors matching the exterior and interior of the car. The carpet, leather, headliner, etc. are all in show condition.

Suspension:
All suspension is race application Group 5 from the DeTomaso factory, including chrome control arms, large chrome solid sway bars, hub carriers, axels, chrome rack & pinion with chrome brackets, Koni shocks with chrome Group 5 springs, urethane bushings, and adjustable A arms. The builder applied chromed parts throughout the car, including places that you would never really see unless you got way under the car, such as the steering rack and brackets.

Wheels and Tires and Cooling System:
The wheels are Wilkinson billet aluminum Group 4 wheels, with 8x17 front and 12.5x17 rear, and the inside and outside of the wheels are highly polished. Tires are Dunlop brand with 245/40 ZR17 front and 335/35 ZR17 rear. The cooling system is an exceptional system and was built by Ron Davis Racing with two automatic sucker fans, chrome & stainless steel water tubes, polished stainless water & overflow tanks, aluminum water pump, rotary AC pump, and AC condenser in the front.

Transmission:
The ZF transmission and related parts are all highly polished, and the internals have 4:22 to 1 gearing, with the ring gear safety wired. The clutch is a Kevlar clutch. It has chromed Spicer half shafts and all the lines throughout the car are steel braded.

Brakes:
It has vented rotors and 4 piston calipers with steel braded brake lines, which is a great improvement over the stock units.

Electrical:
The entire original electrical system has been gutted and replaced with all new wiring…no more Italian electrical gremlins!

Driving Experience & Other Thoughts:
The car is an outstanding build taken to the level of a SEMA show car. A true show and go car, with the stroker motor and strong cam it sounds like a popcorn machine on steroids. It creates its own car show wherever we go, even with a fill up at the gas station people appear out of nowhere and flock around the car.


Hall Pantera GT5S (427 Fuel Injected Aluminum Fontana Engine):
Photo Link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/102810426@N07/sets/72157635769607434/

Over the top...too much detail to write.


Maserati Biturbo E Model:
Photo Link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/102810426@N07/sets/72157639404702145/

1985 limited edition E model, excellent shape but updating here and there as needed.

Other Stuff: WIKD Cars & Such Flickr Website

 

I had the orange car, but sold it a while ago. Did some rookie GoPro on my 5S: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuvhbUJMaRw&feature=youtu.be