Boosted Falcon

I was suggested to do a build thread, so here it is.
For those who didn't know I had a HSV VN Group A ( genuine) I hotted it up a bit
In the end it made over 500 kw @ the wheels and was a great driver, and cruise car, all beit a bit fast.

One night after a cruise I was messing around on the freeway, and as I was slowing down a police officer saw me and pulled me over.
I was waaay over the limit, in the 'loss of license' range. He would the kms back and gave me a ticket and I drove away with my car.

It was then I decided this car is way too easy to have a life changing issue ( loss of license, loss of car ) and decided it must go.
So I listed it on Ebay !!, got over 1000 hits a day.
I decided the money I get for it I would use the whole amount to build my dream car a DeTomaso Pantera.

I guy from WA bought it and on the truck it went !! bye bye.

So now it was a pantera I was looking for.
A lengthy search Australia wide turned up 2 that were for sale, none I really liked.
I was told South Africa... none there.
England, A couple but the pound to dollar conversion killed that idea !
USA, found a real nice yellow one there, slightly over my price range, but the pics made it look real nice.
The deal was done and all was good, except when i said I was from Australia and would be bringing it back to Australia, he said he would not sell it to me.
I was, like what ?? I put the money inyour account, I send a tow truck, how easy is that, he said no, so the deal was off.

I was P*ssed. I spent heaps of time and phone calls to make sure this was the one, and now he says no ??

Oh well time to look for another.
I found a black one,worse condition, but 10k us cheaper.however he was in Florida, which meant it had a $1300 us tow bill just to get it to my shipper in Los Angles.
He was a uni student, who rebuilt a viper and swapped it for this. Now he needed the money for his school fees !
However he did have history on the car, and the previous owner even had it's own web site !!
I looked up this guys house on google earth and he had a plane in his driveway !! I figured they had money !!
The deal was done and the car was towed away.
A couple friends went to the USA and they saw it before me, they said it was a sh*tbox and my heart was on the floor, what have I done !!
Drove like crap, flat tyre, flat battery, steering seized etc.

Anyway the week before xmas it arrived. Brockyb8 and I went to pick it up, this was the first time I actually saw it in the flesh.
It was covered in dust, the paint flaws he said it has were 10 times bigger, and I thought, my wife is gonna kill me !!
We towed it home and started assessing the car.
My wife looked at it and yes I was right, she was very upset, the Group A was a nice shiney car, that had many magazine features done on it, and now I spent all the money on this crappy looking car !!

Once i washed it and polished it it looked a bit better, but still not as good as the pics !!

Anyway it was off to the engineers to see what it needed for compliance and RWC.
3 pages later I had a bit of work ahead of me !!

Here are the pics from the ad that made me buy it !!





Tell me what you think ??

Chapter 2 coming soon
p.s It ends well

I remember picking up the bad boy. And trying to get it on the damn trailer lol. The wheels were that far out that we almost didnt get it to fit the thing.
Well ive been here from start to finish and i have enjoyed helping out with it all along the way .

ooh i can't wait to read this.

My head must be in the sand RE the VN. 500rwkw?!? WOW

Looking forward to the rest of this thread too!

that looks awesome in the photos haha. im intrigued as to what it looked like when u got it..

my all time favourite car..... next to a phase 3 HO of course

look forward to reading more on this !!!

Phat as. I think I've only seen 2 of these ever. Chapter 2 please

How many chapters will there be tho hehe

stav50 wrote:that looks awesome in the photos haha. im intrigued as to what it looked like when u got it..

They are the before photos above. looked the same except the paint was peeling in areas where the camera didn't look.
oh and the optima yellow top battery was changed for a stocker and no wiper arms. the steering column was all apart, and generally untidy.

Dont forget the nice big didnt under front guard paul

shit form. i spose so easy to do when ur selling to an overseas buyer, altho im sure u have the capabilities to bring it back to scratch.

Commando wrote:My head must be in the sand RE the VN. 500rwkw?!? WOW

Looking forward to the rest of this thread too!

This is the Group A

That VN looks sweet! Nothing stupid/over the top, nice & simple yet looks the goods. And parked next to NWOLB too

Would love to see a link to another forum on the VN sometime, if there is one.

nice looks good,whats wrong with it?

haha the VN looks like its on FTRs

very nice man. what year is it? the pantera that is..it looks very 80's

so jealous! I love these things.

The Pantstearer is done... Was featured in Street Machine a few months ago IIRC and wasnt the VN bagged as a dyno queen

NIce

I had no idea they had any of these in Australia until I saw a lovely black one at easternats (yours!). I'd drooled over these for years, I always wanted the GT5 though (the model that rear wing is from), I thought they looked a bit tougher and a little less like a Lamborghini Miura. Still, when I looked them up they had none in AUS and the ones I could find overseas where $90k+ (AU)! So the realisation of the dream wont happen for me Are there others in Australia you know of?

Love the car dude, can't wait for the rest of the pics When are you gonna plumb up two GT35R's in the boot? There's plenty of room....

most ive seen have that front nose section removed as it looks a little better. Or is it a case of a different version of the car?

for example...

67rce wrote:The Pantstearer is done... Was featured in Street Machine a few months ago IIRC and wasnt the VN bagged as a dyno queen

yeah they called the vn a dyno queen, because I never raced it !, I have a drag car ( the capri) so didn't bother.
What they never saw was how driveable it was, and how reliable it was.
Also the fact I took it to a couple dyno events and won !! that got people very jealous. as the car looked like it made 350 or so kw, and then blew em away.

That red one above has the Pre L front bumper, mine is a 74 model which is the L, it has the bumper it has for the US crash protection.
Each to their own.

Click here for a dyno vid of the Group a on one of the 500 kw runs, did this at a few different dynos just to prove the power ! all on Mobil 8000 fuel.
http://www.cveperformance.com/gallery/m ... itemId=127

I can never get out of my head the thought that those things are a bodgy kit car, and not a proper sports car - I think it's cause I've seen too many Muira/Countach shitbox lookalikes built on VW floorpans Stupid brain.

I can't wait to see the finished product, they really are a very special car - I'd absolutely love to own one, but someone else can change the plugs!

S/C the Pantera damn it

Then get it on TopGear Australia. Dress up as the stig.

Rollin wrote:I can never get out of my head the thought that those things are a bodgy kit car, and not a proper sports car - I think it's cause I've seen too many Muira/Countach shitbox lookalikes built on VW floorpans Stupid brain.

I can't wait to see the finished product, they really are a very special car - I'd absolutely love to own one, but someone else can change the plugs!

well maybe if you knew they were a production steel car sold worldwide, and not a Eureka.
penned by Ghia and built in Italy you would think otherwise.

OMG I am inlove with the Pantera. I remember when ya first got it Paul and we went nuts cleaning up ya shed so that you could fit all your cars in. I think you should take me for another spin in it!!

mmmm always loved DeTomasos!

The Pantera and Mangusta are two of my favourite cars.

Love this car, massively insane

nice the fact its black is so cool lol ive only seen them in white and red.i saw one at a car show i was 13 i think omg ever since then ive wanted one who knows maybe one day ill get one lol

Frost wrote:Dress up as the stig.

Ha ha ha, have you met Paul?

No offence mate.

Paul post up pix of it with a 6/71 or better yet, do it properly, 8/71!!

You may have belt issues though... So Twin turbo it is!

Definately pulled looks leaving my parents place at the Island. My dad being one of them
Cant blame them, its pretty nuts!

I cant believe how clean you keep it too, nice work Paul

v8capri wrote:

Rollin wrote:I can never get out of my head the thought that those things are a bodgy kit car, and not a proper sports car - I think it's cause I've seen too many Muira/Countach shitbox lookalikes built on VW floorpans Stupid brain.

I can't wait to see the finished product, they really are a very special car - I'd absolutely love to own one, but someone else can change the plugs!

well maybe if you knew they were a production steel car sold worldwide, and not a Eureka.
penned by Ghia and built in Italy you would think otherwise.

I presumed it would be another low volume fibreglass number too. Never knew it had such a solid pedigree. Kind of comparable to a GT40 really. Do they have any racing heritage?

So are they a monocoque body or do they have a separate chassis? The pic of the engine bay kind of looks like its unibody.

It even has original ghia badges on it too.
And it was built in 1974.
And its a steel body for sure bloody thing was heavy as to get it on the trailer .

You guys need to google the car and read up.

It's far from a 'kit car', it is in the same class a the GT40 and Ferraris of that era!

in fact at AFD it gets judged against GT40's

love the car, hate the rear spoiler.. real nice sleek lines.. love the low wide ass on these type of italian cars...