Steve Julius

Pantera #4357 Restoration

After about three and a half years of work, it looks like my Pantera is as close to being done as any car project gets. I chose 1972 S/N 4357 mostly because it was a rust free car that spent half of its life in Glendale, California, and half in Glendale, Arizona. In fact, the inside of the rocker panels still have original yellow paint in them.

My goal was to keep the car mostly stock, although I have taken the liberty to choose parts from different years. For example, I changed over to the late model dash, but went back to the small front bumpers. I have been through just about every square inch of the car, and now that it's clean and reliable, I'm looking forward to driving it.

One interesting bit of trivia - The second owner of this car was Matt Stone. Matt is currently the executive editor of Motor Trend magazine, but also a DeTomaso fanatic. He has written a book about the various DeTomaso automobiles, and has owned several. I have been in touch with him during this restoration, and he seems pleased that the car is back in good shape. Matt also provided extensive documentation of the car including the original bill of lading from the boat from Italy!

My thanks to many members of the Pantera Club of Arizona who were always willing to share information, and help with grunt work, whenever I needed it. Half the fun of this restoration was getting to know so many terrific people.

Steve Julius

(Click right image to enlarge)

(Click left image to enlarge)