by Mike –
The Pantera Club of Northern California Pantera Owners Club of America** held their annual Fun Ralley in Monterey this year for the first time.
There were De Tomaso Panteras and a couple of Mangustas all over the Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur area this past weekend.
My friend Bud Millard invited me to come along even though I do not own a De Tomaso I drove the Lamborghini Espada to their car show on Saturday at the Monterey Hyatt Regency.
Jan and Bud Millard with their beautiful Pantera
Jan Millard detailing the Pantera
There were more Panteras there than at any other event I have attended (about 75) plus two Mangustas. All cars were De Tomaso except for one Ford GT and my Lamborghini. I noted that I drove the only car with the engine in the front!
I first met the group at the Thursday Baja Cantina weekly car gathering which was dominated this time by Panteras. I had met the club president, John Tomlin, through email a while back regarding a car related issue and met him in person for the first time at the Baja Cantina.
There were Panteras from all over the US and Canada here in Monterey and most, if not all, were driven here.
These De Tomaso car people really know how to have fun and man, do they have some beautiful cars!
De Tomaso Pantera owners have never been shy about customizing their cars to suit their own taste and there is also quite a spectrum of colors as you can see in my photos here and in the slide shows below.
Let us know what you think about the De Tomaso Pantera in the Comments.
Lamborghini Espada – the only car with the engine in the front at this event.
Below are four slide shows – click the numbers under the slides to access the other slide shows.
** Correction from John Tomlin, president of the Pantera Club of Northern California.
In 1984, I was finishing up on a 16 day 1600 mile bicycle trip down the west coast to Tijuana. I had only a few miles left when I came across a Pantera show in a harbor in San Diego. As anxious as I was to get the trip over with, I detoured! I figured even then that this was a pretty special gathering I would regret not taking time for. A week later I toured the Cunningham Museum and we all know what happened to that as well. You have to pounce on the opportunities…
Dan,
“You have to pounce on the opportunities…” is a great way to live.
Carpe diem.