CAPITOL PANTERAS April 2004
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We would encourage everyone to
become a POCA member, if you aren't already a member. Your membership
in the national club helps fund your local chapter. You can download
a membership application at http://www.panteraclub.com
Please help our club grow.
Carl's new Mangusta
Story by Rick Moseley
Photos by John Worsley
This
racing off-season found my Ferrari in for paint and Carl Stein's
66 Shelby prepped Trans AM car out for new headers. We spent a few
weekends finishing suspension updates on Carl's Pantera and found we had
a bit of time on our hands. So Carl decided we needed to start making
some effort to find a motor for his other Trans AM racer, the 1984 Trans
Am Champion Tom Gloy 7-Eleven Capri. We made a trip to Livermore
to drop off the motor we thought would be freshened only to find out it
was toast. So the search was on to find a new motor or at least
parts of a motor. Our search took us from Tom Dupart and Gary Roys,
on the Detomaso forum, to Huffaker Engineering and many points
in between. This wasn't going to be easy. One afternoon in
mid March Carl called and spoke to another racer friend on the east coast.
Chris told Carl about a motor that may be available in Southern California
and asked if we were anywhere near area code 530. We are and asked
him for a city, he said Auburn. Chris was looking to buy a
Trans AM Mustang driven in last year's events by George Nolte and asked
if we would go check it out for him. We agreed and headed out a
few mornings later for Margraf Racing in Auburn, CA. We arrived
and were greeted by Bill Margraf himself and shown to the car.
Bill is the nicest guy and has the cleanest race shop you have ever seen.
Even the Bridgeport mill looked like it had a fresh coat wax.
In the middle of the shop sat the Mustang bodied Huffaker chassis
we had come to see... BUT, it was flanked on either side by
something we had not expected, not one but both of the Qvale Mangustas
that Kjell Qvale had commissioned for the 2000 Trans AM season to coincide
with the launch of the Mangusta street cars. http://www.pantera.net/tago.html . One
car was built for and driven by Kjell's son Bruce and the other one Brian
Simo drove to the 2000 Trans AM championship in its Tommy Bahama paint
scheme. Now between us we've seen used race cars before but these
were not your normal used race cars. These were in top condition
and they were all for sale. We looked the Mustang over for Chris
but we really looked over the ex-Brian Simo Mangusta. We left there
knowing there was about to be an attack of fiscal insanity. A
few days later, the call was made and the deal was struck.
The 2000 Trans AM champion Qvale Mangusta, Huffaker chassis 99 001 was
going to be in the hands of deTomaso enthusiasts, fitting.
The car was announced to the Capitol Pantera members at our April meeting
and made its track debut with Carl Stein at the wheel this past weekend. We
had some issues getting the car ready to go out on the track on Friday,
but a round of brake bleeding and some carburetor adjustments and she
went out for her first laps. Carl has not stopped smiling since....
neither have I.
Rick
Meeting Notes April
13, 2004
We had 10 people at Mimi's for the April
meeting of the Capitol Panteras. The group welcomed Richard Yasumoto,
of Sacramento, and Danny Schacht, of Antioch, as our newest
paid POCA members. That brings our paid POCA membership to
16. As the weather improves, we hope that the attendance improves as
well.
Plans for the Brunch Run to Thunder Valley
Casino are now set for Sunday, June 13. We do know
that the time for brunch will be at 11AM, when the Restaurant first opens.
The buffet is $16.99. It is reported to be a wonderful buffet. There
is a discount for those 55 and over. John has arranged
preferred parking for our group. We will be the first car group to
have a function at the casino! We will meet at the Mimi's parking
lot at 9:30 AM, leaving no later than 10 AM, to caravan
to Thunder Valley. Please mark your calendar now!
Treasurer John McNamee still needs to collect
the annual $10 fee from those members who have not paid to help support
our website. Please pay John at the next meeting. Remember
that this fee was voted on when we voted to establish our Capitol Pantera
website. Web master Ken is still looking for club car photos for the
website. You can e-mail photos to Ken.
John McNamee reminded members that
Derby Day is on May 1, 2004. The deadline for participation
in the event is April 24, 2004. The event car show is limited to the first
50 cars. John reminded us that we should dress properly for this event.
Polo shirts and khakis are preferred dress of the day. You need to
be there at 10:30 AM for set up. The event opens at noon. Jim
and I have already sent in our entry form. Money raised at the event
helps to support; Ronald McDonald House Charities, Sierra Adoption Services,
and WIND Youth Center and Shelter. This is an excellent event to attend
and support. Contact John M. for more details.
More of Jim &
Emilia's Automotive Adventures.
As promised in every CP newsletter, we
are reporting on our latest automotive adventure.
We were in Southern California recently
for the California Dental Association convention, in Anaheim.
We were able to combine business with pleasure on this trip. Our automotive
adventure actually started at Hertz when we tried to pick up our rental
car. We walked up to space #252 to find a station wagon! Needless
to say we walked back to the office to see what had caused the mix
up. We explained that the station wagon was not to our liking.
They then offered us an SUV. We again said that was not acceptable. Their
final offer was a Crown Victoria, so we took it. It was an experience
to drive such a land yacht for the weekend. So
now that Jim had a car, he could begin his shopping Friday. While
Emilia was sitting through a dental lecture, Jim was parts shopping at Hall
Pantera. He was able to pick up the correct metric size bolts for
our seatbelt bar. While there he spent about a half hour talking
with Gary Hall. Our next automotive related outing was a trip to the
Spectrum movie complex, in Irvine, to the IMAX theater to view the new release
"NASCAR". Parking at the Spectrum was an experience in itself.
It took at least a half hour to find a parking spot. And it was at
the opposite end of the complex from where we wanted to be! The walk
back to the theater was another 15 minutes. One can only imagine how
awful this parking situation would be at the Christmas season. The
film is in 3D and 12,000 watts of digital sound. This is a very well
done documentary about NASCAR. It runs just under one hour in
length and is well worth a trip to the IMAX, in Sacramento, to catch
this movie. Two thumbs up!
On Saturday, we were up early to go to
Huntington Beach for Donut Derelicts. The threat of rain was enough
to keep the number of cars attending low. But we were pleased to find
not one, but two Panteras among the cars in the parking lot. Jim was
wearing a Pantera shirt (always try to wear marquee clothing to something
like this). We introduced ourselves to the owner of a white
1973 Pantera and found out that both Panteras were owned by members of
Team Pantera of Orange County. We met Bill Wright, Rod Kunishige,
and David Rudderow. While speaking with these POCA members, Jim Kucera,
President of Team Pantera of Orange County walked up to the group.
Jim had picture ID's for the guys going to Las Vegas. The
IDs had photos of them with their cars and names. A very nice
thought. The guys also had Team Pantera of Orange County business cards
to hand out at car events. Another good idea. Maybe we can borrow
both ideas for the Capitol Panteras?
Jim, Bill, Rod, & David
After Donut Derelicts, we were off to breakfast.
We skipped the donuts and coffee and went to breakfast in Huntington Beach
at the Sugar Shack. The place has been there since 1967. It is
a bit of surf history and local color. The food was great, as was the
service. People were even willing to sit under umbrellas, in the rain,
to be at this place! After breakfast, we were off to the Peterson
Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. There were several special exhibits
at the museum: Hot Wheels, Land Speed Cars, and Cars of the Stars.
All the exhibits were very well done, but one we decided to include in this
newsletter was a photo from the Cars of the Stars. We saw the Elvis
Pantera. It was a yellow 1971 #1952 that he bought used, for
$2400, for his then girl friend, Linda Thompson, in 1973.
You could still see two of the legendary bullet holes. Elvis shot
the car when it would not start (no way to treat a car, but understandable!
At least he didn't use a shotgun.). The Pantera was right next to
the 1968 Mustang that Steve McQueen drove in Bullet. That was pretty
much the extent of our automotive adventures in LA. We then went to
lunch at Cole's in downtown LA. Cole's has been in business since
1908. It is like walking into Cheers, in Boston. You walk down
into a dark wood lined bar that serves food reminiscent of the old Sam's
Hofbrau, at 17 and J Street, in Sacramento. It is the originator
of the French Dip Sandwich. So of course, that is what we had for
lunch. A good trip to "sunny" southern California, when it was raining back
in Sacramento.
The "Bullet" Mustang and Elvis's Pantera
Wanted: Articles
for CP Newsletter
If you have attended a car function of
any type, please write about your car adventures and send it to jes@rickadee.net to be included in the
next Capitol Pantera newsletter. If newsletter articles are not
received, then it will be more of Jim & Emilia's automotive adventures.
2004 EVENTS CALENDAR
April 21-25 - Las Vegas Fun
Rally http://www.panteraclub.com/
May - Thunder Valley Brunch Run http://www.thundervalleyresort.com/templates/tv_home.asp
May 1 - Kentucky Derby Day Car Show, near Wilton
May 11 - Capitol Pantera meeting
at Mimi's
May 14-16
- Nostalgia Rod & Custom Association show at Cal Expo
June 5-6 - Wine Country Classic
Vintage Races, Sears Point http://www.searspoint.com/
June 2-6 - Reno/Tahoe Pantera
Fun Weekend-in Reno
June 8 - Capitol Pantera meeting at Mimi's
June 13 - Shriner's Hospital Concours
d'Elegance- Sacramento www.shrinersconcours.com
June 18-20 - Shelby Mini Nats, Thunderhill http://www.thunderhill.com/
June 18-20 - Shelby Mini Nats, Thunderhill http://www.thunderhill.com/
June 25-27
- 3rd annual "Ribs-N-Rods" at Cal Expo
July 13 - Capitol Pantera meeting at Mimi's
July ?? - Hot Rods and Harleys Car
Show - Lodi Lake
Aug 10 - Capitol Pantera meeting at Mimi's
August 13 - Concorso Italiano,
Monterey http://www.concorso.com/default.asp
August 13 -15 Monterey Historic
Automobile Races http://www.montereyhistoric.com/
Sept 4-5 - Shelby Open Track,
Sears Point http://www.norcal-saac.org/
Sept 14 - Capitol Pantera meeting at Mimi's
Oct 2 - Concours at Serrano, Gold
River http://www.concoursatserrano.com/info.html
Oct 9 - Rio Rendezvous Car Show -
Rio Vista
Oct 12 - Capitol Pantera meeting at Mimi's
Nov 9 - Capitol Pantera meeting at Mimi's
Suggestions for other activities
in the coming year include;
Blackhawk Museum in Danville http://www.blackhawkauto.org
Golf/Lunch in Farmington - at JB Golf
Sporting Clays/Lunch at Birds Landing
(near Rio Vista). http://www.birdslanding.net/
Great Pantera back road getting there!!
Please keep us informed of other dates
and activities.
Jim & Emilia Seiferling
Pantera #1575