CAPITOL
PANTERAS 
June 2005
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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.
Towe Auto Museum Film - May
13, 2005
The evening of Friday the
thirteenth was anything but unlucky for Jim and myself. We
had a sushi dinner at Mikuni's, in downtown Sacramento, then off
to the movies. Our ticket price of $10 each got us admission to
the Town Auto Museum, and the showing of "Wings"(1928) accompanied by
the mighty Wurlitzer theater organ. Cold drinks and popcorn were
available with free refills on the popcorn! This month's movie
was the Paramount Picture "Wings". It was the first film
to receive an Academy Award and the only silent film to also win an
Academy Award. The female lead was Clara Bow, and there was a
2 minute sequence with Gary Cooper, in his first film appearance.
The film had some special effects and used some photographic techniques
that are commonly used today. The aerial dog fighting scenes were exciting
and extraordinarily filmed. The two hour and twenty minute film
was over before you realized it. The organ accompaniment was provided by
Bob Salisbury. Bob is a noted theater organist who is based on
Santa Catalina Island, at the famous Avalon Ballroom. The silent
movies/organ accompaniment are done as a fund raiser for the Sierra
Chapter of the American Theater Organ Society. The Sierra Chapter
maintains two organs in the Sacramento area. These instruments,
with guest artists, put on regular concerts that are open the public.
Before the film began, we toured
the current exhibit at the Towe Museum. This time it was an
exhibit of fire engines, "The History of Firefighting". There
were three beautifully restored engines, plus other fire related artifacts.
There was a 1863 hand pumper from Connecticut, a 1874 horse drawn steam
fire engine from Woodland, a 1924 Chemical fire engine from Sacramento.
The "Car Club Cavalcade" had
International Harvester as the featured marque. Maybe we could
have the Pantera as the featured marque in the future?
We also saw a car with
a Grand Prix connection. The museum has a 1914 Hupmobile
Touring car once owned by driving great Phil Hill.
The next silent film at the
Towe Auto Museum will be "The Garden of Eden"(1928) on July 15, 2005.
We hope to see you at the movies!
This is the type of article that you will
continue to get in the CP newsletter if no one else turns in articles
about their automotive adventures!
Wine Country Classic Vintage
Races
June 4, 2005
The weekend started the way most car weekends
do, cleaning up the Pantera. That is Jim's duty! I packed
the small ice chest with water and snacks. With all that done Friday,
we were ready to get up early Saturday to head over to Sears Point, excuse
me Infinion, for the Wine Country Historic Races. The weather was
clear and promised not to be too hot on Saturday. Traffic was light
and moved right along. It was like driving a slot car on Highway
37. The Pantera is so low compared to the median barrier and the four
foot high shrubs on the shoulder. We arrived and were waved into
the Shelby Corral, at turn 11. Thank you Rick Carlile for arranging
corral passes for us, and the Shelby club for inviting us orphaned Ford
powered cars to join them. We really enjoy the location on the green
grass at turn 11. You can have your lawn chairs and cooler and enjoy
the activities. From that location, the bathrooms are close (the
indoor type for you ladies!), food, and drink are close, the pit
area is close to view the cars! How does the Shelby Club manage
this every year? We were parked next to Tom Galli, in his red Goose,
and Steve Dalcinco in his red Pantera. There was one more Pantera
and a CAV GT40, both owned by Pat and Becky Dolan, that
were in the corral. The corral was full of Cobras, Mustangs,
and Tigers. It was quite a car show in it's own right! Jim
placed two informational sheets in the windows of the car. One was
a short history of the deTomaso Pantera and the other was a copy of the
original Ford window sticker for the Pantera, from 1971.
Both of these sheets got a lot of interest from people.

Nice parking (thanks Shelby club)
Jim & Tom enjoying the front row grass seating
After putting everything in place; info sheets, lawn chairs
and a quick car dusting it was time for morning coffee. So with
coffee in hand, we set off to walk the pit area to see what we could find.
We located the garage area for CP member Carl Stein. He was running
his 1966 Trans Am Mustang. He was assisted by CP member Rick Moseley.
While there we ran into PCNC/CP member Mike Drew. We were off to
walk the rest of the pit area with Mike, while Carl and Rick got the
Mustang Trans Am ready for the next run. The big new item at
the event was the addition of Can Am and IMSA race cars to the ranks
of the racers! They are wide, low, and loud! They have a sound
that is great. We had not expected to see and hear them at the
Vintage Races! It was a very pleasant surprise! The last time
Jim saw them run, was in 1968 at Riverside. While the Sonoma location
doesn't draw the numbers that the Monterey Vintage race does, in many
ways it is better. There are fewer people, there is a more relaxed
atmosphere for the viewer, and best of all it is closer to home.
We were happy to bump into several PCNC members: Todd Glyer, Steve
Dalcinco, Darryl and Connie Johnson, Tom Galli, Mike Drew, as well as
CP member Carl & Leslie Stein, Rick Moseley. If there were others,
we must have missed them.
We saw several automotive celebrities on Saturday.
We saw Vic Edelbrock, and Craig Jackson, of Barrett - Jackson, both running
cars in the TransAm group. Jackson was in the garage space next
to Carl. We are not sure but we think that Carl finished ahead of
him. Craig Jackson was running a Cuda, with Dan Gurney's name on
the door.
After walking the pit area, we headed back to the lawn chairs
and watching the races. I relaxed and worked on my crochet project
part of the afternoon, while Jim and the guys walked the pit area in more
detail than I needed. They also visited a private shop at the
track, with some very nice cars (see photo below).
O.K., who wins the contest for the Jack Rousch imitation?
While walking around the paddock, sharp eyed Rick Moseley
saw a steering rack on an IMSA Monza that looked very familiar.
It was made by the same British company that made the Pantera racks, but
had been modified in a very interesting way. The top plate had been
drilled and tapped for a grease zerk, thus confirming Rick's theory that
the rack should really be greased, instead of filled with gear oil.
Note; this is a special grease for this application and not regular bearing
grease. See photo below.
The afternoon ended with a Group 9 race, Carl's group.
We know that he moved up several places, so we have to assume that
he was happy with the results. Sunday will be the final day
of racing. We wish him well. We know that CP member, Rick
Carlile will be at turn 11 cheering Carl.
It was an easy drive home for us. Can you believe
it, our Pantera was the car helping to get another car on the road
after the races ended. We gave a jump to the Sunbeam Tiger parked
next to us. Did you know that Tiger owners have the same emergency
kit as the Pantera owners? A cell phone and AAA-plus Towing. On
the way home, we passed the same Tiger at the side of the road.
We pulled over and backed up to see if we could help. They said that
it just died, no electrical power on anything, and they were ready to
activate their emergency kit!
We ended our car outing day with dinner. We had a
couple of options, but decided on Jonesy's at the Napa Airport just
off the intersection of Highway 29 and Highway 12. The restaurant
is newly remodeled. They really dressed the place up, but they didn't
change the menu or the prices! This is a wonderful place for a meat
eater, but lousy for a vegetarian. We usually get the service
for two. It is a top sirloin, their special potatoes and Jonesy's
house salad. It was great. We had steak and eggs
for breakfast using the left over steak and the rest of it for dinner
Sunday night. The parking is plentiful(no problem with a car
trailer, Carl), the prices are good and the service is great. This
is a place worth the stop when heading home from the races or doing
some wine tasting in the Napa valley!