An excellent mix of vehicles were present at the Calgary, Alberta "Show & Shine" in Canada, attended by the President of the Pantera Club S.A.

The only thing to put a damper on the afternoons activities was the no-show of the other de Tomaso Pantera's and Mangusta. - I had hoped the lone expected de Tomaso Vallelunga would also make an appearence, since I personally was very excited to see one again, since my very first de Tomaso in my dim and distant youth, had been a very nice example of this fine little beauty purchased in Rome and driven all over Europe for five years, before selling it. - Fool ! - I recently saw an ad. for one in England with an asking price of Sterling 250.000. - But this minor disappointment was offset by me having the opportunity to drive a 'new' Ford GT. (see pics below ) - Just around the block you understand, but a thrill it was indeed. Very nice, dispite what Mr Jeremy Clarkson had to say about his troublesome one. The most immediate impression compared to the original was the greater amount of space afforded in the interior. The car is taller....still called a Ford GT, but perhaps that's why Ford dropped the '40' since it is usually reported that the original car was 40inches high and hence the name; GT40...However we know that in fact the car was not 40 inches high at all, but 41 & a bit, but they couldnt very well call it a Ford GT41 & a half could they. - Easier to get into, with no gearshift at the door to catch onto your trouser leg and trip you up....something that happened to me alot during my six year ownership of a very nice recreation of the orginal. I had the luck to drive mine on the Nurburgring and Hockenheim race tracks and on the streets of Hamburg for two years. ..............It was street legal, sort of. - I had also driven a friend's orignal GT40 around Zwartkops Raceway in Johannesburg years before, but that was race version so not really comparable to this...but I must say, the one disapointing thing of the new GT is the sound....or shall I say the lack of it. - My replica had a copy of the original's 'bunch of snakes' 180 degree exhaust system which gave a glorious sound, - so much so that that I fitted a 180 degree system to my '76 Pantera as soon as I bought it. - Sound is very important to me, so much so that I went the extra mile to hear sounds delux, even at high speed after the exhaust sound is almost inaudible and I fitted 4x Weber IDA 's for the wail these produce at speed........................Enough....

THE CALGARY, ALBERTA :- "Show and Shine." - Present at least; a bright yellow, USA spec. Pantera with the dreadful front rubber nose- appendage forced on an unsuspecting public by the USA powers that be, at least we had this early 'skinny-body' Pantera there to fly the Flag. - Licence plate:- "Inzowho". - Nice one! - It was a very tidy, unmolested example with relatively low milage and devoid of any 'after-market' add-ons or unsightly, crude and heavy wheels etc that one seems to see quite often these days. ( the unsprung weight of some of the wheels seen these days are quite horrific). - I weighed one recently off of a friends GT5 and it weighed virtually twice what my Pantera GRP4's 18x13inch spun ally, three piece, rear rim weighed. - The yellow "INZOWHO" Pantera, with original Campy rims, tyres tucked neatly under the body, with only a set of emblazened Pantera logo floor mats evident, (with even the original steering wheel in place.) - I asked the owner if he had any problems with over-heating in the summer since it was an early model that it did'nt have the front deck-lid radiator vents, ( although it wasnt the very early 'push-button' model ) and he replied; "No way, I re-cored the radiator, checked the fan, but when I go to a more powerfull motor I'll have to start thinking about getting the hot air out, but under traffic conditions she'll run hot but not even too bad." - I asked if he had checked his water tempgauge for accuracy since they were known to be erratic to say the least, but he confirmed that he had never even had a minor over-flow of coolant to date. Lucky chap!

What impressed me the most was the mix of cars all together with the most friendly atmosphere I had ever seen at any of these events around the world. No one was trying to get the cars parked in any particular order or group and as the cars arrived they quietly found their places where they could, next to whoever. All present displaying a great tollerance and respect for and of each other with no shows of 'grand-standing' burn-outs or other anti-social behavor. - What a pleasure and it was not because of any Police presence, in fact I was amazed at the total lack thereof for the entire 3hours I was there. - ( I had recently witnessed an alarming accident when a half-shaft snapped during a burn-out on a very powerfull vehicle at a public gathering in the USA, the car careening off into the unsuspecting bystanders.- Not fun for anybody).

Amongst the most interesting cars were:- A pristine 1929 Pontiac, Special edition Lamborghinni Spider with carbon-fibre everywhere and sports exhaust system. ( See and hear short clip of this elsewhere on this section, coming up soon ), a magnificent, totally immaculate Duesenberg, which I found out later was hand-built by the gentleman who had also hand-constructed the sports "Atlantis". He formed all the body panels of the Dusie replica on his own "Old English Wheel,' turning all the other bits he needed himself. Quiet brilliant, to say the least.. A '53 Studebaker 'slope - nose', a hot flip-front, supercharged '57 Chev.,..,. a nice '37 Ford Tudor with lots of fine detailing,.... A Ford 'Duece' Highboy running triple-two's. ( see pics...) A new Ford GT ( GT40 clone ) fitted with after-market 22inch wheels and what looked like a smaller blower pulley for more punch. - Will Ford survive the lashing Jeremy Clarkston gave them about his problems with his own Ford GT? - Of course, but Ford clearly released the car too soon and needed to shape-up regarding the detail bits.........great looking car tho and from what the owner tells me, Ford have handed over the assembly of the GT's to Saleen. Talking about Saleen, a metalic blue Saleen Mustang pulled in, much to the interest of the crowd. - One of only 80 built he says and it looks a bit bigger to the eye, this confirmed by the owner, telling us that the car is lengthened by 5inches. .........Nice job!

The most interesting car of the Show was the one-off, hand built sports car called; Atlantis. - Very impresive indeed. ( see pics below). - Beautifully finished off with a SLK-like folding steel roof disappearing at a touch of a button....the car looking very Retro-Futro and looking good from all angles with what looked like late model Ford running gear........ The interior was particularly well done and the car had a crowd around it all the time..................

Of other interest were the few "Rat" vehicles present.....This is a catagory of car that is really growing and I believe a very, very good idea, allowing everyone, especially those with limited budget, to also have something to show ........ Rat Bikes have been around for a while but its nice to see more Rat Cars springing up at shows.............Well done Calgary, Alberta.