Le Mans 1979
by Phil Wicks
Anyway, on with the story!
De Tomaso was a high performance sports car builder based in of all places, Modena, Italy. Founded in 1959 by its Italo-Argentinian namesake it produced a number of one offs for private buyers, including open wheelers and sports cars. The first road car was a very attractive model called the Vallelunga, named after the racing circuit. This was a lightweight 1.5 litre sportscar which De Tomaso struggled to produce and eventually it was canned in favour of their next model, the Mangusta (Italian for Mongoose, a large weasel like creature which eats Cobras?? See the link!) Built on the same chassis but with a 289 V8, it still suffered the same problems as its predecessor. Four hundred of these were built before production ended and this is where the Pantera (Panther) came on the scene.
The Pantera was a reasonable success and more than one thousand were shipped to the US in the first full year of production. Alas, quality was poor and with US emission laws strangling the power output, the car soon slipped back to less than one hundreds models a year. It was a Pantera that Elvis Presley reputedly shot in frustration one day when it failed to start after several attempts!! But outside of the public domain there was to be some good news for DeTomaso as a small band of stalwarts took up the challenge and prepared Panteras for the global gladiatorial arena of endurance motor racing.
The Pantera’s price was way below that of its Italian neighbours and German adversaries so it was always sought after by the ‘garagistes’ of motor sport. They worked their wonders upon them and a scan of racing results from the seventies will show that they were out there doing it, even if it was just to make the numbers up. Some more organized teams managed to get their cars near the results but in general they were listed amongst the ‘also rans’! In 1975 Team Ecuador Marlboro finished sixteenth at Le Mans!!
DeTomaso continued with the Pantera for some years ‘til eventually superceding it in the early eighties. It is interesting to note that one of the last partnerships DeTomaso had was with the Italian Qvale company. This relationship hit the rocks and Qvale proceeded alone with the production of the new Mangusta. Finally, DeTomaso went into receivership and as far as I know, they are still looking for a buyer!!
Another lovely set of wheels!
Inspite of this sad tale, the Carrera Pantera has a bit of a different story to tell. Carrera have advanced in leaps and bounds in recent times and on sweeping track are more than capable of putting up a good fight against the likes of Ninco, Scaley and Fly. The models come with a high trackside weight which goes against them when it comes to the more technical tracks. They have finally settled on a final reduction of 3 : 1 which greatly improves there bottom end performance but inspite of this it essential to keep the model rolling to take advantage of their good roadholding.
Still making the vulnerables removable!!
The livery of this model is as good as the other mainstream models and tampo and masking are well defined. The colour scheme on this model is typically late seventies and is assured to stand out on a dark track. Delicate parts like the rear wing and the rear view mirrors are removable in true Carrera fashion but a degree of care is required when removing the mirrors; and the rear wing needs to be gripped towards the front when releasing its front clips. Yet again some nice and very wide wheels on the back. Plenty of potential there!
Magnet? What magnet!
Underneath reveals those two gargantuan magnets, no doubt placed there to retain a degree of control on the low downforce Carrera track. The reality would be that maybe the front one could be dispensed with on Scaley and SCX track. The remaining rear magnet would need a little adjusting down though. The guide is another monster, showing Carreras allegiance no doubt to the 1/24th brigade. Earlier models were ripe for conversion to a Ninco routed track guide but this model comes with a complex self centring guide mechanism and unless you saw some potential in the model for serious racing then I would be inclined to leave it where it is. Once again, the blade part is removable and no doubt there is a replacement available (but not with the model!) somewhere that would facilitate racing on some of the tighter tracks. As it comes, the blade is far too long for the SCX and Scaley inner curves. You’d need to trim at least ten mil off it to even start thinking about these curves!! But on board tracks ?? Fine, no need to change anything. Most board tracks I race on can more than accommodate the standard Carrera guide!
And this is analogue!!
Once again the polarity switch is a mini switch and the old problem of polarity changing on the run when the switch hit an elevated track joint is well and truly addressed. In the back of the display case are some shims to fit under the traction magnets, two rears and one front. These will drop the magnet down a further mil or so but by far the easiest adjustment is to just unscrew the magnet screws and let the magnet dangle, if somewhat securely, under the model ‘a la’ SCX. Also, in the back of the display case are a pair of spare braids and a pair of door mirrors! Yes you heard it!! Only problem is they are both left handers… and the right one on the model is just as vulnerable as the left!.
So what’s it like on the track? Mmmmmmmmm? I have to say that its sister model the ’78 Chevrolet Le Mans is a cracker out of the box for board track / non magnet racing and the footprint on this one is not that dissimilar. Even at 111 grams it is all low down and as mentioned before, on medium to fast tracks it should be a joy to race. So what IS the Pantera like??
Down at the Red Team’s secret hideaway I introduced the model to its first run. No sanded tyres. No pre track preparation and early in the evening when things were still a bit dusty. A bit swishy in the rear end but I was expecting this. But pretty well balanced and a bit of a bullet down the straight!! Powering on had to be when the model was facing the right direction or several lengths could be lost just getting out of the corner..
The headlights are well protected against light bleed.
As the track cleaned up and the tyres smoothed down the tenths started to drop away and the model, still feeling heavy, got faster and faster. Mmmmmmmmm, Time to sand and clean the tyres methinks!! Wow, what a difference!! As with numerous models in the past, this got faster and faster until it was lapping within site of the lap record. The big difference between this and say a Slot.it is that the Slot.it is manically quick but un ballasted is a bit of a spitfire and concentration needs to be between the 95 to 100% range. The Pantera is a bit more forgiving. Slightly slower off the mark but a lot more user friendly in the corners, and out of them!. No doubt, with a bit of experimentation with tyres the model could be a runner-up in most competitions!
A hard nosed driver too!
Once again, this isn't a technical track model and it needs a couple more feet than a much lighter model to gain momentum and current supply will be important too. The average wall wart will not deliver! But once moving, it is most forgiving. I’m not sure what the motor is rated at as I seem to get a different spec from every website I visit but it does seem quicker than the 18,000 rpm of the regular Mabuchi ‘S’ can. No matter, it is well balanced and it almost seems a shame to put it on the track but it is well up to the job!, I now need to find some stiff competition for it!! Speak to you later!!
Many thanks to Kevin and Clive at Scalexworld, Adelaide for persevering and getting the model for me!!