Your X's Bad Ass Uncle

My Xs bad ass uncle is my 348ts. It's like a big, powerful X1/9......except no spare tire, no real place to put the top, no rear trunk, etc. hahaha. Amazing how much space Gandini made in that little body. :)
 
Yes, much more powerful than an X, with a really nice engine note! You're right about the storage space too, nothing like the space that's available on an X.
Several years ago I had my '80 Spider 2000 all packed up to head off to the Chicago Freakout, we were running just a bit late. We had it packed to the brim, I couldn't get any more stuff in it. Then when I started it to leave the heater valve dumped antifreeze all over the passenger's footwell. (Maybe that was an omen?) Anyway, because we were running late I just transferred everything over to my beater X (at least it ran well - the heater is not hooked up). I was amazed that I could get everything I had stuffed into the Spider into the X with ease! Amazing for such a small car.
 
Wow, this thread drifted right at the start!
This Pantera just seemed to have very similar lines to an X.

I have reached the age where I look forward to and don't apologize about comfort in my cars. My X and to some degree the Miata are for a mind refreshing blast...,kind of the equivalent of Italian tune up for the mind. If luggage is an issue, implying a trip somewhere then my weapon of choice would be m GTI. Any car will have plenty of luggage space, that's what the passenger seat if for.
 
I owned a '72 Pantera 26 years. I loved to look at it. It's sleek and exotic from virtually every angle. When you get in it feels like a real exotic being very wide with a hand stitched dash and chrome gated shifter. Then you start it with a woosh and immediately feel let down by that "thumpa thumpa thumpa idle that sounds like a Ford Mustang right behind your ear. Out on the highway it feels like a Leerjet five feet off the ground cruising at 80+ mph. Any slower and it starts to feel like a logging wagon bucking and jiggling your body. Stopped in traffic it feels hot, noisy and claustrophobic. On an autocross course it feels heavy, ponderous and clumsy. In short, it's a big highway cruiser weighing in at 3600 pounds. I consider the X1/9 a spiritual opposite of a Pantera.
 
I'll assume that much like our Fiats, there are enough modern updates to make a Pantera a really nice car...and kill the resale value at the same time.
My dad had an XKE back in the late 60s. Rather like your Pantera, it was not much fun to drive in the suburbs but once on the open road...OMG.

Anyway, my post was about looks.
 
carl said:
I'll assume that much like our Fiats, there are enough modern updates to make a Pantera a really nice car...and kill the resale value at the same time.
My dad had an XKE back in the late 60s. Rather like your Pantera, it was not much fun to drive in the suburbs but once on the open road...OMG.

Anyway, my post was about looks.
Click to expand...
XKE is one of of the sexiest vehicles ever. IMO.

Odie
 
Nice. My dad's XKE was much more reliable than the XJ sedan he bought for my mom.
My dad drove his car to work and back every day, a delightful five miles of local suburban driving where the speed limit never got over maybe 35mph. He wore out the clutch in 35,000 miles.
 
My dad still has the '76 X1/9 he bought new (took delivery in Turin at Fiat HQ) and the '72 Pantera L he bought in the early 1990s. The biggest similarity between them is that neither have run for years!
 
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