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The Higgs Family follows up a
Show Mustang with a show Pantera
By Wallace A. Wyss
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Paul and Peggy Higgs are two Pantera
fans. They have two daughters, and while you would think car fans
would prefer boys because boys automatically like cars, they say their
girls Mandy, age 19 and Erin, age 16, are car fans as well. When they
started out on their quest to buy a Pantera, the Higgs approached an
owner whose car they liked and asked if he was interested in selling
it. |
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Caption: The quality of the paint is
fantastic. |
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"I had gone with the owner to the upholstery
shop," recalls Paul, "and when I saw the detail with which
he was supervising the preparation and installation of the interior,
I knew I wanted the car." The Pantera is their first DeTomaso
car but they have four other cars including a former "basket
case" '66 Mustang that was given to them which they eventually
restored enough to win prizes in concours. It even became a cover
car on Mustang Illustrated magazine in December 1998. Paul
drives a '99 Mustang SVT Cobra daily. Daughter Peg drives a Tahoe
while Mandy lives dangerously driving a Explorer with Firestones. |
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Chassis Number 2927 |
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As far as the history of the Pantera they bought as
a family project, they know that the previous owner had it for seven
or eight years, having acquired it through a dealer who had been
trying to sell it on consignment. When they bought the car, the
interior had been done and the engine the subject of a fresh rebuild
with only 1,500 miles since the rebuild. The suspension had been
gone through, the rubber bushings replaced with Polyurethane ones,
and the brakes redone and the cooling system updated. |
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MOMO Brand, Prototipo steering wheel
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The color when they bought the car was black, over
yellow. It didn't look that bad from a distance but the problem was
that it had been painted several times and was spider webbing
(hairline cracks radiating out from each stress point. "The
paint was so thick that when we took it to Leonard Hamilton of
Hamilton Restorations in Phoenix, the first thing he did was grab a
chunk that was hanging loose and pull it off to determine how much
had been done to it. |
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Caption: The paint job cost $6,500.00 including
taking the car down to the bare metal. |
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The car was taken down to bare metal and repainted,
probably lightening it by several hundred pounds considering how
many coats of paint it had on it. Their goal in painting the car was
to keep it as stock as possible. "We don't like welded-on
flares or bolt-on spoilers," says Paul. We did remove the
electric antenna and replaced it with a concealed one . The gas cap
was also relocated. This was one of the earlier Panteras where you
had to lift the trunk lid just to fuel up the car-a major
aggravation. |
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Caption: Manifold has been polished. Note
adjustable spreader bar. |
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Before the car was painted, the Higgs family took
time to figure out that one way to eliminate paint cracking was to
eliminate body flex by shoring up the body with a 4-point roll bar
(roll bar attached at four different points). They had it installed outside
the passenger compartment to preserve space inside. The bar attaches
just behind the rear window to shock towers. The gas tank and
radiator cooling tanks had to be adjusted for the roll bar, as well
as the sheet metal covering the engine intake area. Fortunately,
when the car was down to bare metal, only one small rust spot was
found on the car, at the rear side of the passenger door ledge. Paul
Higgs says he believes water dropping from inside the passenger door
caused it. Leonard cut out the malignant section and welded in a
healthy section-no chemotherapy was required. |
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Seats resemble Ferrari Daytona style
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Selecting the color was a real family project since
Paul had to reckon with the fact that there were three women (his
wife and two daughters) in on the deciding. They already decided
that black, yellow or red was out because there are too many
Panteras that color. After three months of searching they had
narrowed it down to Dodge Viper Blue pearl-coat, Porsche Midnight
Blue metallic or Ocean Blue metallic or BMW Orient Blue metallic or
BMW Biarritz Blue metallic. Ultimately that was the color chosen.
Plus they already had this tan interior completed and wanted
something to match and complement it. Biarritz by the way, is a
resort town on the Mediterranean. Cadillac first used the name for a
low production model in the '50's. The paint selected is DuPont
Chroma-Base 2-stage which was laid atop a body that had been block
sanded and received multiple coats of urethane primer first. The
bodywork was expensive for Arizona (but not compared to Calif.
Prices!), costing about $6,500 for stripping down to bare metal,
rust repair and paint. The roll bar fabrication, moving the gas
filler, smoothing the engine bay fender inner wells, removing the
antenna and other mods cost an additional $3,500. "I like the
way Leonard works," says Paul Higgs. "If the owner wants
to have additional changes made while the car is in progress,
Leonard gives a written estimate for the new work so there's no
surprises." The car was at Leonard's shop for nine months-just
long enough, says Papa Higgs "for the natural birth of a
like-new Pantera.": |
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The trim on the doors in matching leather. Shifter has been shortened
for faster and easier throws.
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The Engine |
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The stock 351 block was retained. The
crank was taken out and the assembly balanced, and crank polished.
The rods were shot-peened and polished. The pistons are now forged
TRW flat-tops running a 10.5:1 compression ratio. The cam is an Isky
282 with a roller chain. The heads are closed chamber heads with
port exhausts, stainless steel valves, and hardened seats. Teflon
seals, and bronze guides are used. Crane screw-in rocker arm studs
and guide plates are in use along with Isky springs and Crane
aluminum needle bearing roller tip rockers which get you higher
revs. The air is taken in through a Holly 700 cfm center-pivot
float, double pumper (dual accelerator pumps) sitting ‘atop a
polished performer intake manifold. Sparks are by Hayes electronic
ignition and headers are Mind Train, designed by the legendary Fred
Matsumoto, founder of Pantera International. Paul Higgs claims
roughly 350 hp. at 5,000 rpm. It has not been dyno'd, but it is
refreshing to see a more realistic figure than the 500 hp. we
usually hear! |
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The ZF trans has been left stock except that the
clutch has been replaced with a Center Force dual-friction unit
which greatly reduces clutch effort (Clue: You can tell your car has
it when your left leg calf muscles are no longer twice as thick as
your right leg) The brakes are from Hall, upgraded to nickel-plated
calipers from the Ford ones that rust and the lines are stainless
steel braided construction. The interior had been covered with 200
sq. ft. of hand-picked Tan Derby leather. Alas we can't give you the
name of the upholsterer because Glenn, the former owner, felt the
installation required "a high level of supervision" and he
doesn't want to wish that task on any P.I. members. Thanks, Glenn, a
word to the wise is sufficient! |
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Caption: Note how roll bar support travels
through engine screen and mounts to the wheel- house. |
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The Wheels |
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The wheels are Hall Pantera 3-piece
polished aluminum Mk.V's, measuring 8" x 15" in front and
10" x 16" in the rear. The tires are sized 220-50-VR15 in
front and 275-50 VR16 in the rear, all BFG Comp T/A's. The total
cost of wheels and tires back in '91 was $3,500. |
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Cooling: Arizona heat vs. Comfort |
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It is well known that Arizona can get
a wee bit warm. Yet the Higgs family stuck with the stock radiator
with only the addition of stainless steel tubes and double clamped
Gates Green Stripe (the Cadillac of) hoses. "It has only boiled
over once," says Paul Higgs, "and that was because I had
accidentally flipped off the fan switch while we were in traffic.
Actually it boiled over during this photo shoot but Higgs attributes
that to "air in the lines caused by improper bleeding when he
refilled the system after the first overheat." (The rear wheels
have to be jacked up off the ground to get out all the air
bubbles-Ed.) |
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Show Record |
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The car has done very well in three shows. Its
maiden appearance was at the Huntington Beach Concours June 4, 2000.
It was one of 16 Panteras and did not place, while ironically the
family's Mustang took first in its class at the same event. At the
Fairway Ford show they placed 4th behind a spectacular 427 Cobra. At
the Circle of Orange show they placed second behind another
pesky Cobra. Paul Higgs says they don't take Biarritz out too much,
having suffered a rock chip on one of the first trips after
completion. He reports 16 to 17 miles per gallon, which we think is
pretty darn good for a 150-mph rocket ship. |
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Congratulations to the Higgs family for their
well-documented and well turned out effort. |
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Paul and Peggy Higgs of Orange County, California
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