Welcome to the Panteras Northwest website!

Take a minute to meet our board of directors (below), then take some time to explore our site more fully.

Please feel free to sign our guestbook, we appreciate your comments!

2014 Board of Directors

 Mike Thomas, President 

My attraction to the Pantera first started when I saw the cover of Road & Track in 1970 with the yellow prototype on the cover. Since I was subscribing to Car & Driver, Road & Track and Motor Trend at the time, I always kept an eye out for articles about it. When I first started working for Boeing in 1980, I was auto crossing with Doug Braun, and his blue '73. Fast forward 18 years, and I ran into Doug and the NW Pantera crew at Birch Bay just by accident, and the rest is history. I purchased canary yellow '74 L #6328 in January of 2004 in Eureka, CA, and drove all the way home 604 miles in one day on probably the only dry day that January. In the 6+ years I've had the car, I've gone through just about everything mechanical, some more than once (learning curve), and will be starting on the cosmetics next. In 2006, I decided I wanted to do something for the NW Pantera community, and set about doing the paper and leg work to have our motley crew recognized as an official chapter of the Pantera Owner's Club of America. With the able and indispensable assistance of Doug Braun, Chris Kimball and Richard Openshaw, I was President of the chapter for the first four years, handing that duty off to Chris in January, 2010. We presently have over 110 members in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia and Alberta, Canada.

Phone: 206-795-3302 (Please feel free to call with any Panteras Northwest Club questions.)  

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Tim Brennan, Vice President

(no picture or biography submitted yet)

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Doug Braun, Secretary 

My first glimpse of a Pantera was at the age of 16 in a car magazine. My favorite car to that point had been the Ford GT so I immediately fell in love with the Pantera’s shape and mid-engine design. I tore out the centerfold picture and taped it on my bedroom wall. My mom remarked about it being a sharp looking car, and with a twinkle in my eye I said, “Mom, I’m going to own one of those some day!” During the summer of 1979, while autocrossing my 70 MACH1, I saw two Panteras running. One of the owners said he knew of a blue 73L for sale and was nice enough to go look at it with me. I bought it for the same price a friend of mine paid that same month for a brand new Mazda RX-7 ($13,400). The first time I showed it to my parents, my mom went running into the house, came out with the picture I’d left and said, “Do you remember what you told me about this car?” Of course I remembered but I was surprised she remembered.

In 1980, the Pantera became my weekend warrior, supplanting the MACH1’s autocrossing duties. The 16x8" & 16x10” Compomotive 3-piece wheels were purchased for the ‘82 season. In ‘94 the Pantera received an engine upgrade with an SVO M-6010-B351 block, Wiseco forged pistons, LA Enterprises forged crank, Crower Enduro roller rockers, Crower hydraulic roller cam, reworked Edelbrock F351 intake and reworked 351C closed-chamber iron heads. The engine dyno'd at 415HP through the Mind-Train exhaust and ¼ mile time slip reads 12.90 at 110mph. Suspension mods include, a 15/16” solid rear anti-sway bar, Koni shocks and Delrin control arm bushings.

The reaction these cars generate in the people who see them is as entertaining as the performance. Fellow autocrossers remark that they love to see and hear the car run and are amazed at how competitive the car remains after all these years. 

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Richard Openshaw, Treasurer

(no biography submitted yet)

Chris Kimball

Chris has owned his Pantera since December, 2006. He and his sons have had fun working with other members of the club working on the car, personalizing it, and making sure it stays roadworthy.

Chris is a Certified Financial Planner®, and his other hobbies include music and motorcycles.

Cell Phone: (253) 232-2321 (Please feel free to call with any Panteras Northwest Club questions.)

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