You know, not all retirement benefits are in dollars. I received this email last week: “Season ending ‘last and fast’ Pantera run over Togwotee Pass (9700 ft.) with a few of my car guy buddies.
Here’s some more pics of the 1972 DeTomaso Pantera recently featured in Hot Rod.
Hot Rod’s Richard Prince wrote:
Some of Marty Quadland’s earliest memories involve sitting in the family’s 1935 Ford cabriolet with both hands tightly gripping the steering wheel as he belched out a four-year-old’s version of a V8 exhaust note. Later on, as a way of dealing with his motion sickness in the car, his father usually had him on his lap, where he could help “steer.” At age 12, he bought his first car, a 1939 Chevy for $15, and immediately began modifying it. Over the next few years, while negotiating high school and then college, he had, in succession, a chopped and channeled 1931 Ford, a 1954 Ford convertible, a Triumph TR3, and a 1936 Ford cabriolet powered by a 283-cid Chevy engine.
Quadland had a dry decade following college, as far as interesting cars go. Graduate school, military service, and additional career training consumed all of his time and much of his money. Once he began working, he was able to purchase a slightly used 1971 Corvette. The Stingray made him happy until the fateful day when a friend pulled into his driveway driving a bright yellow Pantera.
“I was immediately smitten by the look, the mid-engine layout, and the incredible sound of the 351 Cleveland,” Quadland recalls, “and I had to have one!” To that end, he began banking every spare penny he could put his hands on. Though considerably less expensive than a Ferrari or other exotics of the era, at around $10,000, it was about $3,500 more than a very well-optioned 1972 Corvette. The price tag didn’t dissuade Quadland in the least, however, and just a couple of months after falling in love with his pal’s yellow Pantera, he placed his order with the Lincoln Mercury dealer in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Read more here.
Read more about why not all retirement benefits are in dollars by clicking here.
