Re-registering a Pantera with no docs

[johnnyfive]

On 28/07/2025 at 11:13, sr2 said:

 I’ll have a chat to the two, elderly previous owners and with their permission I’ll post the full story. It’s just too unbelievable not to told!

I am quite keen to hear the story!

[mk2marty]

1 hour ago, sr2 said:

The point I'm making is that an engineering degree is not a prerequisite to becoming a LVVTA certifier.

It's not, and no one is saying it is. The certifier application process puts much more weight on the amount and breadth of experience someone has than any letters after their name. 

A certifier needs to not only evaluate the safety, quality, and durability of a particular modification, but also consider the effects it has on the rest of the vehicle. this is magnified a hundredfold when you're looking at a vehicle where everything is custom, like a scratchbuilt. Having seen from the inside the level of knowledge required, i disagree wholeheartedly that 'your average mechanic' has the level of knowledge needed. In fact the last few people who have passed the entry assessment have had experience predominantly in fabrication and custom panelwork. 

No, the system isn't perfect. Yes, there are overlapping areas of compliance, and it can seem silly from the outside that one person can't do everything. But like a few people have said, if you had one person that could do everything:
a: their time would be so valuable that the whole process would be astronomically expensive; and
b: the system wouldn't function because that person would be so busy that they couldn't get to everyone. 

Just like you wouldn't ask a podiatrist to operate on someone's brain (even though it's all the human body, so it must be all the same), it's unrealistic to think that someone who has experience predominantly in writing out WoFs could assess the geometry and installation of a custom IFS in a vehicle, and the effects this has on the rest of the car. Or whether a crashed car with high-strength steels that you can't weld without fucking them has had the right kind of super adhesive used to bond the new panels into the frame, and in the right places so it still crashes the same as the manufacturer intended. Or whether a truck drawbar attachment can (to a mathematical certainty) withstand a certain load. 

 

As one of the LVVTA clowns I was trying to keep my fake red nose and seltzer flower out of this conversation, but unfortunately there are reasons why the system is the way it is, and why these constraints exist.     

[oldrx7]

I think that's why some shops act as the conduit for builds.  They'll undertake work on the car, and organise the cert for you, but they won't be the certifier, and IMO that's a good safety net / quality control.  

You just have to pay the cost of someone else sorting admin on your behalf.

 

 

[xsspeed]

I heard certifiers needed a post graduate diploma in revenue gathering and kick backs @cletus

[Nominal]

How is this going @sr2?

Need more power?

 

[sr2]

LOL, speak of the devil, I was just on Facebook looking at the same thing when your comment popped up. What an awesome piece of classic performance kit!  Possibly not much use on our Coyote crate motor but I'd love to have a good look at one.

 

[RUNAMUCK]

That came up in my feed too. 

The bloke who started building my 1200 wagon has one on a 340 in a model T truck.

Iirc, it had dcoe's hanging off each side of thw blower.

[sr2]

On 25/09/2025 at 13:05, johnnyfive said:

I am quite keen to hear the story!

Hi guys, quick Pantera update.

Just finalizing a few more demands from our LVVTA cert man, (he's one of the good guys).

It's obvious he's caught between what is safe and the "interesting" regulations his system insists he adhere to, but he's a team player and I'll be the last one to give him any grief.

At this stage all we can do is to throw money at the project as we are so close to the finish line. 

I'm working on securing permission from the previous owners to be able to post the whole story, it's a great, sometimes unbelievable yarn.

Will keep you all posted.

 

[Stu]

Can't wait to see this on the road!

A friend of mine has one, quite impressive cars when your get up close to one.

[Lord Gruntfuttock]

I recall seeing my first one in Street Machine mag and going WTF? I like...
Have since seen them in the flesh and yes bloody cool cars.

[locost_bryan]

On 03/11/2024 at 21:08, smokin'joe said:

Fairview Fibreglass has the moulds from the previous kit-builder here in NZ.
give Donny Weir a holler and he may have details of previous builds

Was it Tom Morland from Christchurch who did Pantera and Camaro/Trans Am replicas back in the 80s?

[smokin'joe]

On 25/06/2026 at 07:42, locost_bryan said:

Was it Tom Morland from Christchurch who did Pantera and Camaro/Trans Am replicas back in the 80s?

unsure.
i remember a few driving about, but unsure who Donny got the moulds off.
used to see quite a few Taipans ? as well....... VW based .

 

[Kiwibirdman]

On 25/06/2026 at 07:42, locost_bryan said:

Was it Tom Morland from Christchurch who did Pantera and Camaro/Trans Am replicas back in the 80s?

Yes. 

[Tedz]

On 22/10/2024 at 12:31, sr2 said:

LOL, it would be great if it was! The car is at Hampton Downs, the yellow car is a fiberglass kit car. The rumour mill has it that the Yellow Pantera was stolen by some gang; have to say I cannot think of a more conspicuous car to choose to steal! (Mental image of some  guy in a South Auckland public bar - "hey bro - wanna buy a cheap De Tomaso?).

I think I spotted the stolen yellow one a few months before it happened in an underground carpark in Eden Terrace. 12th June 2021.

As said, there can't be too many yellow Pantera around in nz.

 

 

[datlow]

On 24/06/2026 at 21:29, sr2 said:

post the whole story

😶‍🌫️