1972. sold to Franco Britannic, France
‘2824’ was originally painted two-tone red and black. It made its competition debut at round two of the inaugural European GT Championship: the 1972 Grand Prix Paris de l’AGACI at Montlhéry, which marked the race debut for the Group 4 Pantera; previously it had only appeared at the annual Le Mans Test weekend. Thanks to its modern design, large capacity engine and initial homologation to run with a minimum weight of 1,100kg, the Pantera was immediately competitive.
Jean-Marie Jacquemin took the wheel of ‘2824’ and was second fastest in practice behind the Robert Buchet Porsche 911 2.5 ST driven by Claude Ballot-Lena. Two qualifying heats were then held followed by a 50 lap final. Jacquemin won his heat and finished 19 seconds behind Ballot-Lena in the final. After the Grand Prix de Paris, ‘2824’ was tested by Alain Bertaud for Moteurs de Corse magazine
For its next appearance, the Le Mans 24 Hours, ‘2824’ was fitted with a fresh Holman & Moody engine and the roof was painted with a French tricolore. The 500bhp unit fitted to chassis ‘2824’ did make it to race day and the Franco Britannic car qualified fastest of the Panteras in 37th. Unfortunately, in the race, Guy Chasseuil retired ‘2824’ with a blown head gasket after only 16 minutes. Jean Vinatier did not get to drive.
Chasseuil and Vinatier teamed up again for the car’s final outing of 1972: the end-of-season Paris 1,000km non-championship race at Montlhéry. They qualified fastest of the GT cars in 19th but retired after twelve laps.
Écurie Franco Britannic used chassis ‘2824’ just once in 1973. Chasseuil and Vinatier entered the Dijon 1000km World Sportscar Championship race in April, for which the car’s original red/black colour scheme had been changed to blue/black. On this occasion, ‘2824’ was third fastest GT qualifier. The race ended with another DNF
Chassis ‘2824’ was later sold to wealthy American privateer, Gregg Young. Young ran the car once (posting a DNF at the 1974 Watkins Glen 6 Hours) before passing it on to his co-driver from the Glen outing, Bob Grossman. In 1975, Grossman failed to finish at the Sebring 12 Hours (co-driven by Marty Hinze) and the Watkins Glen 6 Hours (co-driven by Elliot Forbes-Robinson). ‘2824’ was subsequently retired from competition duty and passed through the hands of several US owners (list available), including George Stauffer of Wisconsin, who purchased the Pantera in June 1990.
Since then ‘2824’ has benefited from a meticulous restoration by the renowned Pantera specialist, Guy Trigaux.
2023 Retromobile Sale