NEW BUILDS: “Pantera Party” Round 2 – “Solaris”

The 2^nd of 4 RRR Pantera GT5’s I’m adding to my sports car fleet, I ordered this one in yellow since I think that’s a color the real car looks good in, but I was a little disappointed when it arrived and I saw it in person; this isn’t the shade of yellow I was expecting. I wanted something akin to Corvette’s “Daytona Yellow” but this shade, called “Chrome Yellow,” is more orange. Thing is, its grown on me, and since I had already built it in my mind, I proceeded with my plan and I hope you’ll agree it came out pretty well!

Fitted with a set of Vincent “Steel” wheels in black, I ran a subtle hint of yellow acrylic paint around the edges of the rims, and dotted each axle end with the same paint to give it a customized look. Fitted on a brand new chassis with RRR low profile silicone tires, this ground hugger barely needs to slow down for the turns; its not the fastest car in the fleet, but it handles like a slot car! Ha, ha! And I was even able to find a good looking decal in one of the few numbers I haven’t used before, so this one isn’t even a dupe! That’s a nice bonus!

I elected to remove the rear wing from this one, since I have 4 of these on the way, and I want to make them as different as possible. Due to its color I have dubbed her “Solaris,” she is piloted by Indiana-born Skyler “SAVAGE” Stockwell. Raised in the shadow of “The Brickyard” by a father who worked for Ford Motor Company, Stockwell was raised on the tradition of cars and naturally followed his pursuit into racing. Now just over 50, Stockwell is a veteran with 27 years of experience on the track behind the wheels of many different kinds of rigs, but as the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, he sticks with Ford power most of the time. And why not? It has served him well just as it served DeTomaso well; the 351 “Cleveland” V8 has been “gone through” and built for racing with lightened heads, enlarged valves, and an exotic multi-plane Weber air intake topped with a Predator 750cfm carburetor. There’s not much clearance to work under the hood, but the crowd is only going to see that hood closed as she streaks by at better than 175MPH on the straightaways! Get ready to see sun spots, race fans!