November is one of my favourite times of the year. ‘The leaves are turning a really lovely colour’ I thought to myself as I drove through the lanes… “the car is going to look great!” I was on my way to meet Sam Dawson from Classic Cars Magazine. We were going to the shoot for their very popular Life Cycle feature. Hero of the day was going to be a stunning De Tomaso Pantera GT5S.
The owner, Mr Colin Bradshaw had owned the car since he ordered it built in 1989. It looked a perfect as the day it rolled out of the factory & yet in his own words, he had used it as it was intended! This car has done many many laps of some of the finest racing circuits in the country. Not to mention several trips through France on it’s annual pilgrimage down to Le Mans.
Mr Bradshaw was an incredibly proud owner. Coming from an engineering background he had done a lot of the work on the car himself. He knew every inch of the car & had probably cleaned those inches hundreds of times too.
It was fascinating listening to him talk of the car’s history. He had kept everything ever associated to the car, paperwork from the build process, invoices, press clippings you name it, he had it. He had even kept every part ever fitted & replaced on the car… & when I say everything, I mean everything!!
It was a fascinating day & a pleasure to meet Mr Bradshaw & his lovely Pantera. A long wait for the edition to be published, but it never lessens the feeling when I see my images in print!
