User:Trekphiler/Panthermobile

From: http://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/motoring/the-pink-panthermobile-has-been-restored-to-its-former-glory-after-years-off-the-road/news-story/860cc2a1f5a6d211262108c17f745cf5 (retrieved 15 January 2017) THE world’s most flamboyant vehicle has been restored to its former glory.

Costing half a million dollars to make in 1969, the Pink Panthermobile was one of the most exuberant and radical cars of the era.

Featuring prominently in the Pink Panther cartoon opening and closing sequence, the car was the work of legendary Hollywood car designer Jay Ohrberg — responsible for the Back To The Future DeLorean, the 1966 and 1989 Batmobiles and David Hasselhoff’s vehicle in Knight Rider.

The strange vehicle is shaped like an anteater, measuring 23-feet long and six-feet wide.

Powered by a seven litre engine, the driver is required to wear a helmet as they are open and exposed.

Behind the driver and engine is what is known as the “Pleasure Capsule” — an interior with pink shag reclined seats, square-tufted upholstery, half a dozen faux-fur pillows, a 1970s car phone and a bar.

The vehicle also includes a camera and small 70s black and white TV, so the driver can see behind the car.

Los Angeles-based Galpin Auto Sports purchased the front-wheel-drive Panthermobile at auction five years ago and has since been working to get it back on the road.

When the purveyor of 70s kustoms got ownership of the vehicle, the Oldsmobile engine didn’t run, the exterior had been repainted numerous times and the interior was damaged.

Galpin’s Dave Shuten led the restoration project, which was no easy task.

In order to return the vehicle to its former glory, Mr Shuten hired the Panthermobile’s original upholsterer, Joe Perez.

“He’s 90 years old now, and it’s a really big car, so it took a really long time,” he told Hagerty. “But it adds a lot of pedigree.”

After fixing the interior and adding a custom coat of PPG water-based paint, the car was once again ready for the road.

And just how does it drive? Not too good according to Mr Shuten.

“It takes up a s**tload of room. You sort of turn before anything else does, so it’s hard to grasp what’s going on,” he said.

“There’s a video of me driving it down Roscoe Boulevard that’s pretty funny. I was really just trying to not get hit, I wasn’t looking at other faces.”

Dave Shuten led the restoration project, which was no easy task.

The car has two-piece clamshell opening doors. Picture: Galpin

In the "Pink Panther" cartoon series, it was driven by a helmeted boy.

From: http://jalopnik.com/the-return-of-the-pink-panthermobile-1787019000 (retrieved 15 January 2017)

There was once a magical time in American culture when, for some reason, almost every television show worth a damn had to have its own signature custom car. There are obvious ones, like the Batmobile, but there were also the Monkeemobile, the Munster Koach, and I bet Bob Newhart had a Button-Downmobile, too. One of the most outrageous of these cars, the Pink Panthermobile, has just been restored, and it’s astounding.

There was so much amazing experimentation happening in the custom car world of the late ‘60s and ‘70s. Metal and fiberglass masters like Dean Jeffries and Ed ‘Big Daddy’ Roth were doing sculptural, experimental, and wildly adventurous things with bodies, paint, styling, electronics, you name it.

It’s one of the most incredibly prolific and exuberant periods of car-as-rolling-sculpture in automotive history, and the Pink Panthermobile exemplifies some of the best, most radical thinking of the era. The restoration was performed by a team at Galpin Auto Sports in California. The car was last sold at auction in 2011, and needed a full mechanical and cosmetic restoration. Design-wise, the Panthermobile is unusual even for the bizarre standards of the era. It’s long and low, with a much wider track at front than rear. In front of the front wheels but behind a long, tapering proboscis sits the driver, central and open and exposed. The enclosed passenger pod is accessed via an odd clamshell door, and the inside is a highly upholstered, unrelentingly pink volume of curved space, sort of what I’d imagine being inside a whale bladder that’s been converted into a space brother would be like. There’s nothing quite like it.

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Here’s what Galpin has to say about the car, and some technical details:

Built on a 60s Oldsmobile Tornado chassis and sculpted out of sheet metal and top-of- the-line materials, the distinctive Panthermobile is an astounding 23-feet long and six-feet wide.

Powered by a massive seven-liter engine that moves the front wheels, the driver must wear a helmet as the driver’s seat is located outside the vehicle in front of the engine.

The all-pink long-snouted vehicle exudes classic 70s era cool with its space-age styling and two-piece clamshell opening doors. The interior features pink shag reclined seats and pink furry pillows where passengers can lounge while enjoying a glass of champagne or chatting on the 1970s car phone. It even had a backup camera and small 70s black and white TV so the driver could see what was behind him.

Designed by the renowned Ed “Newt” Newton in collaboration with famed customizer and TV personality, Dan Woods; creator of the paint color Candy Apple Red, Joe Bailon; and founder of the kustom car craft, Bill “The Leadslinger” Hines, the custom creation was originally featured each week alongside cartoon characters in the opening credits of “The Pink Panther Show,” which aired from 1969-1976. Newton is the creator behind famous vehicles, including Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s Orbitron and Surfite, as well as Galpin Auto Sports’ (GAS) Scythe concept and many other legendary customs. Woods’ built the infamous Milk Truck and Ice Truck.

Looking at the car, you can see it’s mid-engined, with the Toronodo’s FWD drivetrain mounted with the front wheels, behind the driver. The big longitudinally-mounted V8 is right behind the driver’s head, which must make for an interesting driving experience.

From: http://www.carbodydesign.com/2011/09/panthermobile-goes-to-auction/ (retrieved 15 January 2017)

The car was created by Bob Reisner California Show Cars in collaboration with Dan Woods, Joe Bailon, Bill Hines and Bill Honda at the cost of $100,000 in 1976 dollars.

“From its very first showing, the Pink Panther stopped the crowd everywhere. It sat on a complete front-drive Oldsmobile Toronado chassis which allowed the driver to sit in front of the Playboy-inspired Pleasure Capsule cabin behind.” (from “Show Car Dreams” by David Fetherston)