For History Buffs: Ford/de Tomaso problems with ZF over Pantera transmissions

[Xcentric]

I stumbled on this piece of history while researching info on Pantera ZF transmissions. It's a 1970 report by Frank Theyleg (who worked with Roy Lunn and who designed the transaxle for the experimental Mustang I), labeled "Confidential," resulting from technical, production and delivery problems that de Tomaso was having with ZF.

The full document is here: http://www.spacecitypanteras.com/Technical/ZF Transaxle Requirements.pdf

Lots of interesting tidbits buried in with 44 pages of program tedium. Unit cost of a transmission was $342. Ray Geddes had to travel to Germany to kick ZF in the ass. Letter of apology/excuses from ZF.

A couple of highlights.

1. The cover sheet. Check out the names. Ray Geddes. Lee Iacocca. Bill Innes. Jacques Passino.




2. Memo to Ray Geddes from none other than Alejandro de Tomaso complaining of mediocre ZF quality, terrible ZF customer support, ridiculous prices, and the German attitude towards Italians!

 

[DakotaGT]

Ha! Interesting, indeed. Thank you for sharing.

 

[SteveA]

Love it!

 

[Cobrar]

Now there’s an interesting find! Friends who own the cars will really appreciate it!

Thanks for sharing!

 

[djs]

This makes me wonder if Ford had to micro manage/rebuild the GT40 units. I know the ZF 5 speed couldn’t handle the 427’s torque, but the 68 & 69 small block cars were ZF units, and I don’t recall any quality issues when they won LeMans back to back.

 

[Xcentric]

This makes me wonder if Ford had to micro manage/rebuild the GT40 units. I know the ZF 5 speed couldn’t handle the 427’s torque, but the 68 & 69 small block cars were ZF units, and I don’t recall any quality issues when they won LeMans back to back.

The first GT40s were plagued with gearbox failures....Italian Colottis. The switch to ZFs fixed that.

 

[Xcentric]

Apropos of nothing, the names "ZF" and "Zahnradfabrik" are interesting like many foreign names. A bit exotic sounding. A bit of coolness.

However, some of the aura gets lost in translation. Zahnradfabrik means Gear Factory.

Him: What transmission is that?
Me: ZF
Him: Cool!

Him: What transmission is that?
Me: Gear Factory
Him: Umm...

 

[NorthwoodGT]

gary, nice find. I'm sure memos like that wouldn't be emailed around the world today. back then, these guys were real car people who spoke their mind, stepping on toes or not, as long as the job got done. would never happen today in the PC climate we live in today not to mention lack of real car people in the automotive industry. unfortunately a dieing breed.
I didn't read the whole memo but was there mention of the ZF having to be installed upside down to clear the Pantera chassis? I found that interesting when I met a guy at a cars and coffee with a gorgeous Pantera. he was extremely educated on the car and told me about the transaxle.

 

[CJ428]

you your telling me that Italians and Germans didn't trust each other and get along, go figure.:lol

 

[Howard]

Yes, the memo addresses the inverted installation of the ZF.

 

[Tomcat]

Very cool!
A lot of this is Pantera lore...its great to see it in print.