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When I commented to Rai at Pantera Performance Center that I was leaving for Brunei back in 2002, she said that they had sent parts to Brunei! She was kind enough to fax me a copy of the fax the owner in Brunei had sent, so I had an address and a fax number.
Thinking this should be a piece of cake, I arrived in Brunei in June of 2002 and immediately tried to send a fax to the number. Out of service... Sent a snailmail to the address... No response.
Sigh...
So over the last year and a half plus, I've gotten to know various people both at work and outside of it. There is quite a group, especially in Bandar the capitol, that drive what would generally be called 'rice rockets' in the US. Very Japanese car oriented.
There's a Skyline in Bandar that supposedly has been dynoed at 1200HP.
Now: A guy I work with introduced me to a guy named Zak who also works at BSP and loves cars and go-karts. He said the name that was on the fax sounded familiar and that he'd check around. Nothing happened for weeks and then one day he called and excitedly said, "I've seen it! I've seen it! I've seen the Pantera!" He'd seen the car in the car park when he attended a go-kart race at Jerudong and found the owner, Sunny.
I got the Sunny's cell phone number, called him up and he sounded quite excited to hear there was someone else in Brunei who knew something about Panteras. I set up and meeting with him and went up to Bandar Seri Begawan today (6 March 2004) and met him. We had lunch at Fratinis (Italian restaurant) and I got to know him a little. Interesting guy!
Sunny is an architect. He told me he designed the Yayasan Center where we were sitting and eating!
The reason I'd not gotten hold of him at the address on the fax was because he'd moved. New phone number, etc.
He was pretty bummed out though... He's just been bitten by the 'bolts on the ring gear came loose and my transaxle is toast' problem. Happened two weeks ago. Fortunately, the case is OK. See below.
We both had a pizza and then drove over to see his Pantera at his present mechanic's establishment. Sunny's car is yellow, THPNJ5243. As far as he knows, it's been in Brunei since new. He said the first owner brought it in to race it, but that the year he got it into Brunei, they stopped the racing. Sunny doesn't know where the first owner imported it from...
The car started out as a left hand drive and has been converted to right hand drive for Brunei. He's been trying to tidy up some of the mess with the wiring loom, pedals, etc. since he got the car. He told me he actually saw the car the first time when he was 14 and got upset with his Dad because he wouldn't buy it for him!
Sunny is the third owner and the car was apparently a real basket case for years. He went to buy it with a tow truck behind him... He's done some good stuff and I would guess he's halfway to where he wants to go, but as he says... being the only owner in the country gets pretty lonely.
The good thing though is Sunny DRIVES the car. He said he turns quite a few heads with the sound (V8's are rare here) and the looks. He says it's the most beautiful body shape he's ever seen. Now where have we all heard that before, huh?
Sunny joined Pantera International some time ago and has been reading avidly trying to get his technical knowledge up to speed on the car. Getting parts here is his biggest problem. The only readily available stuff is for Japanese cars. So he tries to make do for both his Pantera and an Alfa Romeo he also has (also yellow!). The Alfa has just had the 1.6 engine rebuilt and I saw it up and running, but the mechanic was still making the final adjustments.
The front spoiler is locally fabricated. He took a picture to the body shop and said, do this. Looks good! He's working on the dash. The console section is still the left hand drive version, so he's mounted gauges himself.
The interior design with the yellow inserts is Sunny's own design.
Current goal is to get his transaxle fixed!
Sunny's engine. As far as he knows, it is mostly stock and has a 650 Holley on it.
Just to prove I was really there!
