Deadpool (Wade Winston Wilson) is a fictional antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by artist/writer Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza, the character first appeared in The New Mutants #98 (cover-dated February 1991). Initially Deadpool was depicted as a supervillain when he made his first appearance in The New Mutants and later in issues of X-Force, but later evolved into his more recognizable antiheroic persona. Deadpool, whose real name is Wade Wilson, is a disfigured and mentally unstable mercenary with the superhuman ability of an accelerated healing factor and physical prowess. The character is known as the "Merc with a Mouth" because of his talkative nature and tendency to break the fourth wall, which is used by writers for humorous effect and running gags.
The character's popularity has seen him feature in numerous other media. In the 2004 series Cable & Deadpool, he refers to his own scarred appearance as "Ryan Reynolds crossed with a Shar Pei".[9][10] Reynolds himself would eventually portray the character in the 2009 film X-Men Origins: Wolverine and reprise the role in the 2016 film Deadpool.[11][12][13]
The W8 was essentially an upgrade of the same company's earlier prototype, the Vector W2. The semi-aluminum monocoque chassis was epoxy bonded and riveted with an aluminum honeycomb structure floor pan, and 5,000 aircraft specification rivets were used in the car's assembly. Everything on the Vector was designed to last the life of the owner, assuming reasonable maintenance.[citation needed] The body was made largely of lightweight carbon fiber and Kevlar, known for its strength, and lightness.[2]The car was based around a Rodeck Aluminum resleevable, 365 cu. in. racing engine coupled to very highly modified Turbo Hydro 425 General Motors three-speed automatic transmissions that had been used in front wheel drive Oldsmobile Toronados dating back some two decades earlier. The engine had intercooledtwin-turbos, and produced an advertised 625 bhp (466 kW) at 5700 rpm and 649 lb·ft (880 N·m) of torque on 8 lbs of boost. Boost levels were driver adjustable between 8 and 14 lbs and during dyno testing at the factory the engine put out 1200 bhp at 14 lbs of boost.[1]
Wikipedia As early as 1984, the Maranello factory had begun development of an evolution model of the 288 GTO intended to compete against the Porsche 959 in FIA Group B. However, when the FIA brought an end to the Group B category for the 1986 season, Enzo Ferrari was left with five 288 GTO Evoluzione development cars, and no series in which to campaign them. Enzo's desire to leave a legacy in his final supercar allowed the Evoluzione program to be further developed to produce a car exclusively for road use.[9] In response to the quite simple, but very expensive car with relatively little out of the ordinary being called a "cynical money-making exercise" aimed at speculators, a figure from the Ferrari marketing department was quoted as saying "We wanted it to be very fast, sporting in the extreme and Spartan," "Customers had been saying our cars were becoming too plush and comfortable." "The F40 is for the most enthusiastic of our owners who want nothing but sheer performance. It isn't a laboratory for the future, as the 959 is. It is not Star Wars. And it wasn't created because Porsche built the 959. It would have happened anyway."[10]
The car was designed by the Italian design firm Ghia by American born designer Tom Tjaarda[2] and replaced the De Tomaso Mangusta. Unlike the Mangusta, which employed a steel backbone chassis, the Pantera was a steel monocoque design, the first instance of De Tomaso using this construction technique. The Pantera logo included a version of Argentina's flag turned on its side with a T-shaped symbol that was the brand used by De Tomaso's Argentinian cattle ranching ancestors.[3] Note: The logo has the colors of the Argentine flag not because of De Tomaso's ancestors but because the company's founder, Alejandro De Tomaso, was born and raised in Argentina. He emigrated in his 20s to Italy in order to avoid political persecution from Juan Domingo Perón, president of Argentina in those days.
The car made its public debut in Modena in March 1970 and was presented at the 1970 New York Motor Show a few weeks later.[2]Approximately a year later the first production Panteras were sold, and production was increased to three per day.[2]
The curious slat-backed seats which had attracted comment at the New York Show were replaced by more conventional body-hugging sports-car seats in the production cars: leg-room was generous but the pedals were off-set and headroom was insufficient for drivers above approximately 6 ft. (ca. 183 cm) tall.[2] Reflecting its makers' transatlantic ambitions, the Pantera came with an abundance of standard features which appeared exotic in Europe, such as electric windows, air conditioning and even "doors that buzz when ... open".[2] By the time the Pantera reached production, the interior was in most respects well sorted, although resting an arm on the central console could lead to inadvertently activating the poorly located cigarette lighter.[2]
The first 1971 Panteras were powered by a Ford 351 cu in (5.8 L) V8 engine that produced a severely underrated 330 hp (246 kW; 335 PS). Stock dynos over the years proved that power was more along the lines of about 380 hp (283 kW; 385 PS).[citation needed]The high torque provided by the Ford engine reduced the need for excessive gear changing at low speeds: this made the car much less demanding to drive in urban conditions than many of the locally built competitor products.[2]
The ZFtransaxle used in the Mangusta was also used for the Pantera: a passenger in an early Pantera recorded that the mechanical noises emanating from the transaxle were more intrusive than the well restrained engine noise.[2] Another Italian car that shares the ZF transaxle is the Maserati Bora, also launched in 1971 although not yet available for sale.[4]Power-assisted four-wheel disc brakes and rack and pinion steering were all standard equipment on the Pantera. The 1971 Pantera could accelerate to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 5.5 seconds according to Car and Driver.
In the summer of 1971, a visitor to the De Tomaso plant at Modena identified two different types of Pantera awaiting shipment, being respectively the European and American versions.[2] From outside, the principal differences were the larger tail lamps on the cars destined for America, along with addition of corner marker lamps.[2] The visitor was impressed by the large number of cars awaiting shipment; in reality, spending the best part of a year under dust covers in a series of large hangars probably did nothing for the cash-flow of the business or the condition of some of the cars by the time they crossed the Atlantic. The last one was delivered to a customer in 1992.[5]
