The engine is a 11:1 compression Ford 351 Cleveland that has a large cam and many other high performance parts. There is a huge electrical draw on the system on these cars. There are two large engine cooling fans for the radiator and another large fan for the air conditioning condenser in the rear of the vehicle. I use a single wire 140 amp alternator to keep up with everything and have upgraded the fuse panel on the car with modern day ATO type fuses. This is also a mid engine car, so there is quite a distance from the battery (that is located in the front trunk) and the starter. The old style European ceramic fuses never allowed enough voltage through them to keep everything running correctly. That problem could not be good for a battery, but has now been corrected. This Optima only had a maintenance charger on it for about the last five years or so.

Attached is a photos of the Optima battery that has been in service in my Pantera since 1995. The battery will still start the car when it is cold, but when the engine heats up, it just won't quite turn it over. The Pantera is very hard to start when hot and when it is hot out here (Arizona), it is really hot.