There is no point in even attempting to cross-reference the Panther Solo 2 with what you have seen on the previous eight pages. Super-advanced and utterly pastiche-free, it was a volte-face product for Panther. Want to ditch your Jaguar-based retro car for a serious Lotus and Porsche rival? Yes, please. Design a bespoke high-tech platform for it, employing materials unseen before in road-car manufacturing? No problem. Power the model with an off-the-shelf engine from a blue-collar supplier, yet charge the Earth for the finished item? Sign us up.
That you may never have heard of Panther's Solo 2 is forgivable, because of the 26 cars built only 11 were ever delivered to private buyers. Nonetheless, as an attempt to distance the brand from the polarising machines it had once produced, the Solo promised so much.
What made this easier was marque founder Robert Jankel's sale of Panther, after its collapse in 1980, to Young Chull Kim's South Korea-based Jindo Corporation. While Kim retained some of Jankel's Panther Westwinds legacy, including reimagining the previous Lima as the Ford-engined Kallista, his panacea was the creation of a sub-£10,000, mid-engined sports coupé that could offer enough comfort and practicality for everyday use.
With Ford already on board as an engine supplier for the Kallista, it was logical to extend the deal to include the 1.6-litre, 105bhp CVH unit, as used in the Escort XR3i. An entirely bespoke platform - another departure from Panthers of old - was to be designed by ex-Alan Mann Racing engineer Len Bailey, who had been responsible for the Ford GT40 and GT70 chassis. And, after approaching the Royal College of Art, Kim secured the services of former Vauxhall designer Ken Greenley to create a fresh, distinctive look for the car.
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Denne historien er fra November 2024-utgaven av Classic & Sports Car.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Mick WALSH
'Had someone said that this worn-looking titan would win the most famous old-car event, we would have laughed'
ALFA ROMEO STELVIO QF
Rewriting the rulebook on what an SUV can do, and how it can make you feel
FLOATING INTO THE FUTURE
Citroën's DS-replacing CX was at a cutting edge so sharp it still looks fresh today, and it had the drive to match - as five superb survivors reveal
"It's a car for posing in really"
Broadcaster Michael Buerk reflects on more than three decades with his beloved Jaguar E-type S1 3.8 fixed-head coupé
HONDAS DECK THE HALL
The Japanese firm's Los Angeles collection is now on public display for the first time in two decades
ABSOLUTELY buzzing
Honda's Si Civics brought agile, cheap fun to motorists long before the Type R name got anywhere near a hatchback
THE FEMININE TOUCH
In 1955, General Motors styling guru Harley Earl brought 11 talented women into the male-dominated world of automotive design. What was their lasting impact?
Out on a limb
Panther's innovative Solo 2 was something completely different, both for its maker and the sports car market
Restyles with substance
Panther Westwinds blended a passion for pre-war designs with modern-era mechanical usability and remarkably fine coachbuilding
Dead ringers
The Maserati Kyalami and De Tomaso Longchamp share much, having emerged from the same stable, but are poles apart at heart
