It's been a while since we've heard anything from Panoz Auto Development. The American sportscar manufacturer came onto the scene in the late Nineties with their AIV Roadster, and later went onto create various road and race versions of the Mustang-based Esperante. Around the same time company founder Danny Panoz started building cars, his father Don Panoz also started the the American Le Mans Series, vaulting the family business from automaker and race team to race series organizer.
In the past few years, Panoz has crafted several Le Mans prototype racers and even some IndyChamp Car chassis. The company has achieved limited success with its front-engined LMP1 program, but the Esperante GT-LM racecar made history when it took GT2 class victories at both the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans back in 2006. More recently, the company had been focusing its energies on a revolutionary new front-engine LMP1 design called Abruzzi to compete with the field of mid-engine rivals. Reports from the motorsport world, however, now indicate that Panoz has aborted the Abruzzi project in favor of a new GT2 program. But as we all know, GT racers are based on road cars, and that's exactly what Panoz appears to have in the works.
According to Autosport, Panoz decided against a purpose-built racing prototype in favor of a road car, and from that they plan make a racing version. Exactly what the car will be like is up to speculation at this point, but we're looking forward to finding out.
How to sell an exclusive, expensive sports car: release mocked up digital images, create the track version first, and use it to develop the streeter. FortuneSport, brainchild of Teritius Fortune, is working with the Elan Motorsports Technologies arm of the Panoz Group to build the carbon fiber vehicles with exotic spec sheets. Available first will be the non-street version, the Rt.R. After ponying up an initial deposit, WorldCarFans says $200,000, a trip to Atlanta for pampering in luxury accomodations while the vehicle is fitted expressly to your specs makes each vehicle essentially a custom. The important details: 6-liter V8, sub-2000 pound weight (1650 lbs for the Rt.R, 1980 lbs for the Rt.S), 350 hp in street trim, 510 for the track, and 0-62 mph in four seconds flat for the Rt.S. The Rt.R should be significantly faster. Sounds especially good for $85,000, though we'll have to wait until at least 2010, and possibly even longer.
Once the Rt.Rs are in owners hands, track day support at non-pro events will be offered, as well as at FortuneSport events coordinated with Skip Barber. One bit that's a bit confusing to follow is that FortuneSport says the deposits are refundable once the program runs its course in three to five years. How FortuneSport will use some of the initial deposits to build the racers, which will then serve as prototypes for the Rt.S street version, and then turn around and hand back all the money, isn't totally clear. Hmmm. Not that this affects us, seeing as how our piggy banks are a little light to afford the lightweight, high powered vehicle, anyway.
We doubt Danny Panoz envisioned anyone attaching wings to an Esperante, let alone actually flying one. Of course, throw Jesse James of West Coast Choppers into the equation and anything can happen. This 2004 Panoz Esperante actually took flight on an episode of Monster Garage, making it off the ground for 280 feet before touching down safely. The interior has been stripped to make room for a full roll cage, a propeller is mounted in the trunk, and the 36' wings are handmade.
more ...
