This is the 1997 Panoz Esperante GTR-1 homologation special road car. Panoz was founded in 1989 as ‘Panoz Auto Development’ by Dan Panoz & his father, Don Panoz, took the Panoz brand to the racetrack in 1997 to further expand the brand. The Panoz GTR-1 is a racecar that was developed by both Panoz & Reynard Motorsport for grand tourer endurance racing in 1997. Don Panoz founded the Panoz Motor Sport Group in 1997, and following this, the company commissioned and raced the Panoz GTR-1. The GTR-1 competed in numerous races such as FIA GT Championship, 24 Hours of Le Mans in Europe, United States Road Racing Championship & more. In order to meet homologation requirements, Panoz needed to develop a slightly modified road-legal variant of the GTR-1 to qualify, leaving us with the GTR-1 road car. Automotive Designer, Nigel Stroud was the man responsible for the design for the GTR-1, giving the car a unusual looking front-mounted engine design, resulting in Panoz creating the first purpose-built sports racer with this layout since the 1960s. From 1997-2004 the GTR-1 was raced globally with the car 20 podium finishes in international sportscar racing, 5 overall victories and 9 class victories. This particular one-off road version of the GTR-1 was originally finished in metallic gold. In 1998, the car received a chameleon-like purple/blue finish, and was equipped with gold wheels. In 2015, this car went through a 6-month restoration by Panoz themselves who revamped the car and gave it a new chameleon-inspired green finish with a tan interior with some new upgrades.
How many made? 6 track cars were built, 2 for Team Panoz, 2 for DAMS, and 2 for David Price Racing. This is the only remaining road car built (plus one other possible car for crash tests).
Engine: the race cars used a Ford-based V8 6.0-liter engine delivering an estimated 600+ bhp, but the road variant received a smaller 5.3L engine.
Debut: 1997 12 Hours of Sebring
Top Speed: around 225+ mph
0-60mph: around 3.2 seconds
Photo Credit: @aldairion
Research: @rarecarsonly