Panther Westwinds
Panther Westwinds (commonly known as Panther) was a manufacturer of niche sports cars and luxury cars, based in Surrey, United Kingdom. Founded in 1972 by Robert Jankel, the Panther company enjoyed success throughout the 1970s with retro-styled cars based on the mechanical components of standard production cars from other manufacturers.
Notable examples included 1975's Panther Rio: based on the Triumph Dolomite, but appointed to "Rolls-Royce standards" — the cost of which was equivalent to three Triumph Dolomites. Another, and particularly unusual, model was the three-axled Panther 6.
The Panther Westwinds company collapsed in 1980 and was purchased by Young Chull Kim. Production of J72, DeVille and Lima re-started in 1981. In 1982 Young Kim's Jindo Corporation in South Korea constructed the steel chassis platform and aluminium body for a Ford mechanically based car to replace the Vauxhall based Lima. Production of the new two seater to be called Kallista began at Canada Road, Byfleet in February 1983. Production transferred to a factory within the Brooklands racetrack in January 1984 and continued there until April 1988. In July 1987 Jindo sold their interest in the Panther Car Company to SsangYong. A factory in Harlow, Essex was found and in February 1988 Panther Kallista production commenced there while also continuing at Brooklands. Development of the Panther Solo, a modern sportscar commenced in 1983 at Canada Road. A re-design of Solo changed it from a rear drive two seater into a four wheel drive two plus two. In the spring of 1990 SsangYong announced the cessation of Kallista production at Harlow followed in the Autumn by their announcement that production of Solo would also stop. SsangYong transferred the stock of parts to South Korea where they developed a glass re-inforced plastic body for the Kallista to be mounted on a chassis modified to increase interior width by 4cms. The project was not a success although a number of wide body Kallistas were sold in mainland Europe. SsangYong suffered financial difficulties and in 1999 their motor division was absorbed into Daewoo.
In 2001 Jankel bought the Panther name back from Korean ownership. He was finalising a new sports car design when he died in 2005. His son Andrew Jankel described it as an "unfinished symphony". The production should take place in the United States.[1]
List of Panther vehicles
- 1972–81 Panther J.72
- 1974–75 Panther FF
- 1974 Panther Lazer
- 1974–85 Panther De Ville
- 1975–77 Panther Rio
- 1976–82 Panther Lima
- 1977–78 Panther 6
- 1982–90 Panther Kallista
- 1989–90 Panther Solo
External links
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References
- ↑ Chapman, Giles (6 June 2005). "Robert Jankel". The Independent. UK. Retrieved 2 January 2013.