A Panther but its not Pink!
August 11th 2008 12:44
Just how good is your memory?
The reason I ask is, do you remember what you were doing in 1977?
Let’s refresh your memory, the original George Lucas blockbuster “ Star Wars “ was released, EMI dropped the Sex Pistols, The Queen ( God save her!) celebrated her Silver Jubilee, Singer Bing Crosby hung up his microphone for the final time, American Roy Sullivan was struck by lightning for the seventh time! And Panther released the Six!
Forget about everything else, the birth of the Panther Six was the most significant event in motoring in 1977. This six wheeled Supercar was designed and built by Robert Jankel of Panther Westwinds.
Prior to this, Panther was probably more famous for building retro pastiches. These vehicles took the form of 1930 style tourers namely the Lima and the Deville. When the Six appeared at the London Motor Show in 1977 it was as forward thinking and radical as the rest of the company’s products were old fashioned.
Inspired by the Tyrell P34 Formula One race car OR perhaps Lady Penelope's Pink Rolls Royce from Thunderbirds. The most obvious feature of the Six was the use of four mini sized (205/40 VR13!) front wheels to steer the vehicle. Powered by a twin turbo-charged 8.2 Cadillac engine and coupled to a three speed automatic gearbox, the Panther was designed more for wafting down at the beachfront rather than pounding down the Autobahns of the world.
For the time, the specification levels of the car itself were high and included such things as television, telephone, air conditioning, on-board fire extinguisher and electric seats and windows.
Panther only ever built two Six’s and they survive to this day.
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