Panther Lazer | |
---|---|
Overview | |
Manufacturer | Panther Westwinds Ltd |
Production | 1974 1 produced |
Assembly | Weybridge, England |
Designer | Robert Jankel |
Body and chassis | |
Body style | 2-door roadster |
Layout | FR layout |
Powertrain | |
Engine | 5.3L Jaguar V12 |
Transmission | 4-speed manual |
The Lazer was an open roadster sports car produced by the UK's Panther Westwinds company in 1974. Only one was ever sold. The Canadian importer for Panther wanted Robert Jankel to build a unique automobile as a surprise present for his wife. The car was to take its engine, manual gearbox, independent suspension and braking system from the Jaguar XJ12, although somewhere along the way, a 4.2-litre 6-cylinder engine was substituted for the V12, along with a J72-sourced rear axle. It was an odd 3-seat vehicle with a contemporary grand tourer body.
The car's wedgy aluminium bodywork housed a three-abreast passenger compartment, with centrally-mounted instruments being housed in a prominent binnacle that was angled towards the driver. The OTT rear wing gave the car something of a "Wacky Races" appearance, although in overall terms, the car's design was quite respectable, featuring energy absorbing bodywork with box-section crumple zones.
Although a visionary example of automotive design, the woman for whom it had been built rejected this gift from her husband. Delivered in August 1974, the car was promptly returned to Panther's UK premises, where it languished for a couple of years before being sold to the Crown Prince of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, as he was still a teenager. It is now located at the National Car Museum of Iran
The Citroën 2CV is an air-cooled front-engine, front-wheel-drive, economy family car, introduced at the 1948 Paris Mondial de l'Automobile, and manufactured by Citroën for model years 1948–1990.
Chappe et Gessalin is the short-form of the name of French coachbuilder "Carrosserie Chappe Frères et Gessalin". The company built automobile bodies and did contract assembly for other automobile manufacturers. It was also the parent of Automobiles CG, a French automobile maker founded in 1966 which built and sold complete cars under its own name.
The Hillman Avenger is a rear-wheel drive small family car originally manufactured by the former Rootes division of Chrysler Europe from 1970–1978, badged from 1976 onward as the Chrysler Avenger. Between 1979 and 1981 it was manufactured by PSA Peugeot Citroën and badged as the Talbot Avenger. The Avenger was marketed in North America as the Plymouth Cricket and was the first Plymouth to have a four-cylinder engine since the 1932 Plymouth Model PB was discontinued.
The Citroën Ami is a four-door, front-wheel drive economy (B-segment) family car, manufactured and marketed by Citroën from 1961 to 1978.
The Ford Panther platform was an automobile platform that was used by Ford Motor Company from the 1979 to 2012 model years. Following the downsizing of the General Motors B-bodies and C-bodies by two years, the Panther platform marked the end of production of sedans unencumbered by downsizing. Originally slated for discontinuation during the early 1980s, the Panther architecture was used for 33 model years, the longest-produced platform in North American automotive history.
The Ferrari 250 GTO is a GT car produced by Ferrari from 1962 to 1964 for homologation into the FIA's Group 3 Grand Touring Car category. It was powered by Ferrari's Tipo 168/62 Colombo V12 engine.
Trojan was a British automobile manufacturer producing light cars between 1914 and 1965, and light commercial vehicles for a short time.
Monica is the name of a French luxury automobile produced in the commune of Balbigny in the department of Loire between 1972 and 1974 of which just 40 cars were reported to have been made. The Monica 560 V8 was at the time considered to be by many automobile aficionados a magnificent French luxury GT and the natural successor of the earlier well known Facel Vega HK500 V8 GT which also has a Chrysler V8 5905 cc 16V 360bhp engine, and of which just 490 were produced between 1958 and 1961.
The Lancia Beta was an entry-level luxury car produced by Italian car manufacturer Lancia from 1972 to 1984. It was the first new model introduced by Lancia after it had been taken over by Fiat in 1969.
The Ferrari 330 was a series of V12 powered automobiles produced by Ferrari in 2+2 GT Coupé, two-seat Berlinetta, spyder, and race car versions between 1963 and 1968. The name "330" refers to the approximate displacement of each single cylinder in cubic centimeters.
The Ferrari250 Testa Rossa, or 250 TR, is a racing sports car built by Ferrari from 1957 to 1961. It was introduced at the end of the 1957 racing season in response to rule changes that enforced a maximum engine displacement of 3 litres for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and World Sports Car Championship races. The 250 TR was closely related to earlier Ferrari sports cars, sharing many key components with other 250 models and the 500 TR.
The Lamborghini Espada is a 4-seat grand touring coupé built by Italian car manufacturer Lamborghini between 1968 and 1978.
The Ferrari 312T was a Ferrari Formula One car design, based on the 312B3 from 1974. In various versions, it was used from 1975 until 1980. It was designed by Mauro Forghieri for the 1975 season and was an uncomplicated and clean design that responded to mechanical upgrades.
Sylva Autokits is a kit car manufacturer based in Lincolnshire, England. Sylva was founded in 1981 by Jeremy Phillips and has developed and produced a number of small and lightweight sports cars. Sylva cars have won a number of 750 Motor Club Kit Car championships.
The Ferrari 312B is a Formula One racing car designed and built by Scuderia Ferrari. It was the successor to the Ferrari 312 and was used from 1970 until early 1975. The original 312B was developed into the 312B2 and 312B3.
Full-size Ford is a term adopted for a long-running line of Ford vehicles with a shared model lineage in North America. Originating in 1908 with the Ford Model T, the line ended in 2019 with the Ford Taurus, as Ford withdrew from the full-sized sedan segment in North America. Across 111 years, 15 generations, and over 60 million examples of the model line were produced across over 50 model nameplates. By contrast, the longest-running single nameplate worldwide is the Chevrolet Suburban, in use since the 1935 model year.
The Ford Thames 400E is a commercial vehicle that was made by Ford UK and introduced in 1957. Production of the range continued until September 1965, by which time a total of 187,000 had been built. Publicity for the model included hiring the Cy Laurie band to make the promotional film short 'Band Wagon', in 1958, preserved in the 'Ford Film and Video Collection' at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu
The Mazda Grand Familia is an automobile which was produced by Mazda in Japan from 1971 to 1978. It was sold as the Mazda 808 in some export markets including Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, and as the Mazda 818 in many others. The body style configurations offered were a two-door coupé, a four-door sedan, and a five-door station wagon. The Grand Familia offered only inline four cylinder engines. The largely identical rotary-powered versions were marketed as the Mazda Savanna in Japan, with export markets taking this model as the Mazda RX-3.
The Ford Fiesta Mk5 is the fifth generation of the Ford Fiesta supermini built in Europe between April 2002 and 2008. The Fiesta continued to be built in Mexico until 2010 and in Brazil until 2014. Most engines were carried over from the previous Fiesta. This generation became the best-selling Ford Fiesta generation to date. This was the first Fiesta to be sold in Asia and Australasia, where it replaced the Kia-based Festiva.
The Ferrari Daytona SP3 is a limited production mid-engine sports car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari, unveiled on 20 November 2021 for the 2023 model year. The Daytona SP3 is the latest in the "Icona" series of high-performance cars being produced by Ferrari after the Ferrari Monza SP series. 599 examples will be built from 2022 and will be sold for $ 2.25 million each. The Daytona SP3 is powered by a naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 that is shared with the 812 Superfast and marks the first return of Ferrari to naturally aspirated engines for limited edition cars without hybrid electric systems, since the Ferrari Enzo built in 2002.