The Panther Solo was a mid-engined Super Car made by the British company Panther Westwinds. It was available as a two-seat coupé similar in proportions to Lancia's Montecarlo and originally went on sale in 1986. It had the option of additional rear seats to make it a 2+2, the car was largely made with Ford mechanicals. Founded in 1972 by Robert Jankel, the Panther company enjoyed success throughout the 1970's with retro-styled cars based on the mechanical components of standard production cars from other manufacturers. The Panther Solo was fondly known as the "Mini-Ferrari". A true four-wheel drive Super Car to rival the best, however, its late introduction, high price and relatively poor build quality deterred would be buyers. By the time the company shut down, only around 25 cars had been built.
The first prototype called the Panther 1 was displayed at the London Motor Show in 1984. It was to use the Ford Escort 130 hp turbocharged engine, but anticipating intense competition with the just launched Toyota MR2 the company had to change track and develop a more viable and competitive car. The Solo 2 was developed and a total of 25 cars were produced which included 12 customer cars and the rest for demonstration & crash tests. The first time the public got to see the Panther Solo was at the 1984 Birmingham Motor Show and it was a roaring hit. The Solo 2 used the Ford Sierra RS 1,993 cc (121.6 cu in) engine developing 204 hp which was twice the horsepower of the Solo 1. It was mated to the Borg-Warner T-5, which drove a Ferguson four-wheel drive system modified by Panther to use XR 4 x 4 components, including both differentials using viscous coupling to limit slippage. The pop-up headlights of the Solo 1 were replaced with ones which rolled open on their longitudinal axis. The car could sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 6.8 seconds, and to the 100 mph in just over 18 seconds, certainly not earth shattering but just thereabouts in the Super Car league, it has a top speed of 144 mph (231 km/h).
The advanced chassis (by Len Bailey, who also designed the Ford GT40 chassis among others) was constructed from steel sheets folded and tack welded, while the upper body was made from aluminium honeycomb sandwiched between multiple sheets of impregnated glass fiber bonded with thermo-setting epoxy which was in turn glued to the chassis with aerospace grade adhesive. This structural fabrication imparted superb torsional rigidity to the car which was class leading of any production car at that time. The suspension was an all independent units using fabricated twin wishbones in the front and Escort front suspension parts at the rear. A Sierra manual rack and pinion system took care of the steering and the all-disc brakes were also Ford sourced.
Last but not least, one of the greatest regrets in automotive history was this car, the Panther Solo had one great quality though, it was by far one of the best handling cars ever made, and that is a mighty credential for this great automobile to be up here in these pages.