Buy It! This Panoz is Classic and Futuristic
Carbon fiber and aluminum construction? Check. LeMans history? Check. Serviceable at a Ford dealer? Big Check.
The Panoz Esperante is the brainchild of Dan Panoz, who started the company in 1988 from the ashes of the Thompson Motor Company. In 1997 his father Don decided to get into racing to promote the company, and they built the Esperante GTR-1 to race at LeMans. In 2000, using what they learned, they developed the Esperante road car and dubbed it “The Rebirth of the American Sports Car”. This particular Esperante is powered by a 4.6L Cobra V8 sourced from Ford making 320 horsepower, sent to the rear wheels via a Tremec 5-speed gearbox. The 3,300-pound chassis is made from a combination of steel and carbon fiber, while the body panels are made from aluminum. It has only amassed 12,000 miles since it left the factory in 2002, and has been in the stewardship of the original owner until now. Amazingly, Panoz is still building a version of this car and you can go buy one right now; it’s still called the Esperante and it’ll set you back about $156K.
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