The British have always had a strangely keen eye on making cars as luxurious and as exclusive as they can, in an almost polar opposite to what Americans tend to do. We took the AC Ace roadster, jammed V8s into them and created one of, if not the most legendary names in racing history. In return, in a shed somewhere near Surrey, several gentlemen, who together probably made up the entire operation of Panther Westwinds, dreamed up one of the most jaw-dropping oddballs we’ve never heard about.
Panther Westwinds was started by Robert Jankel, a man who moonlighted as a car tuner in lieu of his day job in the textiles industry. His first concept was simple: make one car a year, build it as bespoke, loaded and desirable as you could, and sell it high. His luck in 1971 with his first car, the Panther, caused him to walk away from textiles and to go full-time into vehicles. Initially, there were plenty of successes, mainly in the form of cars that utilized modern running gear but looked classical, akin to a Morgan, and there was one model, the Rio, that was essentially a Triumph Dolomite upgraded “to Rolls-Royce standards.” Think of that what you will.
The 6 came about after Jankel attended the 1976 British Grand Prix and laid eyes upon the six-wheeled Tyrell P34 race car, one of the most radical designs ever entered in Formula 1. Naturally, gears started turning in his head and when he returned to his shop, he moved a select group of workers to a different location and put them to work. Using two Vauxhall designers to assist in the creation, the 6 took form. In order to support a 200mph claim, Jankel chose the biggest powertrain system available, the 500ci Cadillac and THM-425 automatic out of the Eldorado, converted it into a rear-drive setup, and jammed it in. To kick up the power, a twin-turbo setup using a blow-through carb was utilized to bring the 8.2L up to a flaunted 600 horsepower. Up front, Vauxhall A-arms at all four points took care of the suspension. Instead of 10-inch wheels, Jankel chose to run 13-inch wheels, and managed to convince Pirelli to make special sets of their P7 tire to work on the application. The interior was kitted up to the nines, with a television, telephone, leather worthy of Aston Martin and (reportedly), a digital dash.
How did it do? Two were made. Just two, and one of the cars was completed after Panther went into receivership in 1979. One white, one black. The black car is reportedly in the Middle East, and the white car was restored after languishing in a Greek storage yard for a decade. Visually, they are polarizing, but in the end they are a curiosity and nothing more…at least until one of the owners proves that the car will indeed do 200 miles an hour.
Very interesting story, worth looking into further. What is it about British car companies and the word “receivership”? But the guy with a wealthy-family advantage and apparently a can-do attitude did some amazing stuff both before and after these two cars were made.
I’ll take the black one, without the 3″ apron thing in front of the windshield just to hide the wiper. I’m sure the fancy interior was for people who wouldn’t be looking under whatever Brits call the engine cover to see all the “kit car” there. Whatever the top speed claim, I imagine it highly unlikely that bizarre chassis was ever developed enough to bounce along much beyond freeway speeds.