ARES

PROJECT PANTHER

After presenting the first sketches at the end of last year (here), Ares Design revealed at an event at its Modena facility, the first prototype of Project Panther, a limited-edition super sports car based on the lines of the classic De Tomaso Pantera, one of the most classic and long-lived sports models in history.

Born in the early 1970s, the Italian sports car used Ford V8 engines and was even marketed at American brand dealerships from 1971 to 1975 at the Lincoln and Mercury brand centers, hence in the United States it was known as a model to more of Mercury. However, its commercial race was much longer, it was available in Europe until the nineties.

Ares Design aims to capture the essence of the original sports car with its new model, which will begin production next February at a base price of 715,000 euros per unit. As they will be unique models, the specifications of each client may be unique. The first specimen was presented with an original Pantera GTS, according to the brand, provided by the customer to reproduce his design in the new model.

Under a new body, all crafted in carbon fiber, comes the chassis and mechanical assembly of a Lamborghini Huracán, so the new Panther will feature two more cylinders than the original. The final specifications have not been announced, but it is expected that each specimen will have a power between 640 and 660 hp, which means an improvement over the 610 hp of the hurricane. What we do not know for now is will maintain the system of integral traction.

The new Pantera is not a simple replacement of panels, although in the passenger compartment we find most of the interior of the hurricane. To be able to imitate the profile of the classic model had to delay the base of the A-pillar by 10 centimeters, and thus achieve the correct angle of the windshield, which is much more overturned in the Lamborghini model. Due to this, we had to add a safety cage, so the new model is expected to be about 10% stiffer and up to 100 pounds lighter than the model of Sant'Agata Bolognese.

One of its main characteristics is that it keeps the headlamps retractable, so it is the first model in years that has this system, so widespread at the time and that began to disappear in the 90's. Exactly the original Pantera was one of the last vehicles that counted on this attractive system.

The result is a visibly wider and longer model than the sports car of the 1970s, with longer wheelbase and of course, with a much higher performance. Although this has not been revealed. Ares has not yet revealed the official images of the model.

Autonews