From extravagant replicas and six-wheeled fantasies to the Kallista and a restyled Dolomite, we chart the ups and downs of Panther.
To most petrol heads, there’s a world of difference between designing the latest high street fashions and running a company producing a range of retrostyled sports cars, but this unusual move didn’t seem to faze Robert Jankel when he left the family fashion business in 1972 to found Panther Westwinds in a factory overlooking the famous Brooklands motor racing circuit. Born in London in 1938, Robert Jankel studied engineering at Chelsea College and went on to build his first car, a customised Austin Seven special, in 1954 before reluctantly joining the family fashion business following an unsuccessful stint as a car salesman.
Even while working as a fashion designer, Jankel was still involved with cars and completely rebuilt a vintage 1930 Rolls-Royce, which he promptly sold in 1970 while on a trip to Spain to a bullfighter for £10,000. With the blessing of his wife Jennifer, the daughter of the famous bandleader Joe Loss, Jankel invested the cash he’d received from the sale of the restored Rolls-Royce and founded Panther Westwinds to build a range of specialised sports cars. The name Panther was chosen for the new concern as Jankel hoped it would lead to his cars conjuring up a similar image to those produced by Jaguar, while the Westwinds part was taken from the name of his family home.
This story is from the January 2018 edition of Classic Car Mart.
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This story is from the January 2018 edition of Classic Car Mart.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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