Out on a limb

Panther's innovative Solo 2 was something completely different, both for its maker and the sports car market

- SIMON HUCKNALL

There is no point in even attempting to cross-reference the Panther Solo 2 with what you have seen on the previous eight pages. Super-advanced and utterly pastiche-free, it was a volte-face product for Panther. Want to ditch your Jaguar-based retro car for a serious Lotus and Porsche rival? Yes, please. Design a bespoke high-tech platform for it, employing materials unseen before in road-car manufacturing? No problem. Power the model with an off-the-shelf engine from a blue-collar supplier, yet charge the Earth for the finished item? Sign us up.

That you may never have heard of Panther's Solo 2 is forgivable, because of the 26 cars built only 11 were ever delivered to private buyers. Nonetheless, as an attempt to distance the brand from the polarising machines it had once produced, the Solo promised so much.

What made this easier was marque founder Robert Jankel's sale of Panther, after its collapse in 1980, to Young Chull Kim's South Korea-based Jindo Corporation. While Kim retained some of Jankel's Panther Westwinds legacy, including reimagining the previous Lima as the Ford-engined Kallista, his panacea was the creation of a sub-£10,000, mid-engined sports coupé that could offer enough comfort and practicality for everyday use.

With Ford already on board as an engine supplier for the Kallista, it was logical to extend the deal to include the 1.6-litre, 105bhp CVH unit, as used in the Escort XR3i. An entirely bespoke platform - another departure from Panthers of old - was to be designed by ex-Alan Mann Racing engineer Len Bailey, who had been responsible for the Ford GT40 and GT70 chassis. And, after approaching the Royal College of Art, Kim secured the services of former Vauxhall designer Ken Greenley to create a fresh, distinctive look for the car.