Car Spotting: Panther 6 - London 1981

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Only one Panther 6 was ever finished by the factory, it was unveiled at the London Motor Show in October 1977.

The Panther 6 incorporated a mid-mounted twin-turbocharged 8.2-litre Cadillac V8 coupled to a three speed automatic gearbox. Output was a quoted 600bhp and top speed was thought to be around 200mph.

The six-wheeled configuration was inspired by Tyrrell’s similarly-equipped P34 F1 car which Panther company owner, Robert Jankel, had seen at the 1976 British Grand Prix.

Jankel immediately started work on his own six-wheeled model and, in little over twelve months, Panther were at Earls Court taking orders for the £40,000 dream machine.

Four 13 x 7.5-inch wheels were installed at the front and two 16 x 10-inch wheels at the rear. They were shod with custom hand-cut Pirelli P7 tyres.

To justify the price, the car was built with every conceivable luxury to include a dash-mounted TV, telephones in the armrests, digital instrumentation and an impressive hydraulic engine cover.

At nearly five metres long and over two metres wide, the six-wheeled Panther was said to weigh 1300kg.

First registered on October 5th 1977 (using Robert Jankels personal plate, ROB 10), the sole factory built 6 was originally painted black and starred in all the firm’s publicity material.

Shortly after its appearance at the London Motor Show, the colour was changed to a two-tone blue over silver paint scheme and the registration was switched to XPE 384S. This may have been done to give the illusion that more than one car had been built or it could have been at the request of a customer.

Whatever happened, the model was certainly nowhere near developed enough for customer sale and when the 1979 recession hit, Panther went out of business.

The rumour is that Panther sold the car to a Saudi royal who kept it in London. It has subsequently had at least six further UK owners but has not been seen in public for many years.

These photographs were taken in central London during the summer of 1981 but who owned it at the time is unknown.

Later in the 1980s, the exterior colour was changed again, this time to white over dark blue. The interior was re-upholstered in black.

As for the ‘second’ 6 that exists, it was built up with parts purchased from Panther’s receivers including a chassis and some body moulds taken from the show car. The receiver sold them to a chauffeur who put all the bits together in his garage. The car differed in many respects to the factory example. It was advertised for sale in 1983 by Straight Eight on London’s Goldhawk Road… price £90,000!

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Supercar Nostalgia