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  1. #1
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    Panther Solo 2

    Panther Solo

    A “could have been” that never really took of. It was presented in 1987 as an AWD mid engined sportscar by the British Panther company, which at that time was already owned by a Korean industrialist. It was actually called the Solo 2 as the Solo 1 was a 1600 cc prototype, which was unlikely to be able to compete with Toyota’s MR2 and was therefore abandoned.
    The new car featured an aluminium and carbonfibre monocoque. Propulsion was done by a 2 litre turbocharged Ford Sierra inline four, giving about 200 bhp. Zero to hundred was said to be done within 7 seconds and topspeed was about 235 kph.

    Despite these promising specs the car was not a success. Some sources say 34 examples exist, other mention that only 12 were ever sold. No further cars were produced by Panther after this.

    Shown is an example presented in one of the second floor halls at the Essen Technoclassica in 2004
    Attached Images Attached Images
    "I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting, but it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously." Douglas Adams

  2. #2
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    what a great story. is panther featured on ucp?
    All about the t-tops

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by TVR IS KING
    what a great story. is panther featured on ucp?
    it is now
    "I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting, but it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously." Douglas Adams

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by henk4
    No further cars were produced by Panther after this.
    what about panther solo 3?

    12 cylinders or walk!

  5. #5
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    that indeed is confusing as you publish the only pic available of the Solo 3. Nowhere could I find any description of the technical differences between the 2 and 3, and reported production figures vary between 40 and 12, and sometimes 12 is being related to the 3. The "Panther club homepage" also does not provide much info.

    The car in my pic was reported sold earlier this year for 14,000 pound.

    Any further info would be welcome, it is always nice to solve mysteries
    "I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting, but it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously." Douglas Adams

  6. #6
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    i don't have any info about that car right now as well, but what i think is that panther solo 3 was only a solo ii with some minor changes to make it look more attractive
    12 cylinders or walk!

  7. #7
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    i have a solo

    solo 1 from what i have heard got cut into 4 parts and they were then used to make the mock up of the solo 2.

    there are about 25 ish solo 2 cars around but only around 13/14 were sold to customers the rest came from pre production cars made for crash testing, customer test drives etc i think most of these pre production cars were given away to people of panther car company. i have read also that one was converted to run a rover v8 and be rear wheel drive but i think it got shipped to korea/japan when panther closed its doors.

    solo 3 in the picture is really a solo 2 in a dress ! the koreans had some of the english panther workers shipped over to refit it as a prototype solo 3 which was planned to have a merc v8 planted into it. i have tried to find out details about it and think its in the korean car makers collection somewhere no dont never to be seen again.

    if anyone else knows anything about the cars would be great to hear from them , my solo2 is number 24.
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  8. #8
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    Welcome to UCP, and congratulations on this rara avis. Judging from the picture there are some more examples existing? Any idea how many? Is there a chassis register? and for most of us, how does it/she actually drive?
    "I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting, but it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously." Douglas Adams

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by panthersolo View Post
    solo 1 from what i have heard got cut into 4 parts and they were then used to make the mock up of the solo 2.

    there are about 25 ish solo 2 cars around but only around 13/14 were sold to customers the rest came from pre production cars made for crash testing, customer test drives etc i think most of these pre production cars were given away to people of panther car company. i have read also that one was converted to run a rover v8 and be rear wheel drive but i think it got shipped to korea/japan when panther closed its doors.

    solo 3 in the picture is really a solo 2 in a dress ! the koreans had some of the english panther workers shipped over to refit it as a prototype solo 3 which was planned to have a merc v8 planted into it. i have tried to find out details about it and think its in the korean car makers collection somewhere no dont never to be seen again.

    if anyone else knows anything about the cars would be great to hear from them , my solo2 is number 24.
    hi , your lucky to have a solo 2 ,i was part of the team that built the first solo 2, i have a photo of me sitting in the solo 1 at the time we built the solo 2,we didnt cut it up to make the prototype ! totaly differnt car, have phoots of the build ,the owner ,yc kim and the designer ken greedly if your intrested?

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by henk4 View Post
    that indeed is confusing as you publish the only pic available of the Solo 3. Nowhere could I find any description of the technical differences between the 2 and 3, and reported production figures vary between 40 and 12, and sometimes 12 is being related to the 3. The "Panther club homepage" also does not provide much info.

    The car in my pic was reported sold earlier this year for 14,000 pound.

    Any further info would be welcome, it is always nice to solve mysteries
    back in the 80's i was part of the team that built the first "solo" 2 working many a long day and night getting it ready for the frankfirt motor show ,at the time panther were owned by yc kim and the car was designed by ken greedly from the royal collage of art auto motive dept.loads of silly storys and a large number of photos of the car in stages of build,the owner of the company and the designer, also the factory inside the brooklands raceing track in westbyefeet in surrey.if any one wants to know more or see the photos just ask . cheers.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by bigstue View Post
    back in the 80's i was part of the team that built the first "solo" 2 working many a long day and night getting it ready for the frankfirt motor show ,at the time panther were owned by yc kim and the car was designed by ken greedly from the royal collage of art auto motive dept.loads of silly storys and a large number of photos of the car in stages of build,the owner of the company and the designer, also the factory inside the brooklands raceing track in westbyefeet in surrey.if any one wants to know more or see the photos just ask . cheers.
    yes please! please just post them here.
    Honor. Courage. Commitment. Etcetera.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by cmcpokey View Post
    yes please! please just post them here.
    ok will dig them out and scan them in .!

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by cmcpokey View Post
    yes please! please just post them here.
    I concur 100%....(and welcome to UCP).
    If you post them through the attachment system, they are here to stay....
    "I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting, but it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously." Douglas Adams

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by bigstue View Post
    back in the 80's i was part of the team that built the first "solo" 2 working many a long day and night getting it ready for the frankfirt motor show ,at the time panther were owned by yc kim and the car was designed by ken greedly from the royal collage of art auto motive dept.loads of silly storys and a large number of photos of the car in stages of build,the owner of the company and the designer, also the factory inside the brooklands raceing track in westbyefeet in surrey.if any one wants to know more or see the photos just ask . cheers.
    hi, id love to see the pictures you have, i will try and add the pics i have somewhere from when i was 10 to see the cars being made in harlow and whos knows you may be in one.

    have you any idea on where some of the parts were from ? i have a list of things from other cars like some alfa spider light clusters, lotus motors for head lights and the mix of ford parts in switches and front suspension but no idea about the rears. i keep looking and thinking the windscreen is from the old panther 6?

  15. #15
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    Here's my new purchase.
    1990 Panther Solo 2 , number 27 on the bodywork it says!


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