Sometimes a car presents itself and you are not sure what to think of it. A car that does not fit in a box and cannot be interpreted. Is it beautiful now? The yellow license plates are confusing me. You expect blue with such an antique model, right? And is there just a Jaguar Leaper on the nose? It's a Panther J72.
No Kitcar
Panther was an independent brand that once existed. And that's not a Leaper, but a Panther on his grill. Still, the engineering came straight from Jaguar, as did the design. The car was designed with the Jaguar SS100 as an example. The Panther J72 is a lot less impressive and exclusive, but above all from 1982 instead of 1936. A car that car enthusiasts get into discussion about. Some think it's a kit car, others don't. At that time, Panther was indeed an exclusive brand with many celebrities as customers. Still, the Panther Westwinds Company went bankrupt in 1981. A year later, this British Racing Green 4,2 version was sold from the estate. This Panther J72 is therefore the very last left-hand drive version that would leave the building.
Doorzonhuizen and garage boxes
Once we have arrived at the location where the Panther J72 is located, we are in the middle of a 70s neighborhood full of sunny homes and garages. Two of them are kicked open hard. Not much later, the 4,2 six-cylinder, from the Jaguar XK, thunders through the neighborhood. A surreal image.
We drive into a park for the photo shoot where the car comes into its own beautifully. This Panther J72 is monumental only in a park, but also in the current street scene. Admittedly not a Jaguar SS100, but simply a very special car that delivers very good performance. Incredibly rare, with only 368 units built.
Just outside the camera's view, the owner proudly talks about his experiences with the car over the past 26,5 years: weddings, rallies, vacations, thumbs up and not once bad luck! After the photo shoot, the Panther J72 is carefully and routinely returned to its garage and with a dull slam the garage doors close like a boy's book. The world becomes silent and transforms again into sunny houses and garage boxes.
For no gold
We drink some coffee because I am curious about the history of the car. More and more interesting information about the Panther J72 is coming from many different drawers. To the great surprise of the owner, we even find factory notes and import documents. Valuable with these types of cars.
Subscribe to AMK and thus also support our many activities for the classic car and its enthusiasts. In addition, we send you a brand new Auto Motor Klassiek.
Also read:
- Panther Kallista: Spring is coming!
- The Panther Solo. A fantastic miss
- Exaggeration is also a profession. And sometimes even cool: the Panther Six.
- Jaguar SS100. And a party
I really see a “leaper” on 1 of the photos; a jaguar and not a panther.
When the J72 came out, in addition to the Panther Deville, I read a lot about it in automotive magazines and was always very fascinated by the design.
That's why I've always had the feeling that many more have been sold than a few copies.
So as far as promotion to the general public is concerned, they did their best
The successor, the Panther Kallista and Lima, I found a failure of design because of too many modern body elements.
Unfortunately, most people have a fear of standing out in car traffic and prefer to buy a boring gray car.
apparently difficult to get the fenders level.
You understand it, Ton
Another one I didn't know. But how beautiful I think it is! Although the style would go back to 1936 while it is 1982. Awesome! Nowadays people don't build anything so beautiful anymore. Were it just for the sake of achieving a super CW value and forced driving with an electric drive. Understandable, but it's still very sad. I love this model. Dream away for a while….