Robert Jankel built the first Panther, the J72, in 1972 - a Jaguar-powered copy of the 1930s SS 100 Jaguar sports car. The J72 was originally created just for his own use, but he was persuaded to put it into production at his Byfleet factory. It was based on Jag hardware with XJ suspension, six or 12-cylinder engines and manual or automatic transmission.
The J72 was pretty dreadful to drive, but it was beautifully made, and in V12 form it went frighteningly well with a top speed of 130mph - beyond this, the brick-like aerodynamics started to take effect. Presumably if you got enough wind underneath those big front wings, the J72 would eventually lift off.
J72 owners included Liz Taylor and author Frederic Forsyth. Panther made a surprising 426 J72s, but dropped the model to concentrate on the much cheaper, higher volume Lima and its successor, the Kallista.
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