Took my car to get it washed between classes today and they were about to clean up this Panoz Esperante. The owner is the guy in jeans and a ball cap, said he has had it 7 years. Didn't ask him about the engine though. I did notice that it was a manual, so at least he chose wisely.

 

y does that remind me of a miata in a way?

 

Funny you mention that, the car looks like an FD, NB, and a Viper had a baby together.

 

Small wheels and high arches don't match very well....

Chris

 

And it came out with FAS and a bonus 21st chromosome.

 

That car looks so much like a miata it's not even funny. Don't mean to thread jack, but speaking of somewhat rare cars...
Sunday I'm driving like 1 mile near my house and I turn on this side road, I see this silver car with a for sale sign on it and I immediately turn off the road to check this out. 1983 DMC Delorean. I think it had 16,900 original miles and the guy wants I think 18,000 for it? Cool car for the time period, but if my calculations are correct, 88mph with no flux capacitor isn't worth that price. I'm pretty sure those things are slow as **** too.

 

IIRC they all use a DOHC 4.6 V8 from the SVT Cobra and they all came in manual. The GTLM got a supercharged 4.6 V8 as well. Nice cars..I see them a lot around here...probably because Panoz is a few miles north of Atlanta

Nice find!

 

I wonder what one of those weighs...probably S2000 weight with 4 more cylinders.

 

me too- Mercedes 190e 2.3 16

 

the only rare car im seeing lately is a bunch of ZR1's ive seen 2 blue, 1 black, 1 red, and 1 yellow

 

Auto was optional, but they did have the 305hp/320tq Cobra engine with a curb weight just under 3300lb. It would easily give most Exotics a run for their money.

 

The Wikipedia article is somewhat discordant. It claims that the base model Esperante weighs both 2,600 and 3,200 lbs. Car & Driver puts the curb weight at 3,398 lbs, which is probably closer to the truth. Both sources agree that the engine produces 320 bhp / 317 ft. lbs.

Motor Trend quotes a curb weight of 3,491 for the GTLM model, which would seem to validate the C&D figure given that MT's car was carrying around a supercharger and supporting hardware.

Sources:
Panoz Esperante - Road Test/Droptop Depot/Car Shopping/Hot Lists/Reviews/Car and Driver - Car And Driver

2004 Panoz Esperante GTLM - Engine, Chassis, Dimensions, Price, Warranty & Performance - Road Test Review - Motor Trend

Panoz Esperante - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Not a bad price if it's in good shape (no rust to the non-stainless frame, etc) given that they currently cost $57,500 new: DeLorean Motor Company New Build

Some selected used examples: DeLorean Motor Company Pre-Owned DeLoreans Prices range from $25k - $45k.

 

I pulled into Walmart last month to pick up a couple gallons of Rotella Syn and a guy in a Panoz drove right in behind me. Guy has a Panoz but still shops Walmart! (maybe he shops Walmart so he can drive a Panoz?) They are a cool car, I like them and wouldn't hesitate to drive one but something about the round bulges of the nose and spoiler below the headlights turns me off.

 

It was in pretty decent shape. The black leather seats had the whiteish stress marks on them from being sat it, and there was a little ding on the passengers side quarter, but other than that it looked pretty clean.

 

When I lived in Colorado, I helped one of my neighbors load up and strap down his son's DeLorean to get it ready to transport it to Cali. Not the funnest car to sit in either.

 

Monster Garage took one of those and turned it into an airplane... Literally.



Pretty cool, actually left the ground too!!

 

Never seen one in auto..and i've seen quite a few. Interesting.
The plain/base ones aren't all that fast..just a little faster than a Mustang GT in a straight line.... but the GTLM...mmmmmm yummy.

 

the headlights look an awful lot like a 993