Aluminum Intensive Vehicle: 1996 Panoz AIV Roadster Prototype Chassis #002

(all pictures from seller)

While the Panoz AIV lost quite a bit of its original beauty compared to its predecessor, the later AIV Roadster is still a very pure sports car and is as good or better a performer. 

The car featured here is the only Panoz ever painted Toreador Red, was custom-built for the parents of company founder Danny Panoz, was used in the factory promotional video "Drive and You Shall Fly" that was distributed to potential customers in 1996 and 1997, and was featured in the AIV debut at Chateau Elan Winery in September 1996, where the likes of Pete Brock, Adrian Reynard and Jack Roush drove it. It was then taken to Detroit to become the EPA certification car, then was parked in the back of a shop at the Panoz factory and rarely used. 

This car has 4,900 original miles, has Roush alloy wheels, is one of 4 prototype cars built in 1996, features a Panoz-designed 4-wheel independent suspension, a 305-horsepower, 4.2-liter, 32-valve aluminum-block Ford Mustang Cobra V8 and a Tremec T45 5-speed manual transmission, and is made of aluminum with fiberglass-composite fenders. 

Factory specifications follow:

   Panoz AIV Roadster specs:

• Transmission: 5-Speed Manual

• Engine 4600cc (Ford)DOHC V-8

• Power (bhp) 305 @ 5800 rpm

• Torque 300 lb-ft @ 4800 rpm

• Redline: 6800 rpm

• Miles Per Gallon: 17/23 mpg

• Curb Weight: 2570 lbs

• Performance (0-60mph) 4.3sec

• Performance (0-100mph) 11.7 sec

• Top Speed (mph) 140

• Braking, 0-60 mph: 119 ft 

• Place Of Manufacture: Braselton, Georgia (USA)

Find it here for $32,900 USD at WireWheel, and enjoy this video of a production Panoz AIV:

Northern Neon: The Lost Facade of Don Wheaton Chevrolet

In early 2010 I was in Alberta, Canada visiting a friend. While we were in the capital city of Edmonton he showed me Don Wheaton Chevrolet-Buick-Cadillac-GMC Ltd., a dealership which has been in business in the same location on Whyte Ave since 1963. The building had undergone few changes in its 40-plus years and had been considered a fixture of the neighborhood. Even in 2010 it had retained its Oldsmobile and Camaro signage. Despite the vintage exterior, Wheaton's dealership was the largest GM distributor in Western Canada and one of the biggest sellers of Corvettes in Canada.

Photos by Jay Wollenweber

In 2011, though, progress came calling. General Motors in their infinite wisdom demanded that Wheaton modernize to the bland new corporate dealership look or risk losing the new car franchise. People complained, but GM prevailed. Wheaton renovated, removing all of the old neon signage and refacing the building. They included some neon on the corner of 82 Ave and Whyte, comprising the corporate logo, and the old signs on the roof remain because the building is a city landmark. It's not all bad - the service department is finally modernized and enlarged, the rooftop inventory lot is improved and the showroom is all new inside. Allegedly the corner sign is a replica of the original 1963 dealer sign (albeit a rather ugly one in my opinion), and plans included restoring the rotating "CHEV" sign on the roof which had been stationary for years. Renovations were completed in September 2012. But otherwise the dealership has lost much of the retro flavor made it unique among GM dealers. It's just as well. Don Wheaton passed away shortly after Christmas in 2011.


Photo courtesy Don Wheaton Chevrolet

A True American Sports Car: 1993 Panoz Roadster #007

(all photos from seller, wirewheel.com)

While the Chevrolet Corvette may be regarded by many as "America's sports car", many people overlook the Panoz, a high-quality and exclusive sports car made in the state of Georgia. Panoz cars are arguably closer in nature to the likes of Porsche, Aston Martin, Ferrari and Lotus than the Corvette and Dodge/SRT Viper are, yet they are largely unknown outside of enthusiast circles.

With a high-output Ford 302 V8, 5-speed manual transmission, lightweight construction and engineering derived from racing experience, the Panoz Roadster was a great performer, and was no crude glorified kit car like the Consulier. Nor did it have the countless teething problems and excessive complication of the Vector.

This car was the 7th of 44 made before the design was refined into the AIV, has 35 actual miles, was part of a collection since day one, has the optional tonneau cover, original brochure and bill of sale, and may be the lowest-mileage Panoz car in existence.

A video of the Panoz Roadster being tested for drifting is seen here, I will leave it to the reader to make a judgment.

The text of the authenticity letter from the Panoz factory follows:

19^th day of July 2012

This document will authenticate the provenance by the Panoz factory of the Panoz Roadster VIN# 1P9PR2820PB213007 built and shipped to Mr Milan Puskar for his approval on 09/10/1993 and consequent purchase on 3rd November 1993. Mr Puskar was a long time friend and partner of Dr Donald Panoz and he placed this car into storage and full maintenance preservation as a collectable asset, the car was often used for display in various events around Morgantown, the car was never driven for more than a fraction of a mile on any occasion over the years and then only as a pert of its maintenance program as a drivable collectable. The car had been used for display in recent years at a friend of Mr Puskars exotic car dealership for display only.The roadster was returned to its birth place at Panoz Auto Development in Hoschton Georgia in the spring of 2012 and was completely checked out and serviced with new fluids and a full tune up. This was done by the very same staff that had built the car in 1992 and still work at the Panoz factory handling service, maintenance and repair of Panoz vehicles.

Sincerely, John A. Leverett

Director, Sales/marketing

Panoz Auto Development Company

Panoz Automotive Group

Find it here for $32,500 USD at WireWheel in Florida.

Forbidden Fruit: 1998 TVR Griffith 500 Blackpool Edition in the USA

final edit, 2/13/2013: SOLD! Again, we hope we influenced it, and we'd love to hear from the new owner!

edit, 1/18/2013: This car is on hold by the seller. We hope that we helped influence this move.

(all photos from the seller, wirewheel.com)

This rare British roadster, with only 18,000 miles, and a model never sold in the USA, somehow ended up at a British sports car specialist in Florida. While still too new for legal ownership in the US, it just turned 15 years old, so this car can be legally imported and enjoyed by Canadians, it can be repatriated to the UK very easily, and there are many other places that this car can be owned and driven legally. Just 10 more years before it can come to the US, assuming that a politician with protectionist or uberenvironmentalist intents does not overturn the 21/25 exemption in favor of something stricter or no imports at all, or if 21/25 is liberalized into something like what Canada has for private vehicle imports.

The design is unusual but appealing, the engine is a 5.0-liter, 340hp Rover V8 with fuel injection and backed by a 5-speed Tremec manual transmission, it is fully loaded with leather seats, air conditioning, an alarm system and power windows/locks, and being a British car manufactured for Japanese exports, it is right-hand drive. 

$43,900 USD buys this car, but Insomniac Garage does not recommend that an American purchases the car unless they export it to a vacation home or timeshare in Canada or some other place that it is legal, registers it there and does not bring it to the US until it is legal.