Panoz Esperante GTR-1: The Race Car You Wish You Knew
Legendary challenger to the European overlords has 600 American-built horsepower in a bespoke chassis manufactured by a little-known company.
The Panoz Esperante GTR-1 was a race car was built for endurance events back in the late 1990s. At the time, the GT1 class of the FIA GT Championship was all the rage. If you were a team involved in endurance racing during this period, you wished and hoped you were in GT1. When this championship series began in 1997, big manufacturers like Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, and McLaren were ready with their entries for the new class. Panoz, a small and relatively new automotive company from Georgia, was ready to do the same. Most of the competitors decided for a rear or mid-engine layout for improved balance. However, Panoz wanted to retain the styling of his Esperante sports car and they took the necessary steps to be different.
Thus, the car was front-engine, a fact that surprised the whole grid. For this reason, the car did not look like any other on track. Focusing on its extremely long and low front-end, it was recognizable by a large bulge in the middle of the hood as the intake. It really was a unique and iconic aesthetic for the little known manufacturer. Two of these cars have been revived for a couple of laps around Circuit Paul Richard for a historic car racing event. Thanks to the YouTube channel of 19Bozzy92, we get to see a couple of GTR-1s go head to head with over 350 other historic vehicles. What a sight.
Wondering what powerplant the Panoz team used for the GTR-1? Staying in theme, it was a Ford V8 that was developed in collaboration with Roush Racing, the legendary NASCAR team. They constructed a 6.0L V8 which generated a healthy 600 HP at 8,000 RPM with a 6-speed sequential transmission. The way the GTR-1 rows through gears on the long straights of Paul Richard is without a doubt intoxicating.
When it came to actual racing, the Panoz GTR-1 was actually not nearly successful as the manufacturer had initially hoped. Only a total of 6 of these vehicles were built and one extra road-going GTR-1 was built for homologation. With the 6 cars being split among 3 different teams across the world, logistical issues arose. While the car did manage to win some races, it never was capable of finishing the 24 Hours of Le Mans or other major endurance events.
Still, even if the car wasn’t the most successful, it was stunningly unique and representative of its time. Sometimes, looking good and sounding good earn just as many points with the fans as securing podiums. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug.
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