Panoz AIV - one of the fastest production cars in the USA

Panoz is a name that rarely appears in automotive news these days, but that doesn't mean we can't think of it. We are sure that there are many people in the world who want to become the owner of an original sports car produced by an exclusive automaker from Georgia.


Panoz Automotive was founded in 1989 and over its history has created some interesting cars with state-of-the-art technology and impressive performance. They eventually managed to gain a reputation as America's premier track-focused automaker. Therefore, the chances of seeing a Panoz on the race track are much higher than spotting it just driving down the street.


When creating their cars, Panoz were guided by the design principles of the Lotus and Allard roadsters built in the 1950s. Heavy internal components are also kept to a minimum to reduce weight and improve performance.

Panoz AIV was first introduced in 1996. It was a production model - a no-frills car, no roof, with modern conveniences and an automatic transmission, but still capable of delivering an exhilarating driving experience.

Other features that really set it apart from the crowd of Mustangs, Camaros and Challengers of the mid-1990s included its innovative use of aluminum. At the time of launch, it was the first vehicle in the production of which this material was used so massively, due to which it received the name AIV (Aluminum Intensive Vehicle). Approximately 70% of the car's structure, including the chassis, engine and body, is made from this metal, which not only provided greater strength, rigidity and corrosion resistance to the body, but also helped reduce overall weight and make the car unrivaled in terms of performance.


The use of light alloys resulted in a reduction in curb weight to 2570 pounds (about 1170 kg). The Roadster's retro-styled exterior was more focused on performance rather than practicality. It was powered by the 4,6-liter all-aluminum Ford DOHC V8 engine from the Mustang SVT Cobra, which produced 305 horsepower. With. and had a maximum torque of about 407 N*m. Thanks to it, the car could accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4,3 seconds and reach a top speed of 140 mph (225 km/h).



Panoz AIV coped with this task faster because it was much lighter. More precisely, it was no less than 370 kg behind the Ford car.

However, there was still a fly in the ointment. The assembly process of the Panoz AIV was very labor-intensive: each unit required more than 350 hours of intensive work by specialists, which explains the low production volumes. And it probably justifies its high cost - the price tag for a brand new Panoz AIV was an impressive $65 at that time.


Between 1996 and 1999, only 176 examples were hand-built, plus 6 prototypes. This, among other things, determines the collectible value of cars today. Luckily, thanks to aluminum construction and Ford's reliable V8 engine, many of them are still in excellent condition.

Now one of the family of the fastest production cars in the United States from 1997 is up for auction. Unfortunately, nothing is known at the moment about the mileage and estimated price of this lot.