Panther Kallista

The Panther Car Company was the brainchild of Robert Jankel who enthusiastically produced a range of bespoke cars aimed at the smallest of niche markets.

A Jaguar SS100 lookalike in the form of the ‘J72’, a Bugatti Royale style limousine called the ‘De Ville’ and the Panther ‘6’ which had more than the normal quota of wheels all left the Surrey works based near Brooklands, along with the ferociously expensive ‘Rio’ which was a lavishly equipped version of the Triumph Dolomite. The most commercially successful product was the Lima, an attractive traditionally styled open two seater using a bespoke chassis and Vauxhall mechanics. Panther set up a new factory inside the Brooklands circuit to cope with demand, but cash flow problems in the early ‘80s meant that the firm was sold to a Korean businessman Young Kim.

Following further investment, the Lima emerged as the Kallista, this time with an aluminium body tub and Ford running gear. Available with either a 1.6-litre Ford Pinto engine or 2.8-litre V6 Cologne unit, they carried on with some success, eventually moving to new facilities in Harlow. Alas, the costs associated in developing their next car, the advanced and very attractive Panther ‘Solo’ finally proved too much, the firm having offered a notable array of charmingly ‘off-beat’ cars to the market over the years, sealing their place in motoring history.

This 1986 Kallista 2.8-litre automatic was purchased by the vendor in 2008 and is only being sold as he is moving to New Zealand. Its previous owner had kept it since 1991 and clearly looked after it well. The indicated mileage reads 30,700 miles and according to the vendor it “runs and drives very well”. It comes with a good hood and a tonneau cover, plus its original hand book and a very comprehensive parts/build book. MOTd until March 2014 it looks particularly attractive in its blue and gold livery, magnolia leather upholstery finished off with a nice 'Nardi' steering wheel and lashings of burr walnut.