In the present day’s Good Value or No Cube Panoz is a real roadster, providing minimal provision for inclement climate or occupant consolation. Let’s see if this uncommon sunny-day-special’s value rains on our parade.
Whereas lots of you derided yesterday’s 1976 Cadillac Seville as a “grandpa’s automobile” or insulted it as an “Previous-illac,” its worth on the vendor’s $7,500 asking value couldn’t be denied. That earned the elder Caddy a strong 68 p.c Good Value win.
If that Seville was too sluggish and staid to your tastes, then possibly right now’s 1998 Panoz AIV Roadster will show extra your cup of spiked Pink Bull. That is, in spite of everything, one of the vital minimalist, wild, and, therefore, thrilling sports activities automobiles cash can purchase. We’ll get to how a lot cash that may absorb a minute. First, nonetheless, we have to get an concept of simply what this factor is.
The Panoz household—and that’s pronounced pay-nose—made its fortune in prescription drugs, however motor racing was a far larger ardour. Led by Dan Panoz and his father, Don, who handed away in 2018, Panoz has constructed quite a few open and closed-wheel racers in addition to a handful of highway automobiles.
The AIV Roadster was one of many earliest of these avenue automobiles and options an extruded aluminum structure into which the drivetrain from a Ford Mustang Cobra has been bolted. Meaning the automobile has the 305-horse DOHC 32-valve 4.6 V8, five-speed handbook gearbox, and impartial rear suspension of Ford’s late ’90s snake-bit pony.
That is all in a automobile that suggestions the scales at simply round 2,500 kilos. That’s made attainable by the in depth use of aluminum within the construction, which additionally provides the automobile its AIV moniker, indicating that it’s an Aluminum Intensive Car.
There’s not all that a lot else to the automobile, actually. The cabin is accessed by two small doorways that sit atop raised gunwales and bracket a pair of slim seats and an appreciably extensive heart tunnel. Extra Mustang bits might be discovered right here, together with the instrument cluster, which has been shifted to a driver-oriented place within the heart of the sprint. That sits above the usual Ford HVAC controls and a pair of off-the-shelf air vents. There are not any airbags, because the Roadster’s restricted manufacturing numbers allowed Panoz to dodge that requirement, however there are seatbelts. These pull out from the automobile’s heart, buckling on the surface in reverse trend from the norm. In whole, 176 AIV Roadsters had been bought, making this automobile a considerably uncommon alternative.
In keeping with the advert, it’s in nice form as effectively. That is actually little greater than a toy (though way more helpful than final week’s dragster), and as such, it must be in first rate form to do its obligation at automobile reveals and driving occasions. These automobiles did include a crude prime and facet curtain association, though the vendor doesn’t inform us if these are extant on this automobile. It does have the small vent wings on the A-pillars, which assist cope with the wind buffeting within the cabin.
It additionally seems to have first rate tread on its tires, all its correct trim, and no apparent points with the bodywork or inside. The vendor claims the automobile has 41,000 miles on the ticker tape and that it’ll include a clear title. They’re asking $39,500 for the sale, which is about half what this Roadster went for when new.
That’s probably not a helpful comparability, although. Neither is making an attempt to see how this automobile will stack up, price-wise, in opposition to different sports activities automobiles—like Porsche’s 911—because it’s simply too totally different a beast. Meaning we’ve to take it at face worth, and that additional means all of us have to vote on whether or not or not this Panoz will get a move at that $39,500 asking.
What do you say? Is {that a} whole lot for a uncommon, rudimentary Roadster with an fascinating historical past? Or is that an excessive amount of for what’s little greater than a really quick toy?
You determine!
Fb Market out of Oregon Metropolis, Oregon, or go right here if the advert disappears.
H/T to Invoice Lyons for the hookup!
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