Panther DeVille. Something A Little Unusual
Discussion
So I’m afraid this isn’t a new toy, I’ve actually had it for about 2 ½ years, but first chance I’ve really had to do a little write up.
I’ve always had a soft spot for quirky cars & the DeVille, undoubtedly ticked that box! I bought the car back in September/October 2013 as I’d always had one “on my radar”, although perhaps unsurprisingly given the build numbers they don’t come up very often. When this particular car came up I was actually away doing a Euro tour & literally bought the car over the phone whilst driving down the Autobahn, to the slight annoyance of my passenger .
About 10 days after arriving back on UK shores, it arrived. Mark, from Car Storage Scotland (Who are fantastic by the way) reversed it off the truck and down the drive. As expected, I loved it. The ridiculously long bonnet almost dwarfing my Superleggera that was parked next to it. I had also just bought a Countach around the same time which should have arrived at the same time, but sadly was held up a few more weeks
First thing first was to go fill the car up with fuel because as always seems to be the case, the tank was practically empty. The car was & still is, delightful to drive. An absolute waft mobile that is ludicrously comfortable. As is perhaps to be expected with cars of this age, it was not all plain sailing , and there were a couple little niggly issues that we had to iron out. So I used the car as often as I could over the next year and ironed out all the teething issues, including gifting the beast a new exhaust system that is probably the longest thing I have ever seen, it quite literally looks like a metal anaconda, & did a little bit of paintwork. After that she was all good to go.
I have to say, I’ve never been in a car that gets more attention than the DeVille, I’ve found I get a lot of people coming up and looking at the car, but most of them have no idea what it is. I’ve literally only met a handful of people who actually knew what it was, which is perhaps inevitable give how rare they are. I believe only 47 saloons were produced, with 11 convertibles & 1 coupe. I love the car, it’s been a good bit of fun over the past couple years, including all the Cruella DeVille jokes,A friend of mine even jokingly bought me a fur coat that Christmas!
Here was a couple pictures taken on a recent photoshoot.
I’ve always had a soft spot for quirky cars & the DeVille, undoubtedly ticked that box! I bought the car back in September/October 2013 as I’d always had one “on my radar”, although perhaps unsurprisingly given the build numbers they don’t come up very often. When this particular car came up I was actually away doing a Euro tour & literally bought the car over the phone whilst driving down the Autobahn, to the slight annoyance of my passenger .
About 10 days after arriving back on UK shores, it arrived. Mark, from Car Storage Scotland (Who are fantastic by the way) reversed it off the truck and down the drive. As expected, I loved it. The ridiculously long bonnet almost dwarfing my Superleggera that was parked next to it. I had also just bought a Countach around the same time which should have arrived at the same time, but sadly was held up a few more weeks
First thing first was to go fill the car up with fuel because as always seems to be the case, the tank was practically empty. The car was & still is, delightful to drive. An absolute waft mobile that is ludicrously comfortable. As is perhaps to be expected with cars of this age, it was not all plain sailing , and there were a couple little niggly issues that we had to iron out. So I used the car as often as I could over the next year and ironed out all the teething issues, including gifting the beast a new exhaust system that is probably the longest thing I have ever seen, it quite literally looks like a metal anaconda, & did a little bit of paintwork. After that she was all good to go.
I have to say, I’ve never been in a car that gets more attention than the DeVille, I’ve found I get a lot of people coming up and looking at the car, but most of them have no idea what it is. I’ve literally only met a handful of people who actually knew what it was, which is perhaps inevitable give how rare they are. I believe only 47 saloons were produced, with 11 convertibles & 1 coupe. I love the car, it’s been a good bit of fun over the past couple years, including all the Cruella DeVille jokes,A friend of mine even jokingly bought me a fur coat that Christmas!
Here was a couple pictures taken on a recent photoshoot.
A few years ago I got chatting to a local garage owner. He used to work for panther and told me something of the design of this one,
everything was laid out on the workshop floor and mocked up with some wheels and seats and chalk on the floor. They had some maxi door at the back of the workshop and they were duly propped against the seat. So the Maxi doors made it to production. I can't help thinking that this must have been a place and time I'd love to have worked.
He showed me a rather nice defender 90. He had just dropped a big block into a corvette for a customer and asked the customer what he should do with the old corvette engine. Said custom returned a few days later with the 90 to be the recipient of the corvette 5.7l v8.
Looks fantastic.
everything was laid out on the workshop floor and mocked up with some wheels and seats and chalk on the floor. They had some maxi door at the back of the workshop and they were duly propped against the seat. So the Maxi doors made it to production. I can't help thinking that this must have been a place and time I'd love to have worked.
He showed me a rather nice defender 90. He had just dropped a big block into a corvette for a customer and asked the customer what he should do with the old corvette engine. Said custom returned a few days later with the 90 to be the recipient of the corvette 5.7l v8.
Looks fantastic.
Edited by OverSteery on Wednesday 20th January 11:40
ISTR that these were build in 6 cyl 4.l and v12 5.3l? This is that right - which is yours. auto a assume? I think for this car it should be (and I don't often say that).
Edit
Just looked, Wikipedia says that the doors were landcrab - I could have sworn they were maxi, but I must remember wrong.
Edit
Just looked, Wikipedia says that the doors were landcrab - I could have sworn they were maxi, but I must remember wrong.
Edited by OverSteery on Wednesday 20th January 11:47
OverSteery said:
ISTR that these were build in 6 cyl 4.l and v12 5.3l? This is that right - which is yours. auto a assume? I think for this car it should be (and I don't often say that).
Edit
Just looked, Wikipedia says that the doors were landcrab - I could have sworn they were maxi, but I must remember wrong.
If memory serves, Landcrab and Maxi doors were the same item - hence the slightly peculiar proportions of the Maxi.Edit
Just looked, Wikipedia says that the doors were landcrab - I could have sworn they were maxi, but I must remember wrong.
Edited by OverSteery on Wednesday 20th January 11:47
Carfield said:
OverSteery said:
ISTR that these were build in 6 cyl 4.l and v12 5.3l? This is that right - which is yours. auto a assume? I think for this car it should be (and I don't often say that).
Edit
Just looked, Wikipedia says that the doors were landcrab - I could have sworn they were maxi, but I must remember wrong.
If memory serves, Landcrab and Maxi doors were the same item - hence the slightly peculiar proportions of the Maxi.Edit
Just looked, Wikipedia says that the doors were landcrab - I could have sworn they were maxi, but I must remember wrong.
Edited by OverSteery on Wednesday 20th January 11:47
However a statement "slightly peculiar proportions of the Maxi", cannot go unchallenged
Always remember the deVille from the 70's Top Trumps sets.
I'm sure I also remember Panther having a stand at one of the old Earl Court motor shows back then as well.....sure that the only time I've seen a deVille 'in the flesh'...?
I remember the Panther Rio was a rehashed Dolly Sprint IIRC...?
I'm sure I also remember Panther having a stand at one of the old Earl Court motor shows back then as well.....sure that the only time I've seen a deVille 'in the flesh'...?
I remember the Panther Rio was a rehashed Dolly Sprint IIRC...?
OverSteery said:
Ooo I never knew that.
However a statement "slightly peculiar proportions of the Maxi", cannot go unchallenged
I suppose that probably is unfair, in the light of the proportions of the car they were donated from.... Aesthetics aside, the re-use of the same doors, lead to the Maxi being rather bigger than originally intended.However a statement "slightly peculiar proportions of the Maxi", cannot go unchallenged
The infamous doors could also be enjoyed on the contemporary Austin 3 Litre, although it's Landcrab relationship is rather more obvious.
Edited by Carfield on Wednesday 20th January 16:18
Edited by Carfield on Wednesday 20th January 16:19
I can't help thinking that this would benefit from one of these Meteor engines, since project Thor appears to have lost a little direction lately.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
If you have time OP, could you please post some photos of the interior and maybe under the bonnet (I'm curious to know how much of that huge bonnet conceals the engine - I'm assuming there must be plenty of room to work on it under there).
As an aside, can anyone remember a six wheel Panther?
As an aside, can anyone remember a six wheel Panther?
TR4man said:
If you have time OP, could you please post some photos of the interior and maybe under the bonnet (I'm curious to know how much of that huge bonnet conceals the engine - I'm assuming there must be plenty of room to work on it under there).
As an aside, can anyone remember a six wheel Panther?
Panther sixAs an aside, can anyone remember a six wheel Panther?
http://www.mypanther.de/videos/Web_Video_Panther6/...
Always curious about panthers and would love a Solo2, so well done OP for having a nice Panther
TR4man said:
As an aside, can anyone remember a six wheel Panther?
Called rather originally the Panther Six. From memory it had a Cadillac Eldorado engine, at that time the biggest capacity engine used in a car at 8.1 litres. I also seem to remember claims of 200 mph but I think you would have to be tremendously brave to try it!!Only a handful were built I believe and one would certainly be a talking point.
Wonderful, quirky, much maligned and mis-understood. I treated myself to a Lima when I was in my mid twenties - really wanted a J72 but they were out of reach. Joining the owners' club was an eye opener. One member had a collection of de Villes, convertible and "saloon" variants. I think the convertible, when new, was one of the most expensive cars in production. I'd never seen such magnificent beasts even if some folk considered them vulgar "kit cars" (as I said, mis-understood). I believe, Rod Stewart or Elton John may have owned one.
The history of Panther is fascinating, from luxury armoured personnel carriers (for the Middle East in the 1970s) to six wheeled road cars, via trucks, pastiche retro, and a possible Porsche competitor... well worth delving into.
The history of Panther is fascinating, from luxury armoured personnel carriers (for the Middle East in the 1970s) to six wheeled road cars, via trucks, pastiche retro, and a possible Porsche competitor... well worth delving into.
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