Panoz is back in business

[2006GTLM]

The new Panoz LLC website is up and running. The four "new" cars that they will be making are in fact four old cars, the GTLM, the GTLM convertible, the Roadster and street legal GTR1's. Our cars are back in production on a one off pre-order basis. Check out the website: http://panozauto.com/.

Frankly, I hope it works out for them, but it is odd that they have ignored all of us to date seeing as they are going to try and sell new productions of our existing cars.

It will be interesting and possibly opportunistic for us to see how they are updating our cars last produced in 1999 for the Roadster and 2006 for the Esperante's. I look forward to seeing if they have improvement ideas for my 06 GTLM.

They had an announcement article in Autoweek yesterday and they rolled out the new website today. It is really odd that they didn't rally around us to get something big for the last ALMS race at Road America. It wasn't for our lack of approaching them. Hopefully, the future will be bright for Panoz and our chances of getting a more active owners group and website.

[99panoz]

Not really sure how to feel about this........
Helps or hurts current owners of the legacy product?

Clearly the Esperante owners will see more copies of their cars as the "continuation" versions appear exactly the same.

As for us AIV Roadster owners, well what will we be seeing? The car shown on the website is obviously the original Roadster. It does mention that the new Roadster will have an aluminum frame (this is more in line with the AIV as to where the original had the stainless chassis). So which are they to produce? How will the VIN numbers appear - continuing where they last left off or introducing an entirely new nomenclature?

Yep, I'm a bit surprised that they would completely ignore the current customers in the re-launch when in fact, that base are the ones most likely to become repeat customers. For several years now, I've always had my eyes on the possibility of acquiring a GTLM Esperante but never found one on the secondary market that was to my liking. Were it not for this website and the associated threads, I wouldn't even be aware of the "new Panoz" or their renewed ambitions. Even more disappointing is the fact that when I purchased my first AIV, the selling Panoz dealer really talked up the feature that I wasn't only purchasing one of the most uniquely handcrafted automobiles in the world, but that I was also joining a distinctive "family". He spoke of how owners get invited to the races, sit in the Panoz family VIP tent, invited to the factory for special events, etc.. Not only has this NEVER happened for me, it appears that the Legacy owners continue to be shunned. What better marketing tool could a company have asked for than to have had a special unveiling of the new facility in conjunction with a "homecoming" of the Legacy owners and all of their cars parked in the parking lot? And all of that at very little cost or effort to them!

I too wish them the greatest level of success, but if they do fail it likely won't be from churning out a poor product but simply because they continued to churn out poor marketing decisions.

[IkeCan]

As an AIV owner this is fantastic news!! I love the idea that Panoz is back producing cars. But even better, they will be producing AIV Roadsters. Even if it isn't exactly the same as the former AIV, I have to believe they will be using the same molds for the body and fenders. Parts will be available! It also would be great to see more Panozs on the road. I agree with Panoz99, it would cost little to nothing for Panoz to reach out to current owners. The best sales force they could have is current owners signing the praises about their cars. Talking about how special it is to be a Panoz owner, and by the way you can buy your own "new" Panoz custom built at the factory. I know I would attend a Grand Opening announcing the return of the marque....

[dogdoc97]

As you guys know I tried....

I really did bug John alot and I am baffled that they as a group did not and have not done anything to bring us up there; be it for feedback,just esprit de corp or just some marketing for an article talking about loyal and dedicated enthusiasts to the marque......makes no sense. Dogdoc

[PanozGTLM]

Very Cool

http://us7.campaign-archive1.com/?u=...b&e=8368c54d24

[PanozGTLM]

Panoz added a new page to the website:
http://panozauto.com/what-exclusivity

[99PanozAIV]

$99,000?

Just saw spec sheet ( see link) for new roadster anniversary edition. Standard 440HP, optional 570HP. So, who's got 100k they need to spend on something totally frivolous?

http://panoz.com/sites/default/files/spec-sheets/Roadster%20Spec%20Sheet.pdf

[Bob E]

It is great to see production again. Like many others I don't have 189K / 229K for the new Esperant'e Spyder/GT. I really wanted to see the Abruzzi in street legal form.

[99PanozAIV]

Marketing?

Someone, on this site I think, said they had heard that Panoz had an interesting marketing strategy to relaunch their cars. I have not seen any evidence of any marketing effort to date. Did I miss it or have they not done anything yet?