Robert Jankel was a great British eccentric, and his Panther car company was the very definition of that.

Based in Weybridge, Surrey, Panther was a bespoke manufacturer, which began as a coachbuilder working on outsourced bodies for makers such as Rolls-Royce.

But Jankel also made cars of his own – the Triumph Dolomite-based Rio, along with evocations of famous 1930s cars in the forms of the J27 and Deville, which were inspired by the Jaguar SS100 and the Bugatti Royale.
 
The J72’s name was derived from the first letter of his surname and the year 1972, which was when the J72 made its debut, and at the time these hand-finished cars were incredibly expensive – indeed, a new one would cost almost three times the piece of a Rolls-Royce Silver Spur.
 
The J72 was an extravagant evocation of the Jaguar SS100, and despite (or maybe because of) its brash looks, was bought by celebrities including Michael Jackson, Elton John and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

It was made of aluminium on a tubular steel frame, with an ash wood floor assembly and a choice of Jaguar engines – either the 4.2-litre six-cylinder ‘XK’ unit, or the 5.3-litre V12.

This Panther J72 –  serial number ‘602’ – was originally built for the USA and spent the first years of its life in California. At the end of the 1980s, it was bought and imported from the USA to Germany by Auto Becker Düsseldorf (a Panther dealer in Germany).

Auto Becker also completely converted the Panther to European specification. It was bought by a German collector and was rarely driven, standing dry and hidden under a protective cover for 30 years inside a dry building.
 
He started the engine regularly, but rarely drove the car. This also explains the low mileage of below 35,000 kilometres.

The car was subsequently acquired in 2024 by an enthusiast, who has completely recommissioned the car and got it into working condition, in stunning, original and otherwise unrestored order. It is being sold as an ongoing project, as despite being in great overall condition and with no known faults, it hasn’t been driven much since 1980.

The Panther is in very good condition and there is only one spot at the back of the petrol tank where the paintwork is dented, albeit slightly. The rest of the paint is superb, and it sits on period-style wire wheels with whitewall tyres. The vendor reports that the underbody is in excellent condition and the wooden structure appears sound, but that the fabric roof has a few signs of wear.

Inside, the leather seats are in great order but for such an expensive car when new, the rest of it is surprisingly basic. There’s no radio, for example, and many of the dials are generic British parts bin components.

The interior is very well-maintained with a light patina for a 46-year-old classic car. Everything is complete and in generally good shape.

The vendor has used the car on a few classic car tours in recent times and the Panther has garnered quite a bit of attention, but with a new arrival in the family, a two-seater is no longer any use to him and his wife.
 
Although not uses much since 1980, the vendor has used the car on a few classic car tours in Germany in recent times and can vouch for its reliability, saying it has performed well and is surprisingly fast with almost 200bhp to offer.

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