Hand-Built Exotic Cars from Panoz Auto Development On Display

30 March 1999
Hand-Built American Exotic Cars from Panoz Auto Development On Display at New York International Auto Show
    HOSCHTON, Ga., March 29 -- The 1999 Panoz AIV Roadster and
2000 Panoz Esperante luxury sport convertible will be on display at the New
York International Auto Show at the Jacob K. Javits Center in Manhattan
April 3 - 11.  They will be shown alongside other exotics from Manhattan
Motorcars in the Crystal Palace.
    The 305 horsepower, 2,570-pound AIV Roadster is a hand-crafted,
high-performance, all-American sports car.  AIV stands for Aluminum Intensive
Vehicle.  Almost 70-percent of the car is made of the metal, including the
twin-tiered extruded chassis and SPF formed body panels.  Each car takes
approximately 350 man-hours to build.
    The Roadster's long, narrow nose is flanked by exposed suspension
components and cycle-fendered 18-inch BF Goodrich tires.  Dual exhaust pipes
exit at the car's centerline, below the rear stainless steel tube bumper.
Perfect 50/50-weight distribution and an 8.4:1 power-to-weight ratio allow for
an incredible skidpad reading of 0.97g and a 0-60 time of 4.5 seconds.
Braking from 60 mph takes only 119 feet.
    New BBS wheels are a total of 28-pounds lighter than last year's, and a
new 180-watt, 5-speaker Alpine AM/FM/CD audio system with subwoofer makes a
favorite selection even more enjoyable.
    The classically styled, hand-built 2000 Panoz Esperante luxury sport
convertible is Panoz Auto Development's second AIV in three years.
The Esperante consists of five pre-assembled modules that fit together,
including powertrain and suspension systems.  They center on a large bore,
multi celled, extruded aluminum chassis found in no other car.  SPF-formed
aluminum body panels are attached last and can be easily replaced.
A 320 horsepower V8 engine mounted behind the front axle line offers excellent
weight distribution and substantial passenger protection. A five-speed manual
transmission is standard and a 5-speed sequential transmission is planned for
2001.
    Panoz Auto Development was founded in 1989 by Daniel Panoz and has been
producing U.S. government compliant vehicles since 1992.  The factory also
builds training cars for the Panoz Racing School as well as the official
racing cars for the Women's Global GT Series (WGGTS).  Panoz Auto is based in
Hoschton, Georgia near Road Atlanta, home of Panoz Motorsports.  For more
information or to find the location of a dealer, call 1-888-GOPANOZ
(1-888-467-2660).  Panoz Auto Development can be found on the Internet at
http://www.panozauto.com .