The Weird, Wonderful and Very American Panoz Esperante GTR-1
Vložit
- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- Bearing the name of one of the most influential people in American motorsport, the Panoz Esperante GTR-1 was always destined to leave a mark. While many people, myself included, know this car from Gran Turismo, the reality was much more than floundering behind a grid of Japanese Group C cars. In fact, the Esperante was a truly thoroughbred race car, but certainly not a normal one, it was pretty strange, relatively successful, and extremely cool.
Thanks for watching, I hope you enjoyed the video, if you did, be sure to like it, and subscribe to the automobilistic CZcams channel for more car videos like this one!
#racing #lemans #imsa
You didn't mention it's most standout attribute when at races. THE NOISE. It was unholy. It made the Corvettes sound like toys.
Indeed! Also Andy Wallace mentioned that the cabin became so hot and the noise (side exit exhausts) was so loud they had to drive shorter stints during Le Mans
Sauber C11: "I will make you sound like a toy."
Idk bro
I've heard some pretty booming C5 and C6 vette GT2s fly through Spa
I'd say they're pretty on par with each other
But at the end of the day they're bot still generic American V8s that get beaten out by the noise most other engine configurations make
I heard a rumor that the French nicknamed it “rolling thunder” because of its noise. I can’t remember when/where I heard it, if anyone knows the source please chime in
@@volleyballurrrr well that's not saying much since the french are scared of everything
The Panoz symbolises what I love the most about GT-racing: That the cars can be different. Where else can front-mid V8s, rear-mounted flat 6s, and mid-engined V12s battle it out?
THIS for sure. GT racing is the best
exactly. mixed class racing is already the best out there, but when you can mix it up within a single class, that makes it even better
The irony being the only class this was actually true for is the one class Panoz never competed in, GT2/GTS. No GT1 car had a rear mounted engine (the Porsche 911 GT1's being mid engined).
Don Panoz is the reason that sport car racing in the U.S. survived. Not only with his cars but by buying IMSA and restructuring it as a sanctioning body. This alone is quite the accomplishment, but anyone who has every had medicine delivered through a "patch" owes him as well. He developed this as a method of delivering medicine, and its where he built his fortune to a point that he could have his many accomplishments in the auto racing world.
From Midtown Madness, to Gran Turismo, and now Grid Legends. That car is truly a *grand midtown legend.*
Grew up in the old Can Am days at Road Atlanta. Man, you could hear a Panoz slamming through the gears WAYYY before it flew past you in all its audible glory. Still makes me smile to this day! FYI - Don Panoz made his money with pharmaceuticals. He patented the method of transferring medicine thru your skin. Hendrix had acid under his headband, Panoz had the nicotine patch. RIP Mr. Panoz, you are not forgotten sir.
You could sit at the top of the Corkscrew and hear them coming all the way up the hill. I actually had to go buy earplugs.
Don Panoz founded the American Le Mans Series. Later would become the IMSA Sports Car Championship. The Petite Le Mans 10hr race is the final race of the season. The night part of the race can be wild. Especially last 20mins with the top Prototypes class battling for the victory trying to maneuver around the slower GT cars. Looking forward to this season with the return of the GTP class.
To be clear (and I know I'm really late with this), Panoz acquired the rights to the IMSA name and used it as the name of the ALMS sanctioning body, but the series was still the ALMS. The current IMSA series was actually it's rival, Grand-Am, which bought out the collapsing ALMS, merged the series and used the newly reacquired IMSA name for the overall series.
The long snout does really set it apart compared to its other rivals. I also remember this pretty much solely from Gran Turismo.
Don’t forget their STELLAR underdog season running the Avezzano in the 2017/2018 seasons. I’m a HUGE Panoz fan and even I was kinda shocked how well that team and car did.
I live exactly 1 mile from the old Panoz facility. Many many of the old racing cars are still there but sadly nothing is really happening there now. The paint shop is active and on the same compound is a fabulous rally car shop. Always glad driving by and remembering Panoz and the family
Very anecdotally: the Esperante was slighlty adapted and entered 24h of Le Mans 2004 as an LMP1, and it was thus the last Panoz in LMP1, not the roadster
The shot of the Visteon Esperante overtaking the GT3 M3 and the Q9 in the background gave me massive flashbacks to playing Sports Car GT on my old PS1. The late 90s where by far coolest era of GT racing.
My favorite racing game ever
@@dragomirstijovic5569 Defo top 5 for me. I loved this game back in the day.
I remember watching IMSA events on cable back in the 90's/00's. Panoz was always out there, competing (often successfully) with the big European marques. Great racing! A road going Esperante is on my "if I ever hit 6 on the Lottery" list.
Don’t forget to do the Delta Wing as well. Man I miss him, what a great man.
The DeltaWing has been on my list for a while, I will get around to it soon!
I personally hated the Delta wing, but admired the hell outta the “fuck around and find out” attitude of Mr Panoz so there’s that I guess.
I remember seeing these years ago at American LeMans Series races... These things were LOUD. You could easily hear one, watch multiple cars go back (while still hearing it), then see it. It was quite the experience.
Oh the days of SPEED VISION the first racing only channel. I was glued to the TV on Sundays to watch this beast kick ass. Panoz was always the under dog.
I grew up just 30 minutes south of Panoz's factory. Through my work and my attendance at races and automotive events, I've gotten to know many folks there through the years, including Danny Panoz, son of founder Don Panoz.
Their laurels in motorsport are all the more impressive when you see just bow small and "homegrown" their operation is. They've made some immense contributions to motorsport while still remaining tight knit and true to their principles. Road Atlanta being basically in their backyard served as an excellent proving ground, and was incidentally owned by Don Panoz himself before Michelin's recent buyout.
A standout experience is when I got to sit in the Esperante GTR-1 road car. One huge quirk is that the gearbox is mounted upside down, in order to place it further up within the chassis. This means that the shift pattern is backwards - 1st gear is where 6th would be, 2nd for 5th, etc.
Thanks for shining a spotlight on our hometown heroes. Great work as always!
I remember the Panoz from Gran Turismo, that thing was a beast - just like the TVR cars. Good times :).
Dr. Don is an American racing legend. He is right up there with Gurney, Shelby, and my hero AJ! The Docs racing cars were fast and entertaining. Panoz is my favorite manufacturer. The GT1 and Roadster S were simply magnificent!! Not since Shelby, has an American manufacturer harassed the European giants like Panoz did!
I didn't realize Panoz did a hybrid version. Imagine how it might have performed now with huge advancements in battery capacity and EV technologies since then.
Exactly what I was thinking.
Next gen Lithium Niobium batteries with the original loud engine would be superb
all loud starting then hush quiet until it gets to the car ahead then guns it. Roars and causes a heart attack óf the other driver and major commotion in any nearby woodland creatures.
Major distraction to other drivers=bannable? ;)
Panoz Esperanté Is a beautiful beautiful car.
See also Tommy Kaira ZZII. The hands down best car I have ever driven in Gran Turismo.
TommyKaira design is superb. If they did a racing team like Panoz did I would tell them to skip fiberglass and go carbon fiber exterior on a titanium frame
Oddly I remember this from the Le Mans Hour 24hr game rather than earlier GT games. Any plans for a video on the Vector V12 or Saleen?
Yes! Saleen has been on the list forever, and I would love to revisit Vector too
I appreciate Don Panoz for keeping the historic Sebring International Raceway whole and operating.
I love this Car--not only is a open cockpit car but a legend in road racing
There's a video on the official Panoz channel about the Roadster S in which Don explains why the engine was in the front. In his own words he would allude that he felt that roadcars/GT cars should have the engine in the front and didn't know that the mid-engines were the trend for prototype racecars since he never drove one himself. The GTR-1 being based on a roadcar would have the engine in the front despite it's wild purposeful looks.
Ya GT4 brought that cool car into more of a plane view of people outside the special racing series...
Definitely loved playing that vehicle and doing alot of customization for its looks in that game...
Would have really loved to actually get to see an Esperante.
I was at the DC American LeMans race in 2004. Watched David Brabham pass the Audi on the last lap and win in the Batmobile Mark 2.
A video on the LMP1 Roadster S would be a neat followup to this video.
666th viewer 👌🏻
Also, The Panoz really was a monster for how much less budget the teams had over Merc and Porsche. Maybe if they had more budget, they'd probably make a GT1 version of the GT2 Viper
Your right. They were going wheel to wheel (the first few laps at least 😀) with the Audi LMP1’s which are top tier competition. To say you came in second only to Porsche in winning a championship speaks volumes too.
This takes me back to the Speedvision days during my childhood. Loved watching GT racing, BTCC and WRC. This was definitely one of my favorite cars (both looks and sound) as well as the LMP(800?) cars that followed
3:24 ty I always forget :D
Besides that, it's very interesting that they tried racing with hybrid technology like 20 years before it was cool.
Great video and keep up the good work!
I distinctly remember having a Hot Wheels car of the Panoz. Not knowing better I always thought it was a Dodge Viper but then eventually learned that it was in fact a Panoz Esperante. It’s such a a cool car!
I had two kids them, a silver and a purple one
As soon as you said "viper," that reminded me of how I confused the Zender Fact 4 for an F40.
Thank you for such a good video on such a forgotten car. Really hard to find info on this car besides wikipedia. Discovered it on the old 90s pc game "Sports Car GT". They even had the hybrid version as an unlockable hidden 'endgame' type car! I was too young to understand what hybrid meant but seeing this video as an adult is so cool. One of my favorite cars of all time.
Do the Panoz LMP next. All these panoz were legendary not only for the looks but that roar! Classic
I think many have known panoz thanks to midtown madnes
YESSS first midtown madness then gt3
Nice video!!!! I miss just the very last iteration of the Esperante, the wo called Panoz GTP. This is chassis 003 of Esperante GTR converted into the GTP class to compete in 2003 and 2004 by Larbre Competition. Not so successful, but it was the last appearances of the Esperante in competition .
Back in 2000 I fell in love with these zany Shelby-esque cars like the AIV Roadster and GTR-1 Road Car in Midtown Madness 2. I’ve never seen the Roadster in any other racing game in 23 years since. 😢
The only car at the 99 Rolex 24 that could make the concrete seats 30 rows up vibrate! A true beast!
That car actually damaged my hearing in Spa '97...we followed the track leading up to (the old)bus-stop where the fences leaned over the track,perfect for us to lie on top of..(them old days,eh?)
I'll never forget those GT1's and and especially those panoz's roaring below us,just meters away,at full pelt..I still feel it in my ear when going underwater..and makes me smile
First saw these at the Daytona 24 hour. The engine note was indeed ear shattering. Roush built the engines and they were extremely fast up on the oval. Never made it through the night. Also saw them race at Laguna Seca and spoke to Dr. Panoz and a girl that worked for On Track magazine in the transporter. Saw the roadster run in Portland.
I currently own my version of the Batmobile, a 2018 Mercedes AMG GT R. Front mid engine, long, long nose and a stonking twin turbo V8. Wish it had the bodywork of the Panoz.
I've heard that those engines were truly something to behold, and what a great experience to have had. I've also got to say that I'm jealous of your car!
I just found your channel through the Viper video, and then looked for this video.
This car was so loud that the first time I heard it at the age of 5 at my first ever track visit, I was genuinely scared! Insane car.
one of my favorites cars and it looks good not weird at all it's unique
Absolutely spectacular car to drive in Project Cars 2... so much fun.
That "DUCK" caught me off guard and got a good chuckle out of me. Great video man, props to you
"DAD".....?
Saw them at Road Atlanta and Have book about them took my daughter to the races and got her hooked on road racing she moved to London and now it’s Le Mans that we do
I remember this car from Mid Town Madness, need to shutdown 6 cop cars to unlock this car, Man, the sound it made !!
I grew up in the detroit metro area and Visteon, one of the main sponsors of the LeMans efforts for Panoz, had a manufacturing plant essentially a mile or two from where we lived. Even though my mom was high up in management for GM at the time (and I enjoyed all the free team corvette shirts and diecasts!) she drove me to the plant of a Ford supplier when they had one of these for you to sit in and get a picture taken and get a free little diecast version. I don't think it was a hot wheels though, it was some other brand (not matchbox either). I remember the car being one of the few race cars that was actually bigger in person than I thought it would be. It has a MASSIVE front hood. When they opened it up it was mind blowing. Love that car so much!
Was always my favorite car at the Petit at Road Atlanta. The only car that had that V8 growl when it came by you.
3:02: Panoz cured the "ugly" problem with the silver liveried Visteon sponsored cars the ran in America in the late 1990s. Seen later at 5:13: I saw the cars in person in several races at Lime Rock and Watkins Glen. And the roar of the V-8 was unmistakable.
I learned about this car from playing World Driver Championship on the N64 back in 1998.
I'm really liking where this channel is going, keep up the good work
Cant believe this car isn't in more games, its amazing.
Used to get a glimpse of these guys when racing GP bikes at Road Atlanta as an amateur and later pro in the late 90s / early 2000s. Def some wild & wonderful stuff..for 4 wheels. ;-)
I personally didn’t care much for the looks either…but love anything with an engine & wheels (and others with propellers…hehe). And hey…props are relevant here! A lot of you guys likely know why that back straight at Road A was so long….
….tough to land a KingAir turboprop chock full o’ weed on anything too short. Hehe.
I’m probably one of the few who gets to visit the facility and see behind the scenes. Really cool to tour the grounds and talk with the people there who keep Panoz alive.
Dude, I'd love it if you did some 'news/reaction' videos to whatever happens during the WEC/IMSA seasons, and incorporate it into your content. Endurance racing needs that kind of online community that F1 has garnered so well these last few years. Especially with all the new manufacturers!
I watched the Panoz live in Sebring in 1998 and it did well, finishing 2nd overall.
I had a Visteon Liveried HotWheels car of the GTR-1 when I was a kid and lemme tell you, It was the pride of my collection! I always thought of it as a thing of beauty and tbh, Still do today! I think it a fantastic looking car
Fond memories as a kid watching races and then realizing there was a panoz dealer 2blocks from my house
Great story Count. Love your work mate 👍
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed
Awesome, thanks for doing this car!😄
I loved using this car in Gran Turismo 3 along with the gillett vertigo
I missed these cars by a few years, as I started going to ALMS at Lime Rock Park in 2006, but at least I still got to see the GTLMs run! The thunder from those V8's were incredible!
I love this car because of Microsoft's game Midtown madness fell in love with the sound
@automobilistic you forgot some very important information about the GTR-1. In 2004, chassis #003 was un-mothballed, renamed Panoz GTP, and entered into the 2004 Sebring 12hr race, where it finished 9th overall, and because it finished the race, was automatically entered into the 24hr. Of Le Mans. Sadly it DNF’d with clutch issues, however, it raced one more time at the 1000km at Spa where it finished 14th overall. Not bad for a 7 year old race car competing in the top level of sportscar racing.
I like the decisions to give the race car the same essence of the road car.
Somewhere I have a picture I snapped at an intersection in SF in 2006 I think it was of a Panoz road car. Really cool looking but I wasn't surprised when the company folded.
This car was the most obnoxious and lovely sounding beast. Robert Yates built Ford V8's made them go and the thunder was just awesome
Love the gran turismo background music in this
I feel like Panoz was just one of those motorsport manufacturers that were sort of just... there for a reason. Their cars were memorable in terms of styke and appearance, but the latter results would tell otherwise considering the FR platform they choose from the get go. But their influence in motorsports, particularly in Endurance Racing however left a mark on the history books as the team that would put the American Le Mans Series on the map, along with the Petite Le Mans Series of course.
R.I.P Don Panoz, thanks for your contributions towards the motorsport community after all these years.
Fortunate to have seen them run at Le Mans. At night on the run from Mulsanne Corner to Indianapolis right on the fence 20 feet away the noise was amazing.
I had a hotwheel of this car when I was a kid it was one of my favorites
Beautiful, iconic powerful automobile.
Suggestion for a future project. Group C2 cars. Eg Spice, Tiga, Gebhart. Love your work BTW.
The most memorable attribute of the Panoz was noise much more than the shape! I remember sitting in the grandstand on top of the Le Mans pit building, and feeling the whole building shake every time one of those Panoz's went past.
I've heard that the sound is impressive! I try to avoid commenting on the sound of cars I've never heard in-person myself, because its a perspective I simply don't have, and can't really get from videos.
Love the Panoz! Love the video keep them coming!
Beautiful race car, beloved favorite with the Nissan R390 GT1 LeMans race car 😊😊
I remember a GTLM America game whereby the Panoz Esperante could easily lap the Porsche 911 GT1 and 911 GT3s were clearly on the podium until the energence of the Panoz GT1 as the regular Panoz GT could only spank a Ford Mustang. From thereon, I questioned whether NASCAR could run on ALMS tracks and was given the explanation that there was no room for passing on those narrow road courses much like F1. I very much miss the open cockipt LMP2 class with those Judd v10s that somehow made their way into Lamborghini Gallardos. Although the 911 GT1 could easily reel in the Esperante on the straights in game, the Esperante's hole shot on every corner in the twisties easily crushed my smallblock heart after you factored-in tire wear. I played out Ford vs Ferrari (or Porsche) in a video game and was easily handed the explanation why large displacement cars are given weight and carburetor restrictions in a small displacement class. Because top-end power isn't very useful even with a turbo to lie about not having a strong bottom end. Boost lag sucks. "Entertaining" doesn't even begin to factor-in the pucker factor when you seem to be going in REVERSE
Why make it look like a car they sell? You don't know?! To sell cars... "Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday"
I do really appreciate this coverage though and subscribed because this video covers a car I LOVED as a kid, and you do it very well.
I saw it win the premier(and only) Washington DC Grand Prix, and Scotracer is right...the sound of that car was amazing, and in tremendous quantity...
Purely remember this car because it stood out in gran turismo, always thought it looked like it had flared nostrils.
Man I saw these run live at Road Atlanta in this era. The had an evil sound….. nothing else on the track sounded like that
i remember the roadster and the esperante from midtown madness 2, never really played much GT as I didn't have a console.
Those LMP 975 Panoz are my favorite race cars of all time. The last front engine LMP car and it was reasonably competitive against the most reliable LMP car ever in the form of the Audi R8
Great Video, nice research. BTW it's pronounced "Pahnoz" not "Pehnoz". I saw all the cars run live as I never missed a Petit Lemans from the very first to last year.. They were cool to see run live and sounded great. The hybrid could actually run on electric power only in the pits and sounded like a giant R/C car. Lol. Dr. Panoz was a true gentleman. I met him twice he was a very cool, down to earth guy to chat with. In addition to starting ALMS racing in America, Panoz also owned Road Atlanta for several years and saved it from potential oblivion / improved it tremendously. Road Atlanta is my home track, I probably have driven over 500 laps on it and I'm very thankful for all he did. Panoz got out of LeMans racing because it was he was tired of being out-spent by the big teams. His words: "I'm tired of being the "Cheap Skate" in this game. I spend $80 Millions per year on a couple cars and a few drivers, Audi spends $160 millions, I can no longer compete with that" Yes, you should do a video on the Panoz LMP roadster, it was mega-cool.
Glad you enjoyed the video! In the interviews I watched with Don Panoz for research I always heard him self refer as "Pay-noz" which I tried to consistently say in the video, despite having said "Pah-noz" my whole life - I trust the man himself to know his name haha. I've always heard that Dr Panoz was a very pleasant guy, its a shame to hear he got tired of it all, but the cars he did help bring to fruition were certainly cool! LMP Roadster S video will come for sure.
@automobilistic Looking forward to seeing your video!. Dr. Panoz unfortunately passed away in 2018, and much of the production pretty much stopped soon after. They laid off the entire engineering and manufacturing team, and things haven't been the same since. They raced the 2019 season as a tribute to Don and stopped after that. The new Avezzano is supposed to still be "in production" but there's not much evidence of that beyond 2019. I'm pretty sure you could go today / hand them $200k, and they'll complete a "new" car for you, eventually. But that's likely mostly built with the 2019 spare parts stock...
LMP1 and Jan Magnuson is what I think I remember. Esperante coming second to major company like Porsche is nothing to be disappointed about. LMP1 battled with Audi and they were great races to watch
You must be a johnny come lately, cause Race fans and the real Car community love to see these things at shows, even on video.
While the DAMS name technically is an acronym, no one spells it out, they're simply called DAMS, said just how it looks.
I got to see one race in about 1997, at Pikes Peak International Raceway, racing along with the Porsche 911 GT1 and Lister Storm. I just remember that it sounded pretty epic. Actually all three of those cars sounded epic.
For me, this is the best sounding V8 ever made, period.
This car was in Total Immersion Racing XD just with another livery. Which is sort of an older ( by now ) racing game loosly based on GT style racing.
Never got to use it in grand Turismo.
Midtown Madness 1.
God I love this car.
Great Video!
Thx for covering the Sparky. I loved how out of the ordinary it was. Sadly it didnt work (yet).
My video was released a month earlier. You covered a lot of information in 7 minutes.
Good video, but you missed the fact that in a GT2 guise the Panoz won its class in the 2006 Le Mans with the British LNT team.
The advertising strap-line for the Gulf-backed entry was 'Sounds like thunder, goes like lightning', maybe 1997 or 1998. You could pick up a window sticker from your nearest Gulf filling station.
This was my favorite from forza motorsport 3. It was so consistent for me and left corners excellently
I remember this thing. Always wanted one.
The Esperante GT-1 in the American Event Hall: terrifying, maybe restart to get a new grid
The Esperante GT-1 in the Endurance Hall races: why did they let you in here
first time i raced both was in a game titled Sport Car GT from 1999.
which has mclaren and such from that era
0:09 I know it from Sports Car GT (Electronic Arts, 1999).
Great game.
One of my favourite cars of all time. First saw it in Gran Turismo 3, have a few Hot Wheels of it (as well as the LMP-1). Such a unique and cool car. Wish it got more recognition than it does, it deserves it.
GT3 was my introduction to it as well! Its definitely under-appreciated imo
@@automobilistic it is waaaaay under appreciated. I'm glad to see it's in Grid Legends though, I bought that game mainly because this car is in it 😂
Can I just say that your room looks awesome.