Panoz AIV Roadster

[JeepinMatt]

Just needed to put this out there, as I know most people here probably haven't heard of it. A small company in Georgia named Panoz started building Roadsters in 1993 and switched to the updated AIV (Aluminum Intensive Vehicle) which included the Ford (gasp) modular engine, IRS, and an aluminum frame. Weighs between 2300-2550 lbs and goes like stink. For the latter cars, 0-60 comes in 4.3 sec (4.0 sec if you put in a 3.55 final ratio) and tops out around 135-140 (like most small sports cars, it's drag limited like Lotus/Caterham Seven) It'll pull .97g on the skidpad stock and has just enough oversteer to recall strong connections to Shelby Cobras. It's cheap to maintain since it's built with a Ford engine and diff, and a Tremec tranny. There's only around 250 of them ever made (They stopped after '99), with about 170 of those being AIVs. Panoz is an excellent company to deal with. If anything is damaged they'll make a new part on request by hand, just like the original was. Or a new leather seat handmade by the same employee that did it years ago. Excellent car stock and plenty of tuning potential. Not very practical, but for a cross between a Cobra, a small British sports car, and a class American hot rod it doesn't need to be. Would love to have one someday sitting in the garage next to my Jeep and Camaro