Don Panoz founded the Panoz Motor Sport Group in 1997. He then set up his own racing team, which for over 10 years entered cars in endurance races, including the Le Mans 24 Hours. The adventure began with the Panoz Esperante GTR-1, a closed car complying with GT1 regulations. A veritable UFO, it was quickly nicknamed the Batmobile, not least because of the position of its 6-litre Ford V8 engine block at the front. The Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S was to be the American manufacturer's next big success story, with victories over Audi and BMW, again using a front-engine layout. The final prototype for the LMP900 category was the Panoz LMP07. Ascott Collection is proud to offer for sale chassis #03, which recently shone in the Endurance Racing Legends.

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From Esperante to LMP07 in just 4 years!

With its Esperante GTR-1, Panoz had shaken up the small world of endurance racing and developed a real following among the public. With the Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S, the brand's first open prototype, significant performance gains were achieved. One example took part in the 2000 Le Mans 24 Hours, while that same year Jan Magnussen and David Brabham won the 1000 km of Nürburgring in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). 

With more limited resources than the factories (Audi and BMW), but with a dose of passion and an immoderate quest for authenticity, Don Panoz and his teams were the troublemakers of the early 2000s. Following in the footsteps of Briggs Cunningham, Jim Hall and Carroll Shelby, and more recently Jim Glickenhaus, Don Panoz was thinking bigger for the 2001 season. That's why he launched the LMP07 project. 

Unlike the Esperante GTR-1 and the LMP-1 Roadster-S that preceded it, the LMP07 was developed by a completely new team. Élan Motorsport Technologies took over the project from Reynard Motorsport, with Andy Thorby as chief designer. Élan turned to Zytek to build a bespoke V8 for the LMP07, replacing the Ford-derived V8 used until then.

From the outset, the team's ambition was to make the LMP07 an evolution of the LMP-1 Roadster S. The only criterion imposed by Don Panoz, as usual, was that the engine should be at the front, so that his marque would go down in history and win the 24 Hours of Le Mans with this now rare layout (the Ferrari 330 TRI/LM remains to this day the last to have won in the Sarthe in this configuration, back in 1962!)

 

The LMP07 has been the subject of real reflection on aerodynamics and driver safety. 

"For LMP07, my main targets were improved mass distribution (low Cg, low polar moment, no difference between full tank and empty tank), improved driver safety, and more efficient aerodynamics" confided Andy Thorby at the time. .

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Safety was at the heart of the car designer's concerns:

Andy Thorby explains: "The first requirement was achieved by, among other measures, moving the fuel cell to the front of the chassis (within a large-section transmission tunnel) and by designing a very low and short gearbox: the compact size of the Zytek engine was a major benefit.  The shape of the chassis was dictated principally by safety.  My intention was to use a full width rear rollhoop (mounted on the chassis 'fins') with a single front hoop, which was a solution that complied with the letter of the rules since the size of the rear hoop 'for driver's protection only' is not specified.  Unfortunately, that solution was ruled out by the ACO.  However, the chassis fins still serve to protect the driver's head, as well as being the main structural elements.  I wanted to build in rear impact protection (which can easily be overlooked in a front-engined car), and also needed a structure to carry the rear suspension, because the gearbox was so compact.  I needed to link this shallow rear structure with the shallow footwell structure in the most efficient way: also, with the radiators housed in the flanks (so that they didn't have to be raised above the exhaust pipes as on the Roadster S), I needed a narrow tub.  So the deep and fairly thick fins were the logical way to get the necessary bending and torsional stiffness, and they also carried the rear wing supports.  There was no aero disadvantage from the fins."

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Podium in the second race of the LMP07

The LMP07 was announced and unveiled at Petit Le Mans 2000, with a model on display. The first chassis was assembled in time to take part in the final race of the season in December. At the Adelaide circuit - in Australia - the LMP07 completed just two laps before the alternator failed, forcing the car to retire. Danish driver Jan Magnussen qualified in 5th position, 2 seconds behind team-mate David Brabham (3rd) in an LMP-1 Roadster-S. A second chassis will be assembled the following winter. At Texas Motor Speedway, everything seemed to be going better. With a third place finish, Don Panoz's quest for a Le Mans 24 Hours victory was back on track. Had it not been for a final pit stop for refuelling, the Panoz LMP07 could have won that day.After a disappointing 12 Hours of Sebring and an unsuccessful Le Mans 24 Hours, Don Panoz decided to return to the Roadster S. The 4-litre Zytek V8 engine had too little torque and power compared with the 6-litre Elan V8 engine powering the Roadster S. So the adventure officially came to an end for the LMP07.

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Chassis #03, a new car with a new engine for the MBD Sportscars team

However, in 2002, the project was taken over by the MBD Sportscars and Multimatic team - who made a number of changes - notably replacing the Zytek engine with a Mugen MF408S V8 (also seen in the Dome S101). It was in the #03 that Milka Duno made her debut in the LMP900 class at Le Mans. Coached by Vic Elford, the car's retirement with just two hours to go due to electrical problems was a blow to her.

The MBD Sportscars programme was ambitious, with Larry Holt, vice-president of Multimatic (who had recently been in charge of building the Porsche 963 LMDh and the Ford Mustang GT3 programme), Barry McSherry as team manager and Ray Milato as car engineer. Vic Elford himself was involved as sporting director, as well as liaising with officials from the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). He was a legendary driver, notably associated with Gérard Larrousse in the 1971 Le Mans 24 Hours in a Porsche 917 LH in Martini livery. However, MBD Sportscars had nowhere near the resources available to Audi, and the programme was quickly abandoned. 

 

A real potential that has not been fully developed

The short career of the Panoz LMP07 is unjustified by the great potential it had at the time. It was a real breakthrough in terms of handling and grip, and felt lighter and more agile than previous Panoz creations. Insufficient time spent on development in the wind tunnel, a poor fit with the original Zytek engine (it had been designed to be fitted to the rear of a single-seater rather than the front of a sports car), and a lack of testing led to the project being stopped. 

The Zytek V8 engine in particular was then replaced by a Mugen block in 2002. The Zytek engine was obviously poorly supplied with air. The engine would have required a different airbox to obtain more torque and power, which would have necessitated a taller bonnet that risked significantly limiting the rider's vision. This compromise effectively reduced the torque available.  

 

A successful comeback in historic races with two podium finishes at Spa Classic and Paul Ricard

With sufficient preparation and a good understanding of the car, it would have been possible to imagine a different destiny. As proof, chassis 03, acquired in 2020 by its current owner and completely restored, took part in several races in Endurance Racing Legends, adding two podium finishes to its list of achievements. It's a car with all the potential to win races, whether at Dubai GBP Revival, Daytona Classic, Sebring Classic, Endurance Legends Masters or the Peter Auto series: Endurance Racing Legends and Le Mans Classic.