Panther Rio

The Panther Rio was a saloon car launched by Panther Westwinds in September 1975. It was built on the Triumph Dolomite but finished to what the company called Rolls-Royce standards, with leather, walnut and a hand-beaten aluminium skin. Robert Jankel aimed it at Rolls-Royce owners who wanted a smaller and more economical car after the 1973 energy crisis. It came in two versions, a standard 1850 cc model and the Rio Especial, which used the 2.0 litre 16-valve engine of the Dolomite Sprint. Price was the obstacle: in February 1976 the Especial cost 9,445 pounds against 3,283 for the Dolomite Sprint. A pre-order of 100 cars through H.R. Owen never materialised, and Wikipedia counts only 38 built between 1975 and 1977.