The 1998 Panoz Esperante GTR-1 Comes to Project Motor Racing

September 17, 2025

Loud, Proud, and Just a Little Unhinged

In the predatory world of sleek, mid-engined prototypes of the late 1990s, Panoz decided to go old school rebellion with the Esperante GTR-1 that hit the scene in 1997 like a battering ram—front-engined American V8 fury wrapped in carbon fibre and ground-juddering defiance. It didn’t just race. It made the ground shake.

Now it’s in Project Motor Racing, and it’s ready to shred tyres and rules alike.

The Car That Shouldn’t Exist

Homologation rules for GT racing in the late ’90s dictated that entry had to be based on a street version of the race car, so Panoz needed to build the road-going version first. Don Panoz built precisely two street-legal Esperante GTR-1s, each with minor modifications for public roads. These homologation specials had nothing but the basic necessities for registration—a fully finished leather interior, functional headlights/taillights, and not a lot more.

Don Panoz retained the first of these road cars for himself. This singular example—often painted in an iridescent “chameleon” livery—was fully restored by Panoz in 2015 and remains the only surviving road-legal GTR-1—a rolling relic of GT1’s most unhinged, glory days.

Muscle Meets Madness

And speaking of crazy … forget about hiding the engine behind the driver. The GTR-1 planted a monstrous 6L Roush-tuned Ford V8 right up front (though technically front-mid, because the V8 sat behind the front axle, balancing weight perfectly over that massive nose) and went racing against the cream of mid-engined heavyweights.

Stats? Power in the 600bhp range, in a car that weighed less than 900 kg, thanks to a Reynard-built carbon fibre monocoque.

The “Batmobile” nickname wasn’t just about the looks, either. With its skyscraper hood bulge, fighter-plane proportions, and side-mounted V8 thunder, the GTR-1 looked and sounded like it wanted to eat its rivals for breakfast.

And as for aero, there were a few surprises hiding under that long hood too. Extensive ground-effect venturi tunnels and downforce-enhancing bodywork, for starters. In 1998, Panoz lengthened the front nose even further, as well as the rear tail section, to improve downforce and handling. A wide rear wing and front splitter were used to balance aero grip.

It may not be the prettiest car you ever saw, but this was a hammer wearing a jet fighter’s body.

American Steel vs European Precision

When the GTR-1 made its competition debut in 1997, it didn't exactly sneak up. It came with thunder. Through ’97 and ’98, Panoz battled the titans and, in the US, the GTR-1 came good right at the end of the ’97 season, carving out class victories before, in 1998, it absolutely smashed the competition—7 wins from 8 races on the way to the manufacturers’ championship.

In Europe’s brutal FIA GT, though, it was tougher going. Against the might of the elite big boys, the GTR-1 managed a couple of podiums—a major flex for a front-engine rebel in a mid-engine world—but that race win eluded them. And that included Le Mans in 1998, when the GTR-1 somehow survived the chaos to finish fifth overall, just 2 minutes behind the winning Porsche 911 GT1-98 and seconds off a podium place.

For a front-engined car in the age of prototypes-in-GT-clothing? A miracle.

(The hybrid GTR-1 nicknamed “Sparky” was brought to Le Mans that year too, but the weight of its battery pack saw it lap slower than the normal GTR-1 in qualifying, with the inimitable — and so-called unluckiest man in motorsport — Perry McCarthy at the wheel.)

End of an Era, Beginning of a Legend

By 1999, GT1 class racing was dead, killed off by hyper-exotic prototypes masquerading as “road cars” driving the budgets into the stratosphere. So Panoz simply ripped the roof off the GTR-1, sharpened it into the LMP-1 Roadster-S (also in Project Motor Racing), and stormed off into prototype racing with the same front-engine fire.

And that’s how the GTR-1’s DNA lived on … and still does, in the hearts of fans. It wasn’t the most polished or the most sophisticated. But it kept things very real. And it was loud and glorious. A legacy that refused to conform to anyone’s rules.

Unleash It in Project Motor Racing

Now it’s your turn. Strap into the 1998 Panoz Esperante GTR-1, let that V8 grunt, and feel the nose hunt through corners. This is no turbocharged techno-marvel. It’s a front-engined beast that likes some feral sideways action. Raw, American-built fury—the kind that leaves rubber, noise, memories—and in the right hands, the competition—behind.

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