1986 Panther Kallista Convertible

The Panther Kallista was designed by Robert Jankel and was hand-assembled by Panther Westwinds in its factory on the grounds of the Brooklands race circuit in England. The Panther Car Company was a low-volume hand-crafted builder of replicas of the 1930s vintage classic cars. The company was later sold and became the Panther West Winds Ltd. Company. Upon purchase, the company's mission changed as well. They now produced a wide range of automobiles over the years ranging from contemporary sedans to open two-seaters in similar fashion and allure as the pre-war sports cars.

The Kallisa, which was named after the Greek word meaning 'small and beautiful', was built beginning in 1983 and imported into the United States beginning in 1985 carrying a sticker price of $23,500. The Kallista proved to be a popular vehicle, but the pricing and hand-built nature of the car slowed production to just 1,695 examples, of which only 148 made it to the United States.

The Kallista was built using modern construction using a combination of metal and glass fiber to produce lightweight and strong coachwork. Unlike the Vauxhall-based Lima, the Kallista was given Ford mechanical components, including a range of engines from 1.6-liter straight-4 to 2.9-liter Cologne V6.

The exterior styling resembled the earlier Allard and Morgan cars.

Production of the Kallista lasted from 1982 through 1990 until SsangYong Motor Company released a badge-engineered version in 1992 called the SsangYong Kallista. Only 78 of the SsangYong models were ever built.

This particular example is a matching numbers car. It has a 2.3-liter overhead cam four-cylinder Ford engine mated to a 4-speed automatic transmission. Its odometer currently shows just over 21,000 miles. It wears its factory black paint, and burgundy folding convertible top. There is a spare tire cover, a full array of analog gauges, a Puma company logo set in the center of the steering wheel, wire wheels, duo-tone chrome horns, driving lights, and an in-dash stereo.

By Daniel Vaughan | Mar 2017