Currently reading: The wild British supercar that beat the BMW M5 – then vanished

The mid-engined, four-wheel-drive Panther Solo of 1989 was one of the best supercars never to succeed

During the 1980s and 1990s, the British car industry was littered with ambitious sports car start-ups ready to take on the establishment. 

Light on cash but brimming with confidence, these one-person-in-a-shed operations often disappeared as quickly as they had sprung into life. Panther, however, was different.