Panoz has taken the wraps off the Abruzzi “Spirit of Le Mans”, the company’s first new road car since 2008. The car has only been certified for sale in Europe, and just 81 copies will be sold.
Though we now have pictures of the entire car, some of its innards remain a mystery. Panoz says the car makes 600 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque, but doesn’t specify what type of engine or transmission are employed. We do know it’s a front-engine, rear-drive setup, with rear-mounted radiators. The radiators’ mounting position contributes to what Panoz calls Trifecta Cooling. As well as the radiator itself, the car incorporates two other cooling strategies: The rear glass directs air down onto the radiators, and the coolant lines that run from the front-mounted engine to the radiators also serves to cool the fluid.
The body is built from a multi-layer composite material through a process called REAMS—Recyclable Energy Absorbing Matrix System. The company says it’s lighter and less expensive than carbon fiber, yet just as strong. The material is said to be dent resistant and shatter proof, and, according to company founder Don Panoz, an eight-millimeter-thick batch can fend off a .22-caliber bullet. There’s an interesting metric.
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