2011 Panoz Abruzzi



Don Panoz again has captured the Spirit of Le Mans. This time, one of the world’s most forward-thinking entrepreneurs is pairing his newest automotive masterpiece with the legacy of the world’s greatest auto race. The Panoz Abruzzi “Spirit of Le Mans” broke cover today at the Circuit de La Sarthe, an appropriate venue for the world debut of a ground-breaking automobile with a very appropriate delivery and acquisition program for its customers.

Introduced in 2011, the Panoz Abruzzi was a grand tourer produced by Panoz Auto Development of Georgia in the US.

The Abruzzi “Spirit of Le Mans” is more than a technological masterpiece from Panoz Auto Development (PAD), based in Hoschton, Ga. It represents a new chapter in automotive production and delivery, tied into the world’s most demanding auto race.


The 'Spirit of Le Mans', with a price tag of around £ 340,000, was a limited edition of just 81 units which was exactly the number of Le Mans 24 Hour races that took place between the first race in 1923 and that to be held in 2013.

This road legal sports car, fitted with carbon ceramic disc brakes all round, was powered by a front-engined, aluminium, 6.2 litre, 16 valve, OHV, V8 unit. Linked to a Roots style supercharger and a six speed manual gearbox, it developed 650 bhp at 6300 rpm and 595 ft/lbs of torque at 3900 rpm.

Performance is just one facet that sets the Abruzzi apart from other exotics. It also breaks new ground in environmental design and construction starting with the unprecedented implementation of the R.E.A.M.S. - Recyclable Energy Absorbing Matrix System - body system that offers environmental, performance and structural advantages like no other automobile body system on the planet. Never used before on any road-going automobile, the multi-layer composite system is lighter than carbon fiber yet equally strong. Unlike carbon fiber however, it is dent-resistant, shatter-proof and recyclable.


Abruzzi also introduces TRIFECTACOOLING technology. In addition to a normal high-efficiency radiator, there are stage two and stage three systems that lower coolant temperature on both the inflow to and the outflow from the radiator.

The Panoz Abruzzi harkens back to a day where drivers would pilot their cars to Le Mans, race it twice around the clock then drive back home. It essentially captures the “Spirit of Le Mans” with a never-before-seen acquisition program that sets a new standard for personalization and delivery.


Given the roots of Panoz’s automotive dreams, it is only appropriate that the Abruzzi “Spirit of Le Mans” will be delivered to its owners at the famed Circuit de la Sarthe, shipped directly there from the Panoz factory. Each automobile will be linked to a specific Le Mans 24 Hour race, with the chassis number also containing that specific race date and the initials of the winning drivers and the history of that year.

Professional drivers will instruct owners in driving the car on the Bugatti Circuit at Le Mans. Service and repairs also will be attended to at the ACO facilities of the Circuit 24 Hours of Le Mans.

New vehicle owners also will be invited to the 24 Hours of Le Mans as guests of the ACO and Panoz at the ACO’s hospitality facilities in the “Model Sportif” at the circuit. New owners also will have the unique opportunity to drive a parade lap of the full 8.3-mile circuit at that year’s event.


During the Le Mans race week a “Spirit of Le Mans” reception will be held at the clubhouse of the famed Golf Des 24 Heuers in the historic town of Arnage. The new owners for that year will be the guests of the ACO officials and past “Spirit of Le Mans” award winners such as Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell.

Panoz Auto Development produces leading-edge, fully certified automobiles and is best known for the first US-manufactured AIV (Aluminum Intensive Vehicle) - the Panoz AIV Roadster. The Panoz Esperante body and chassis also extensively employs aluminum for performance, safety and efficiency. The Panoz Esperante GTLM earned world-famous stature as a race car by winning the GT2 category at both the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a single year – 2006.