Way OT...but Touring the Panoz Motorsports Facility
10-01-2004, 11:58 AM
#1
Way OT...but Touring the Panoz Motorsports Facility
I really don't know where to put this, but considering that I post in the FI section here 99% of the time, I'll stuff it right here.
I don't know if any of you know or even care what/who Panoz is. Tomorrow along with a few other ME undergrads here @ Georgia Tech, I will be touring the Panoz Motorsports facility in Braselton, GA.
Panoz is a small automotive company, primarily active in the road course racing side of things. They dominated the 1999 American LeMans Series. They do sell a streetable car [the Espirante] but I've never personally seen one outside of a car show. I'll be sure to post billions of photos and talk about what I saw after I get back from there tomorrow.
I'm really looking forward to seeing the inside of this place and getting to chat with some of the engineers there. I inquired about an internship there a few years back and was shot down. Maybe one day with my degree...
Mods, if this belongs somewhere else, please move it!
I don't know if any of you know or even care what/who Panoz is. Tomorrow along with a few other ME undergrads here @ Georgia Tech, I will be touring the Panoz Motorsports facility in Braselton, GA.
Panoz is a small automotive company, primarily active in the road course racing side of things. They dominated the 1999 American LeMans Series. They do sell a streetable car [the Espirante] but I've never personally seen one outside of a car show. I'll be sure to post billions of photos and talk about what I saw after I get back from there tomorrow.
I'm really looking forward to seeing the inside of this place and getting to chat with some of the engineers there. I inquired about an internship there a few years back and was shot down. Maybe one day with my degree...
Mods, if this belongs somewhere else, please move it!
10-01-2004, 12:02 PM
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Re: Way OT...but Touring the Panoz Motorsports Facility (DaX)
Sounds like you're gonna have a lot of fun. I've checked out some of their cars up close and they are marvels of engineering.
10-02-2004, 06:33 PM
#4
Re: Way OT...but Touring the Panoz Motorsports Facility (prjct92eh2)
It was really excellent. Wouldn't you know, I forgot batteries for my digi cam...but there were lots of pictures taken...I'm sure I'll get a hold of some to post up.
We got to see the assembly line where the Espirante is manufactured. Each car is hand built and can be custom tailored to each and every customer. It's actually on the inexpensive side of hand built cars. The Espirante has an extruded aluminum frame that is held together using a type of adhesive as opposed to welds. All the body panels are also aluminum, and they are not stamped, but are formed by heating a sheet of aluminum up and allowing it to "drape" over a one sided piece of tooling. This greatly cuts down on costs, as there is no need for two sided tooling and expensive die machinery for stamping. The Espirante uses a Ford crate power plant, and most of them are coming supercharged now.
We also got to see some of their race cars, which are very nice also. Their race car is actually cheaper than their street car, but it's not streetable.
They had a homologation of one of their GT cars in the showroom...a very beautiful but impractical car.
Like I said...a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll try to get some pictures up that other folks took.
We got to see the assembly line where the Espirante is manufactured. Each car is hand built and can be custom tailored to each and every customer. It's actually on the inexpensive side of hand built cars. The Espirante has an extruded aluminum frame that is held together using a type of adhesive as opposed to welds. All the body panels are also aluminum, and they are not stamped, but are formed by heating a sheet of aluminum up and allowing it to "drape" over a one sided piece of tooling. This greatly cuts down on costs, as there is no need for two sided tooling and expensive die machinery for stamping. The Espirante uses a Ford crate power plant, and most of them are coming supercharged now.
We also got to see some of their race cars, which are very nice also. Their race car is actually cheaper than their street car, but it's not streetable.
They had a homologation of one of their GT cars in the showroom...a very beautiful but impractical car.
Like I said...a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll try to get some pictures up that other folks took.
10-04-2004, 10:45 AM
#6
Re: Way OT...but Touring the Panoz Motorsports Facility (JDMwhiteDC2)
This is the GTR-1 prototype they had in the showroom:
This is the first production car Panoz made...their AIV Roadster. While fun, it was impractical and they learned a lot from making this vehicle. Although production of the roadster stopped in 1999, the engineer assured me that it would make a return in the future.
This is the Esperante GTS race car. In the background you can see the Homologation of the GTR-1, which is the only "street legal" Panoz GTR-1 in existence.
Another AIV Roadster back in the shop:
Shelves of body panels. Panoz uses a type of plastic body panels on their race cars that they sell to racing schools. The plastic panels have a wonderful resilience to impact and are much less expensive to produce and replace.
A shot of a Panoz racing school and spec car being put together. This one has about one week left before final assembly. These cars cost around $60K while thier production line [the Espirante] costs about $89K.
Another racing school car:
"Interior" of the car in the previous picture.
Good ole' Ford crate engine. Pushes 400 whp.
The first six or so stations at the Esperante assembly line. You can see lots of yummy extruded aluminum being used.
An Esperante chassis. Here you can really see the use of extruded aluminum. The blue parts are mild steel. The guy in the picture is one of four engineers at Panoz, and was our tour guide. I believe his name was Jim.
Powertrains. Notice the supercharger, which will be standard on all 2005 models.
An Esperante coming together. You would be surprised at how many parts from the Ford catalog they use, which is smart. The way Jim put it to me, "sure, we can design and manufacture our own e-brake handle, but Ford already makes one that's just as good as we would build, and we surely couldn't make it for $28 like they can." It's all about when and when not to make capital investments.
A nice cutaway model they take to shows. All aluminum body paneling, and all that composite structure IS carbon fiber...it's everywhere on these cars. It does serve a purpose other than bling.
The last few stages of the assmebly line. There are literally like 14 stations on this line, and Jim told me that there is an 8 hour period between stations. So theoretically, a car could roll off the line every 8 hours, and a car takes about 112 hours from begining to finish.
Interior coming together. If you can think it up interior wise [and you have the money], they can do it.
Body panels post paint being installed.
Leather interior coming together nicely.
Don Panoz, the owner's personal car. This is an Esperante outfitted with a long nose and tail, with new side panels to blend them in. This is an option on all Esperantes. You'll also note the LeMans yellow [illegal for road use] headlights he had custom done for his car. He's the owner, so he gets what he wants. Panoz Motorsports paid for the city's new bulletproof vests for the officers. Can you say bribery? Jim said they have a nice little agreement, and Panoz employees never get ticketed.
A roadster that was in for repairs. It had been rear ended. Jim told me that it was surprisingly easy to repair these cars, since hardly anything is welded together. To hold the extruded aluminum chassis together, they use an adhesive instead of welds. Jim said they simply heat up the joint to break the adhesive, and replace the affected areas after the car comes apart.
Another shot of the roadster.
Another shot of the Espirante GTS race car. Again, you can kind of see the Homologation of the GTR-1 with it's color changing paint job.
Finally, a shot of the GTR-1 that is road worthy.
*****************************
I'll put up more pictures as they trickle in.
This is the first production car Panoz made...their AIV Roadster. While fun, it was impractical and they learned a lot from making this vehicle. Although production of the roadster stopped in 1999, the engineer assured me that it would make a return in the future.
This is the Esperante GTS race car. In the background you can see the Homologation of the GTR-1, which is the only "street legal" Panoz GTR-1 in existence.
Another AIV Roadster back in the shop:
Shelves of body panels. Panoz uses a type of plastic body panels on their race cars that they sell to racing schools. The plastic panels have a wonderful resilience to impact and are much less expensive to produce and replace.
A shot of a Panoz racing school and spec car being put together. This one has about one week left before final assembly. These cars cost around $60K while thier production line [the Espirante] costs about $89K.
Another racing school car:
"Interior" of the car in the previous picture.
Good ole' Ford crate engine. Pushes 400 whp.
The first six or so stations at the Esperante assembly line. You can see lots of yummy extruded aluminum being used.
An Esperante chassis. Here you can really see the use of extruded aluminum. The blue parts are mild steel. The guy in the picture is one of four engineers at Panoz, and was our tour guide. I believe his name was Jim.
Powertrains. Notice the supercharger, which will be standard on all 2005 models.
An Esperante coming together. You would be surprised at how many parts from the Ford catalog they use, which is smart. The way Jim put it to me, "sure, we can design and manufacture our own e-brake handle, but Ford already makes one that's just as good as we would build, and we surely couldn't make it for $28 like they can." It's all about when and when not to make capital investments.
A nice cutaway model they take to shows. All aluminum body paneling, and all that composite structure IS carbon fiber...it's everywhere on these cars. It does serve a purpose other than bling.
The last few stages of the assmebly line. There are literally like 14 stations on this line, and Jim told me that there is an 8 hour period between stations. So theoretically, a car could roll off the line every 8 hours, and a car takes about 112 hours from begining to finish.
Interior coming together. If you can think it up interior wise [and you have the money], they can do it.
Body panels post paint being installed.
Leather interior coming together nicely.
Don Panoz, the owner's personal car. This is an Esperante outfitted with a long nose and tail, with new side panels to blend them in. This is an option on all Esperantes. You'll also note the LeMans yellow [illegal for road use] headlights he had custom done for his car. He's the owner, so he gets what he wants. Panoz Motorsports paid for the city's new bulletproof vests for the officers. Can you say bribery? Jim said they have a nice little agreement, and Panoz employees never get ticketed.
A roadster that was in for repairs. It had been rear ended. Jim told me that it was surprisingly easy to repair these cars, since hardly anything is welded together. To hold the extruded aluminum chassis together, they use an adhesive instead of welds. Jim said they simply heat up the joint to break the adhesive, and replace the affected areas after the car comes apart.
Another shot of the roadster.
Another shot of the Espirante GTS race car. Again, you can kind of see the Homologation of the GTR-1 with it's color changing paint job.
Finally, a shot of the GTR-1 that is road worthy.
*****************************
I'll put up more pictures as they trickle in.
10-04-2004, 11:41 AM
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Re: Way OT...but Touring the Panoz Motorsports Facility (DaX)
Wow...all of those cars are amazing 
It's really cool to see just how much time and design goes in to making these unique cars 
Too bad you didn't take better pictures, I could have used a new wallpaper 
It's really cool to see just how much time and design goes in to making these unique cars Too bad you didn't take better pictures, I could have used a new wallpaper
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10-04-2004, 11:45 AM
#8
Re: Way OT...but Touring the Panoz Motorsports Facility (b16a ferio)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by b16a ferio »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Wow...all of those cars are amazing It's really cool to see just how much time and design goes in to making these unique cars Too bad you didn't take better pictures, I could have used a new wallpaper </TD></TR></TABLE>
Actually I am the photographer on none of these...I forgot to get batteries for my camera. These are pictures from other people that went, and hopefully someone did take better pictures and will upload them to the site. When more pictures get uploaded, I'll add them here.
Yeah, for a handbuilt car, the price isn't terribly bad. When I go through my midlife crisis, I want to get one of these.
It's really cool to see just how much time and design goes in to making these unique cars Too bad you didn't take better pictures, I could have used a new wallpaper </TD></TR></TABLE>Actually I am the photographer on none of these...I forgot to get batteries for my camera. These are pictures from other people that went, and hopefully someone did take better pictures and will upload them to the site. When more pictures get uploaded, I'll add them here.
Yeah, for a handbuilt car, the price isn't terribly bad. When I go through my midlife crisis, I want to get one of these.
10-04-2004, 11:49 AM
#9
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Re: Way OT...but Touring the Panoz Motorsports Facility (b16a ferio)
PanozMy GF's sisters ex-boyfriend was/is a member of the Panoz team. When the LeMans was here in DC a few years ago, he took us (well, me really) back in the pit - that car was cool as ****.
10-04-2004, 11:57 AM
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Re: Way OT...but Touring the Panoz Motorsports Facility (EE_Chris)
did u guys get to go to where they assemble and test motors?
that is a sick place! they have like 6 or 7 engine dyno's in one long hallway!
that is a sick place! they have like 6 or 7 engine dyno's in one long hallway!
10-04-2004, 01:02 PM
#12
Re: Way OT...but Touring the Panoz Motorsports Facility (johnzm)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by johnzm »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">did u guys get to go to where they assemble and test motors?
that is a sick place! they have like 6 or 7 engine dyno's in one long hallway!</TD></TR></TABLE>
No we didn't. The motors used for the Esperante and the racing school cars [the GTS] are a Ford Cobra SVT crate motor...they get shipped to Panoz Motorsports already assembled.
that is a sick place! they have like 6 or 7 engine dyno's in one long hallway!</TD></TR></TABLE>
No we didn't. The motors used for the Esperante and the racing school cars [the GTS] are a Ford Cobra SVT crate motor...they get shipped to Panoz Motorsports already assembled.
10-04-2004, 01:07 PM
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Re: Way OT...but Touring the Panoz Motorsports Facility (DaX)
i didnt get to see the facility your in, but i was in a place where every room was full of heads, engines, and alot of carbon fiber pieces 
10-04-2004, 05:46 PM
#15
Re: Way OT...but Touring the Panoz Motorsports Facility (johnzm)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by johnzm »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> i didnt get to see the facility your in, but i was in a place where every room was full of heads, engines, and alot of carbon fiber pieces
</TD></TR></TABLE>
You probably visited Elan Motorsport Technologies, also owned by Dan Panoz. This place is right down the road and they make all the carbon fiber pieces for the Esperante along with doing design work and production of specialized components and testing.
i didnt get to see the facility your in, but i was in a place where every room was full of heads, engines, and alot of carbon fiber pieces </TD></TR></TABLE>
You probably visited Elan Motorsport Technologies, also owned by Dan Panoz. This place is right down the road and they make all the carbon fiber pieces for the Esperante along with doing design work and production of specialized components and testing.
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