Most Beautiful! 1986 Panther Kallista
This is not a kit car! Panther Westwinds was a British manufacturer of retro sports cars before retro was cool. By 1986 they had already gone bankrupt for the first time and had re-launched the company with the steel-bodied Kallista, a “traditional” British sports car in appearance but featuring modern Ford mechanical components. This one has only covered 6,525 miles and is listed for sale here on eBay. Bidding has just crested $5,000 but has not yet met the reserve. The Kallista is located at a dealer in Morgantown, Pennsylvania.
“Kallista” means “most beautiful” in Greek, and I’m sure some folks thought and think that looking at the car. I was never sure that the front and rear were designed by the same person, but hey, what do I know? We are talking about the same firm that put out the fantastic Panther 6, so we know they had some big ideas! The Kallista was the first Panther model officially imported to the USA as far as I can tell, although others have made their way over here over the years. The two-tone treatment is particularly striking on this car.
Although the bumpers seem a little odd-looking, they were necessary to meet US standards at the time. I’m pretty sure that’s an MG Midget windshield assembly, and most of the mechanical and electrical components of the Kallista came from regular production automobiles.
We don’t know much about the history of this particular car, but it appears to have been stored for a while and looks a lot rougher in places than I would expect for such a low mileage count. The seller states that only 148 Kallistas made it to the US, so you won’t see yourself going by anytime soon. However, if you want the car to look like new, you’ll need to address a lot of nicks and scratches, as well as some dull chrome.
It’s the interior condition that really lets the car down. The wood all needs to be refinished (nothing you can’t do yourself if you have the time) and the seats, originally leather, are now some sort of wrinkly velour. We’re also told the top is in poor condition.
We saw this engine in Pintos, Mustang IIs and many other Ford vehicles. While the 2.3-liter engine won’t ever set the world on fire in stock form, they have seen a lot more horsepower production in racing use. Overall, this may be an inexpensive way to own a traditional-looking British convertible with a few more creature comforts than you might expect. Plus — when have you ever seen one?
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Comments
Though it is not a kit car it is sort of a Bitza, not only because of the Ford engine but because it’s hard to hide the MG Midget cowl, windshield, doors and dash. I’m sure it would be a fun car but not for me.
Nice touch leaving the sticker on the spare tire. I gotta agree with Jack on this one.
It might not be a kit car but….if it looks like a duck and quacks like like a duck.
Factory built kit car.
Wasn’t there a slimmed down version of this known as the Panther Kallista Flockhart? (I’ll see myself out)
In Europe they still didn’t care about exhaust emissions in 1986 and these cars came with strong Cologne V6s. They were actually pretty quick. Unfortunately, the performance of the clean US version with the Pinto Four was merely decent.
Jamie, The entire cowl, cockpit, doors, glass and top were MG Midget… a novel way to limit the otherwise huge expense to have all those components designed, built and actually fit together. Poor Midget.
Actually, aren’t the doors longer than a Midget…as is the top. Although there were a LOT of neo-classics that used the Midget cockpit area!
Remember the Clenet ? Spridget body with running boards and external fenders added – one of the more successful “neo-classics”.
The nice thing about the Spridget bodyshell is that parts are readily available, including tops and upholstery, at pretty reasonable prices, so this puppy could be refurbished to be a nice looking driver without too much cost – just too bad it doesn’t have the V6. With a 2.8 and a 5speed out of a Merkur, this might be a fun ride.
I’ll pass.
A Panther town car showed up at our annual British car show last fall. Kind of a cross between a Bugatti Royale from the front grille to cowl, Duesenberg for the passenger cabin, bustle back from a Chrysler Imperial, and looked like dookie from the overall consensus!!!!!
Midget based or not, I love it. It’s even got triple wipers like my old Triumph Roadster!
Facing the wrong way, unless they rewired the polarity of the wiper motor from Midget to Kallista.
Grille reminds me of thousands of modified stockers on the dirt track circuit not to mention quarter Midget racers running around today.
Would fit in the rear seating area of a Bugatti Royale, or a Duesenberg. Just a little kit-style copy cat.
Would look better with the main body all in one color and the fenders in a contrasting color.
John
DOUBLE ugly…IMO…and no paint scheme can save it.