Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S: the prototype with the engine in front

The Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S was a Le Mans Prototype built for Panoz in 1999, with Reynard Motorsport as designer. It succeeded the Esperante GTR-1 and raced in the American Le Mans Series and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans until 2001, when it was replaced by the LMP07. What made it stand out among prototypes was the position of its engine: in front of the cockpit rather than behind it.

Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S at a glance

based on one source: the English Wikipedia article on the LMP-1 Roadster-S, which stops partway through the 2000 season.

History of the Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S

Why a new car was needed

At the end of 1998 both the FIA GT Championship and the United States Road Racing Championship dropped the GT1 category in which the Esperante GTR-1 had run since 1997. The GTR-1s could have been converted into prototypes, as happened with some Porsche 911 GT1s, but Panoz chose an all-new car that would be more competitive against the coming Audi and BMW prototypes in the American Le Mans Series — a championship Panoz itself had founded.

Front engine by insistence

Reynard designed the LMP-1 Roadster-S with many styling cues taken from the Esperante GTR-1, largely because the front-engine layout was kept: although GT-based cars had used it, a purpose-built prototype rarely did, and Panoz insisted on retaining it. The two cars share nearly identical front ends, with narrow fenders around deep valleys and a rounded nose housing the engine, fed by a NACA duct. The cockpit sat behind the engine and just ahead of the rear axle, small, with a single rollhoop and only the driver’s side protection and headrest rising from an otherwise flat top. The rear overhang was short, with the wing struts mounted on the diffuser behind the bodywork. Power came from the Ford Élan Power Products 6L8 6.0-litre V8, driving through an Xtrac six-speed sequential gearbox.

The debut season

The car first raced at the second round of the inaugural 1999 ALMS season. Backed by Visteon, Panoz had only one example ready and entered an older Esperante GTR-1 converted to LMP rules alongside it; the new car finished fifth, a lap behind the winner. The second chassis was finished in time for Le Mans, where both cars finished their endurance debut, seventh and eleventh behind BMW, Audi and Toyota. Back in America at Mosport the pair beat the older Riley & Scott-Fords, the Ferrari 333 SPs and the withdrawn BMW V12 LMRs to take first and second. A third car was then sold to J&P Motorsport, and at Petit Le Mans the factory car won outright over BMW while the others finished fifth and eleventh. Fourth place at Las Vegas for Johnny O’Connell and Jan Magnussen gave Panoz the LMP teams championship by two points over BMW.

2000 and the LMP01 Evo

For 2000 one former factory car went to the Danish Team Den Blå Avis for the Sports Racing World Cup while two new cars were built for the factory ALMS team; neither finished Sebring, but they came back to finish second and fifth at Charlotte. After the LMP07 failed to perform as planned, Panoz returned to the car it understood and reworked it into the LMP01 Evo: a narrower, more pointed front with larger brake cooling ducts, bigger side air vents and extended rear bodywork enclosing the wing mounts. The LMP01 Evo was retired at the end of 2003.

Design and features

• Front-mounted V8: the engine sat ahead of the cockpit, giving the car its distinctive proportions.
• Ford Élan 6.0 V8: the same power unit family that had served the Esperante GTR-1.
• Xtrac gearbox: a six-speed sequential unit.
• Aerodynamic shape: NACA intake, deep side valleys feeding radiators ahead of the cockpit, short rear overhang.

Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S versions

• LMP-1 Roadster-S (1999–2001): the original car, raced by the factory and by J&P Motorsport.
• Team Den Blå Avis car: a former factory chassis sold for the Sports Racing World Cup in 2000.
• LMP01 Evo (2001–2003): the reworked car with a narrower nose and revised bodywork.

The LMP-1 Roadster-S followed the Esperante GTR-1 and its Q9 hybrid, and Panoz also built the road-going Esperante. More cars are in the Panoz collection.

Video: Panoz Esperante LMP-1 Roadster S – Panoz

Video on YouTube.

Sources

• Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S, English Wikipedia: development, design, racing history