Barrett-Jackson 2008: Panoz Esperante Flying Car
Click above for high resolution photos of the car
We doubt Danny Panoz envisioned anyone attaching wings to an Esperante, let alone actually flying one. Of course, throw Jesse James of West Coast Choppers into the equation and anything can happen. This 2004 Panoz Esperante actually took flight on an episode of Monster Garage, making it off the ground for 280 feet before touching down safely. The interior has been stripped to make room for a full roll cage, a propeller is mounted in the trunk, and the 36' wings are handmade.
The final bid of $45,000 ($54,000 after auction fees) wasn't too high, although the Monster Garage cars haven't been commanding high numbers. We can't imagine what exactly you would want to do with this vehicle, so it's no surprise that bidding didn't come close to six figures.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Torrent 6:21PM (1/19/2008)
The Highest Bidder is either on drugs or needs to be taking them.
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Mike 6:53PM (1/19/2008)
I would have stripped everything off of it, left the roll cage in, and designed it for racing. Cause an esperante definently starts at like....95000$....lol
I always wanted their GTR.....too much Midtown Madness 2 for me :P
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Tom Winch 9:31PM (1/19/2008)
Not really. You can find 2003 - 2006 Panoz Esperante GT-2 cars for about $50K, give or take a few grand. Check out these two ads, http://panozracecar.com/
http://myracer.com/community/classified/classified.do?method=classifiedDetail&sclassifiedId=MzMT
If this guy wants to convert this to a race car he shouldn't have spent more than about $40K total because he'll have to put money into the car to bring it back to racing spec.
King of Pasadena 9:36PM (1/19/2008)
I would have stripped it, sold the extra parts on ebay for $53,500, and entered it in the next LeMons.
Mike 10:25PM (1/19/2008)
I thought when they came out NEW they were 95000$ a piece...or was that the roadster?
meh i forget....
m 9:02PM (1/19/2008)
Auction fees are 20%? Wow.
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Jim Mitchell 4:06PM (1/20/2008)
The only one guaranteed to make a profit at Barrett-Jackson is ... the auction house.
Welcome to capitalism, suckers. :)
Scott 1:09AM (1/20/2008)
What a tragic waste of an Esperante.
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HotRodzNKustoms 1:35AM (1/20/2008)
As much as I love them Esperantes they have essentially zero resale value
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Random Task 4:16AM (1/20/2008)
Looks like a Flying Miata to me!
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Brendan 4:30AM (1/20/2008)
Should've gone for 5,000 with that abomination strapped to the back.
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