The Panther is a two-seat "personal luxury" sporting
convertible (in the same vein as the
Pan-American), with Packard styling cues, but lower stance. Originally, the cars had 1955
Clipper taillights, but these were subsequently removed and replaced with the Senior Series' "cathedral" style units. The design for the Panther's one-piece fiberglass body is credited to
Dick Teague. He designed several Packard cars and worked at Mitchell-Bentley Corporation at the time. Teague later joined
American Motors Corporation (AMC). Although it was shown in late 1954 and 1955 (when Packard was already advertising its new, modern
overhead valve V8), the Panther featured the company's previous
L-head (flathead)
straight-eight,
supercharged to produce , along with
Ultramatic automatic transmission. Of the four Panthers built, one was owned by Mitchell-Bentley exec William Mitchell, Sr. The Mitchell car is the only Panther that had a removable hardtop (which resembled that of the 1955
Thunderbird). ==See also==