Dany Bahar's Ares Panther - a Lamborgini-based De Tomaso recreation - hits the road

Dany Bahar’s Ares Panther out testing

The Ares Panther – a supercar with Lamborghini Huracan underpinnings and De Tomaso styling – hits the road for testing.

Dany Bahar is best know for his short-lived flights of fancy as the erstwhile boss of Lotus, but he could finally have found his niche with Ares Design.

Ares bills itself as a an Atelier of bespoke luxury and performance cars, and its mission is to deliver classic-looking cars with modern undperinnings and Italian flair. A bit like an Italian version of David Brown Automotive.

It’s first project is the Ares Panther, revealed last year, which takes the underpinnings of the Lamborghini Huracan and clothes them in a carbon body which looks very like a De Tomaso Pantera.

Despite the Huracan already coming with a 5.2 litre V10, Ares have increased its capacity to 5.6 litres and in the process increased its output to 650bhp, and are aiming to improve throttle response and get sharper shifts from the seven-speed dual-clutch ‘box too.

Bahar said:

Within just six months of announcing the Panther project we have our test car on the road and are ready to present to the world our expression of a car that I dreamt of as a kid.
The Ares Panther will be the perfect blend of old-school charm and charisma, underpinned with an iconic modern chassis and clothed in full carbon.

Just 21 Ares Panthers are being built, and the £500k price tag hasn’t put buyers off – they’re all sold.