If the story of the DeltaWing seems like it’s started, re-started, and re-started yet again, that’s because it has. After first designing and racing the odd, narrow-front-track car, Panoz started suing the bejeezus out of Nissan, who recruited the DeltaWing’s original designer to create a similar car for Nissan’s racing efforts. Eager to stick it to Nissan, Panoz announced it was building a roadgoing, $60,000 DeltaWing in both two- and four-seat configurations, in addition to another DeltaWing race car. So the DeltaWing has taken flight multiple times, from multiple perches, but our focus here is Panoz’s latest DeltaWing,which has been unveiled in roadgoing, two-seat concept form.
The DeltaWing GT, as Panoz is calling it, is said to at some point go on sale—to real customers, who will drive it on real roads and cause real rubbernecking with its distractingly wild looks. Panoz will begin testing prototypes by the end of the year, and the finished product apparently will closely resemble the blue car pictured here. As racing has proven, the DeltaWing’s ultra-narrow front track and severely rear-biased weight distribution checks out in terms of handling, and the extraordinary taper to the body ensures a slick aerodynamic profile for better fuel economy. Panoz claims the DeltaWing GT’s coefficient of drag is a low 0.26, but when the Mercedes-Benz CLA250‘s Cd is said to be as low as 0.23, the oddball Panoz loses some points. The automaker’s analysis indicates the DeltaWing is capable of a very un-CLA25o-like 74-mpg-plus on the highway, however, so there’s that.
Unfortunately for your bank of male-anatomy jokes, Panoz altered the car’s styling sufficiently to render such comparisons more difficult. From certain angles, the DeltaWing GT has elements that bring to mind the C5 Chevrolet Corvette, albeit one that’s suffered simultaneous side impacts at each front corner. And is missing headlights. But those are just details, and small ones compared to the challenge Panoz faces making the four-door version look less like a pregnant guppy. Of course, the DeltaWing GT race car variant (pictured naked, sans bodywork, above) is also coming along, with Panoz targeting 350 to 400 horsepower and an 1800- to 2000-pound weight. We’re not as skeptical about the DeltaWing’s chances of actually going on sale as some other pie-in-the-sky rides we’ve seen in the past, since Panoz has built and sold cars before. But even while a salable DeltaWing remains no sure thing, the project is so crazy and clever that we hope it pans out.
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