The Ares Panther ProgettoUno is getting a Spyder version

Good news, everyone - the rather beautiful Ares Panther ‘ProgettoUno’ is getting a convertible version. Company boss Dany Bahar says the €615,000 Panther coupe “will be ready for deliveries at the end of April, first week of May,” but that “a few months later, [Ares] will present the Spyder version”.

The Panther coupe is based on the Lamborghini Huracan, so no doubt the Spyder will be too. That means a 5.2-litre, naturally-aspirated V10 with a tweaked ECU and exhaust, a seven-speed DSG gearbox and all-wheel drive.

There is another variant of the Huracan, of course - the Performante. Might Ares be tempted to do a hardcore, track-focussed Panther based on Lambo’s former ‘Ring-record holder? Bahar says the company is “discussing” the idea, but stresses Ares isn’t about outright power or speed. “We have clearly decided for all our projects not to take on any fight for power, 0-60 times and all this,” he says. “One ingredient that is a must have for our projects is the pleasure of driving. Whether we are two tenths slower than the original donor car - this is not what we aspire to.”

70 Panthers will be built in total over the next five years - 12 to 15 a year - and that includes the Spyder. Production of the Spyder isn’t set to commence until 2020, but we’ll see it later this year. In fact, it’s one of a few things we might see from Ares in 2019. Bahar says this is “an integral period for [Ares] because we’re trying to expand, to set up our facilities to get the latest technology that is out there for our work”, in its pursuit of OEM quality for its cars.

“We will grow slowly and for us this year, probably also next year will be a very busy year. We have sensational projects coming on, but these take time and we think we will see the fruits of this only in 2020  when we would like to show the world what we have achieved.”