Since 2012, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest reserves the right to invite a car to the 24 Hours of Le Mans that does not comply with any of the four sets of technical regulations (LMP1, LMP2, LMGTE Pro and LMGTE Am). The candidates do, however, have one condition to satisfy before they will be considered for the famous Garage 56: their project must be experimental and innovative. Previous Garage 56 entries include the Deltawing aerodynamic spider in 2012, the futuristic Nissan Zeod coupé with its hybrid engine in 2014, and the Morgan prototype specially equipped for quadruple amputee Frédéric Sausset in 2016. Now Panoz has presented his project for 2018.

The all-electric Green4U Panoz Racing GT-EV should offer similar performance levels to the internal-combustion engines that typically drive endurance sportscars. It also has one of those designs that you either love or hate.

While they are very rarely seen on European roads, American Panoz cars have always been very popular at Le Mans. Anyone who attended the race in the late 1990s will surely remember the incredible noise of the Batmobile. In 1998, the manufacturer caused a stir by fielding the first hybrid prototype in the history of the race. The experience unfortunately turned sour however, as the batteries of the day were simply too heavy for this ground-breaking machine to qualify.

The ACO sporting committee will examine this application over the coming months and decide whether to give Panoz’s plan the green light.

Photo: Where previous Panoz cars have appealed to fans by their inimitable noise, the Green4U should be distinctively silent.