The Panhandler. 1958 Panhard Dyna Z 2.5RS

The trailer is loaded for the quick trip to Cleveland in the morning. By this time tomorrow the two halves of my car will be in the same zip code!

Many of you have followed Patrick's Devin Panhard progress and this week we spilled that I was going to take the body from his donor car.

The project scope is relatively simple yet in its simplicity there is a ton of intricacy that will come to light step by step. Essentially this will be a cruiser.it should perform like the stock donor vehicle.

The body:

Is a 1958 Panhard Dyna Z. It is my intention to keep the body EXACTLY as it looks today. It's earned that patina. 

The donor vehicle:

Is a 2003 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS. The majority of the silver part of this car will be either involved or cut off the floor pan. The majority of the cowl, floor, seats, controls will be used. There will be some creative repackaging of done of those bits.

One of the original concept Photoshops looked like this:

Notice the 18" wheels and JDM!YO!1!!1! fender flares. Yep. They are likely staying. The wheels will, however, be these  $250 Facebook Marketplace beauties:

The only variation will be one of these roof carriers

So there is the plan. 

Tell me your thoughts. 

Any car that's named Dyna Z is a win in my book. 

Ooooh snap.

Awesome.

The chassis swap is getting to be a common thing. Wheelbase match?

Don’t get too excited, Mr Brown has a storied history of project abandonment. 

Finish this one Mofo, I dare you (see you in a few hours)

nohome, the measurements are close, and i think it’s a case of having to open up the rear wheel openings takes care of the discrepancy.  The cars are laid out similarly with both having the engine hanging out front of the axle centerline.  The big issue is radiator space, but that’s a bridge he can burn when he gets to it.  The Panhard is air cooled, so they didn’t have to worry about that when they made it look like a pill bug

NOHOME said:

The chassis swap is getting to be a common thing. Wheelbase match?

1.5" difference in wheelbase 2.5" in width but those differences are in the right spots. 

If you finish this, I'll buy the celebratory dinner. 

Patrick said:

Don’t get too excited, Mr Brown has a storied history of project abandonment. 

Finish this one Mofo, I dare you (see you in a few hours)

nohome, the measurements are close, and i think it’s a case of having to open up the rear wheel openings takes care of the discrepancy.  The cars are laid out similarly with both having the engine hanging out front of the axle centerline.  The big issue is radiator space, but that’s a bridge he can burn when he gets to it.  The Panhard is air cooled, so they didn’t have to worry about that when they made it look like a pill bug

I've learned many lessons over the last few years, the biggest was not to expect to do more than I was capable of. The major limiting factor I fought was financial. I was in debt and made very little money.  Last year I thought tgat I was closer to on the clear. I jumped the gun. I thought of I had a toy that didn't require a lot of work I would be fine. Any of the toys i bought broke. I realized that it was not the time. I've spent every extra penny getting our combined debt from over 65k to less than 20k. We are clear of all but $3000 credit card debt and the other loans we have will be bundled into our home refi in July. All the while we'e been putting money away for a vacation, the Challenge and a new furnace at the farm 

I haven't really earned the right to take on a big project but the Panhard being available coupled with the deal on the Impreza and the  $3000 I had sitting in the Challenge fund really forced my hand.

So you are right. Mofo hasn't been able to follow through and stick with things, until now. 

Dusterbd13 said:

If you finish this, I'll buy the celebratory dinner. 

"Finished"? It will never be finished. Driven under it's own power again? Aiming for September. 

Deal.

If you need to make the rear narrower, you can use wagon or GC rear control arms and axles.

In reply to Knurled. :

Or wider flares 

By September?

My projects tend to be planned on a five year basis. To be honest, part of it is because  I am usually launching into something that I have no idea how to do and know that some parts will require re-doing.  People who can get these things done in a year or less are my heroes. 

Pete

In reply to NOHOME :

If it takes 5 years I'm fine with that as well. 

I'd like to go at the Subaru aggressively and get it back to driver status. (Brakes, exhaust, timing components, lubes) t5gen pull the body off and start piecing it together. 

This is one heck of a cool project, can't wait to see it moving. 

I was going to say 5 years is way too long, but then I realized my own project MGB has been with me 5 years and still not on the road. So 5 years is a good timeline. Carry on.

Great project!

I love me some Roof Rack...

Things are happening 

If you dont plan on using any of the round* french gauges, I would be interested in them for the Renault. *assuming they are round and not labeled Panhard.

They’re not.  

RossD said:

If you dont plan on using any of the round* french gauges, I would be interested in them for the Renault. *assuming they are round and not labeled Panhard.

Hi Ross,

If needed (and if you precise which gauge exactly you need), I can check if I find some here in France - if you're ready to deal with hefty shipment costs :(

Home. Unloaded. Trailer returned. Truck refueled. Mofo fed. Tequila in hand.

It was as good day.

You have chosen a Most Excellent name for this project. Well done.

Today, tape measure in hand, I walked into the valley of car park and took measurements. Oh Lord Grip, thank you for the plentiful acres of rust bestowed upon me. 

The Panhard is really wide at the bottom, narrowing to the top. The Subaru is narrow at the bottom, widening in the middle and narrowing at the top.

The weld seam at the structural point of the Panhard is 55". The Subaru seam is at almost the same point. The idea was to build a L-structure cap on both surfaces and having those L structures mate. This is now the plan. 

The outer most part of the shoulders if the Impreza front seats measure 48" 26" above the  floor. The maximum width of the Panhard at 26" above the proposed floor height is 48".

The wheel wells of the Panhard are roughly 1.5" smaller than the Subaru. The leading edges of the wheel wells are the rocker are 4" longer on the Panhard. When installing the JDM!Yo!!1!1! Flares the front and rear wheel wells will only be slightly offset towards the center.

The Panhard hood sits over an inch taller and more importantly the bonnet is over 2" deeper than the Subarus radiator support which essentially means I can keep my air conditioning if I can make the dash fit.

Simply stoked.

This really is the only answer when you have a Panhard shell and a rust Impreza.