The J.72 was the first product of the Panther Westwinds

Panther Westwinds

Panther Westwinds was a manufacturer of niche sports cars and luxury cars, based in Surrey, United Kingdom. Founded in 1972 by Robert Jankel, the Panther company enjoyed success throughout the 1970s with retro-styled cars based on the mechanical components of standard production cars from other...

 company, sold from 1972 through 1981. It was an ultra-exclusive luxury roadster

Roadster

A roadster is a two-seat open car with emphasis on sporty handling and without a fixed roof or side weather protection. Strictly speaking a roadster with wind-up windows is a convertible but as true roadsters are no longer made the distinction is now irrelevant...

, intended to compete with the best of the 1970s

1970s

File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...

 motor industry. It used mechanicals from the XJ12

Jaguar XJ

Jaguar XJ is the designation that has been used for a series of luxury saloon cars sold under the British Jaguar marque. The first XJ was launched in 1968 and the designation has been used for successive Jaguar flagship models since then. The original model was the last Jaguar saloon to have had...

, including the 5.3 L Jaguar V12 engine

Jaguar V12 engine

Jaguar V12 piston engine was one of the premier powerplants of the 1970s and 1980s. It was first seen in the Series 3 Jaguar E-type of 1971 and was based loosely on an earlier design intended for a Le Mans car, the ill-fated Jaguar XJ13. The V12 was only Jaguar's second engine design to go into...

, and was styled like the Jaguar SS100

Jaguar SS100

The SS100 is a British 2-seat sports car built between 1936 and 1940 by SS Cars Ltd of Coventry, England. The last one is thought to have been delivered in 1941. In 1936 the name Jaguar was given to a new saloon car and from then on to all the cars...

. The J.72 was also offered with the 3.8 L and 4.2 L XK engines

Jaguar XK6 engine

The renowned Jaguar XK dual overhead camshaft inline 6-cylinder engine was introduced in 1949 and continued in manufacture until 1992. It was produced in five displacements for Jaguar passenger cars, with other sizes being made by Jaguar and privateers for racing...

.

The J.72 was a success for the small company, with its Connolly

Connolly

Connolly may refer to:* Connolly, Western Australia, a suburb in Perth, Western Australia* Connolly, County Clare, Ireland* Dublin Connolly railway station in Dublin, Ireland...

 coachwork beating Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce (car)

This a list of Rolls-Royce motor cars and includes vehicles produced by:*Rolls-Royce Limited *Rolls-Royce Motors , which was owned by Vickers between 1980 and 1998, and after that by Volkswagen...

 at the 1973 London Motor Show. The car was purchased by a number of celebrities, and roughly 500 were produced in all.