MODENA: There's a new cat that's coming to town and it's going to be the Ares Project Panther.

Ares, the Italy-based company, is reviving the De Tomaso Pantera (Panther in Italian) for 2018 - hence 'Project Panther'.

The new car is effectively a Lamborghini Huracan under its sheet-metal with a 5.2-litre V10 - unlike the classic car that had over 7,000 examples made from 1971 to 1992 with a mid-mounted 330hp 5.8-litre V8.

Lets hope there's 640hp and 600Nm from the 5.2-litre V10 engine for the all-wheel drive system (fingers crossed) much like what the LP640-4 Performante has.

If that's the case, the new Panther, with its seven-speed Doppia Frizione (dual clutch) should be able to sprint from 0-100kph in 2.9 seconds before reaching a top speed of over 325kph.

At current, the Panther is undergoing its final design, aerodynamic and crash-test engineering assessment at its Modena facility.

The car will be built in very limited numbers with sales looking to start from mid-2018 onwards.

Meanwhile, Ares claims that it's already revealed the car during a private showing to its clients and there's already an undisclosed number of confirmed deposits.

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