Produced by one of the most famed names of early French motoring, the extraordinarily high-quality Panhard et Levassor Type Q featured a robust T-head four-cylinder engine with 145 millimeter bore and 160 millimeter stroke resulting in displacement of 10.5 liters, or some 645 cubic inches, delivering 50 horsepower through a combined gearbox and differential with dual chains, on a steel-reinforced wooden chassis frame. Made with the US market firmly in mind, the Type Q was one of the costliest automobiles produced in France at the time. It was also among the largest-displacement production cars of the period and, unsurprisingly, quite rare then and even more so now. While precise figures are not known, it is believed that only two four-cylinder Type Qs remain: the well-known tourer formerly in the Otis Chandler Collection and the competition-oriented machine offered here.

Factory production records on file indicate that this Type Q was delivered to the longstanding early Parisian dealership Palais de l’Automobile on the Boulevard Pereire in April 1908, equipped with a pneumatic self-starter, ball bearing hubs, and the largest wheels offered. The build sheet does not list coachwork of any type. It is believed that the chassis was shortened and a competition-style riveted body fitted later in 1909, possibly prior to actual delivery. According to previous owner Fernando Ariza, the car was then purchased by Don Pedro Suinaga, a wealthy young Mexican enthusiast from Xalapa, Veracruz, and was raced by family friend and professional driver Augustine Casaux in numerous speed trials in Mexico. A photograph of Casaux at the 1910 speed trials shows the car in the racing configuration it has since been returned to. Another photograph in the file shows the car passing a Mercer on the outside during a race on 12 September 1920, indicating that it was still competitive well into the years that most racecars begin their retirement.

In the 1940s, Mr. Ariza, an Esso executive, discovered the car in the ownership of a Mexico City convent. The sisters had added a pair of rear seats hung off the tail to make it more practical, although photographs on file showing the Panhard as found at Ariza’s premises depict it otherwise similar to its present configuration and remarkably intact for its age, including the original, still-present staggered racing seats and tank. It was given a restoration typical of the time to its competition configuration and was featured among cars from the Ariza Collection in a two-page spread in the May-June 1968 issue of the Horseless Carriage Club of America Gazette.

Some decades later, in the late 1980s, a fresh restoration was undertaken for the Arizas. In this form, the car was shown by Mr. Ariza at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in both 1994 and 1995, winning First in Class in the latter showing. After its Pebble Beach appearances, the Panhard was put on loan to the Petersen Automotive Museum, until it was finally sold by the Ariza family in 2000. It then joined the noted Charles G. Renaud Collection in Cortaillod, Switzerland, and was exhibited there until it was acquired by the consignor, a longtime connoisseur of vintage racing machines.

Recently, the car was recommissioned mechanically and cosmetically restored to its pre-1910 speed trials configuration, including freshly re-spoked wheels with original, large, demountable Firestone rims. The riveted Panhard racing coachwork was reworked to its period style with the original racing seats and refinished in correct dark blue with correct racing numbers. The Panhard remains in attractive condition and retains a marvelous level of mechanical purity, including a period Zenith dual-carburetor setup fitted since the car’s discovery, as well as its original freshly serviced Panhard/Eisenmann magneto, Panhard-badged chains, four-speed transaxle, and dashboard instruments. It is quite robust and powerful to experience on the road, making it tempting for the next owner to not only show at concours events, but also to further sort for vintage racing.

Few surviving Edwardian racecars have the visual presence of this Panhard, much less its potency on the road, and fewer still are available—at any price—on the open market. This offers a marvelous opportunity to experience one of the most thrilling niches of vintage motoring, in a car advanced at its time and remarkable to behold and drive today.