orries franchised the sale of the Black Panther to Chevrolet dealerships as far way as New Orleans. It’s estimated that less than 50 Black Panthers where produced. Only two cars are known to exist today, with the remainder unaccounted for. The Black Panther Camaro may be the rarest of the dealer inspired street racers and no doubt the best looking. While not as well know as the Yenko Camaros’, the Gorries “Black Panther” stands out as great example of dealer derived street muscle at a time when “Race on Sunday and Sell on Monday” was the performance enthusiast creed.

Its unknown how many of the Black Panthers still exist, but the example shown here is owned by Bob & Lorraine Simonen of Sault Ste. Marie of Ontario, Canada. Bob bought the car in April of 1967 from Gorries Downtown Chevrolet in Toronto. Bob drove the car daily until the mid 1980’s when he decided to garage his black beauty with thoughts of restoring it one day.

In October of 2001, everything fell together for Bob when he dusted of his project and began a full frame-off restoration of the Panther. Restoration work was completed in May of 2002. Shown here, the black and gold treatment really shows off the beauty of the Camaro’s lines and styling. Under the skin breaths the original heart of the 1960’s Chevrolet design team with some rather bold accents added by Gorries Chevrolet. Through Bob’s research, he has learn that his car is truly “the rarest and most

Editors Note:  If you're a Black Panther Owner or have any additional information, please contact the ClassicCar.com Editor at editor@classiccar.com.  We are interested in putting together a registry for these cars.

CC