h2oboater

Your past post, [The Coast guard web site says it is a Performance Marine Inc. Under the comments it says "PMR was Panther Marine Corp]
No doubt you have a [Clem Jem] made in Michigan. Before Jim made hulls he was the dealer for Panther Marine also, around [1976].. For info on your boat just type in one of these names on the search here on OSO. [Lancer Aero Predator Awesome & Dynamic Marine]

travisluman

Thanks for the info H2O. So I take it that the hull is the same mold as many boats and they just had different decks? The boat's beam seems really small and when i'm in the boat by myself it leans. How well does this hull really perform?Ive only had the boat out twice till I ripped it apart to rebuild.

fastdonzi

That hull is the basis for some of the Very best Offshore race boats ever (in the classes A, B, & F1) when the going gets rough that thing will put a smile on your face. It's a very capable wave jumper. Enjoy it.

Lauderdaleboats

Finally, someone else knows about these boats. Everyone believed and argued that this was a P&D even though the title clearly states a 1973 cheetah. First three letters of VIN is CHT last two digits 73 as titled. Boat was completely redone. Here's some pics before I just finished some upgrades. Added +3 Imco Ext Box, -2 Imco shorty and 5 blade. Boat is light and fast. Ran mid eighties without the upgrades 525 SC bumped a bit.

Lauderdaleboats

As far as what boats were built from the same mold as my 73 cheetah, I can tell you this. The sides on my hull had a few dimples. Not to piss off anybody, but i've looked at similar hulls that are not too old and they have the identical dimples in the same areas. bet my boat would drop in these molds and fit like a glove.

Dude! Sweet!

I'd love to see a photo of the deck! Cool boat.

h2oboater

Your hull would drop in many of these molds. Another company that used that same hull was Eagle boats back in 1973, Emerald City here on Lake St Clair sold them. My 24' x 7' beam Cobra is the same hull also, but has a deck more like a Pantera. This one has twin 302 Holman Moody Ford engines. Again this was my [M-77] 24' Cheetah from 1974. It was the first Offshore boat Jim Clem sold, and I bought it. He would buy blank hulls from Cheetah and sell them.

pullmytrigger

beautiful restoration.....but whats with the Cig stickers?

canadiandrifter

I realize this is a old thread but I could use some help. I have just picked up what i have been told is a 1978 "25" ft panther and this seems to be the only place I have found any info on panther boats. Has anyone found out anything more about Panther? Any info help or comments would be appreciated. FYI I am a complete noob when it comes to this style of boat.[IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG]

h2oboater

What you have there is a boat that started life as a Lancer Marine built at the Cheetah boat shop in California. They made two size hulls, first was the 31' than the 25' like what you have. The owner of the company was Barry McCown, a west coast offshore racer who had raced a 24' California built Spectra [ BANZAI ] with twin big block Chevy engines in tandem. Jim Klem [ Mr, Klems Gems ] was his main dealer back then. I bought the first 31' from them as a blank hull, they than built the 25' Lancer & Barry raced it as S-34 KAMIKAZE, with twin engines in tandem not really setting the Offshore race world on fire. Within months he sold his molds to Panther Marine where you boat was built. Many other west coast companies like Can Am used the 25' & 31' molds to build there boats.