1992 Arctic Cat Panther pilot-build

The Panther model was all-new for 1992 and was based on the popular Prowler AWS chassis. It had a longer 136" track length, long-travel front and rear suspensions and retained the 440 fan-cooled engine that had powered that model in earlier model years. About 36 pilot-build models were produced to usher in this new model, this is one of those 36. The pilot builds had a few oddities: were built using the pre-1992 chaincase, is still using the pre-1992 style of the Comet 108-C drive clutch, was lacking the windshield mount screws, did not have vents at the rear of the hood, uses a plastic plate surrounding the speedometer, the LH console vents were not routered out, had smaller rear arm mounting plates in the tunnel, had a single hood cable instead of dual, different tie rod boots, etc. This had the smoother textured seat cover on it when we began our work on it but we installed a courser-grained production seat cover on it now as it needed replacing. We believe that all of the pilot builds were also originally produced with the unusual stamped steel a-arms/spindles as shown in the 1992 brochures, but that they were all swapped over to the production style arms/spindles prior to being sold off through the Special Services department and eventually to retail buyers. This machine was retailed by Damrow Motor Sports Center in Wisconsin. We purchased it from a private party out of Wisconsin in 2020 and have given it a light restoration since. Vin number 9200075. Engine number: K44-360029.