The most hideous luxury car ever – that you’ve probably never heard of

If you regard all cars as time capsules – mobile windows into societal trends at any given point in time – then you’d be in no doubt as to the era from which the Panther DeVille harked. This coachbuilt leviathan provided the 1970s car world with a new definition of excess, from its outrageously long bonnet and unashamedly decadent, faux Gatsby-era profile, to its gas-guzzling V12 engine. In its own way, it was as emblematic of 1970s culture as bell-bottomed flares or Chopper bicycles.