The Panoz Esperante is a sports car manufactured by Panoz, a Georgia-based car manufacturer. Despite sharing the name with the Panoz Esperante GTR-1, they were unrelated.

First shown at the 2000 New York Motor Show, the Esperante followed up on the company's first model, the minimal Roadster. The company designed the Esperante to be easy to manufacture, with the chassis designed in five modules making extensive use of extruded aluminum. There was no welding involved; pieces were bonded and bolted together instead. Panoz also took advantage of the numerous aviation craftsmen located in and around Atlanta, for design and manufacture as well. The engines for the first generation were sourced from Ford Motor Company's Modular V8 family.

There have been several versions of the original Esperante: the original base model (later given the GT moniker), the GTLM coupe, the GTS, the JRD (an aftermarket upgrade brand similar to Roush Mustangs), and the Brabham. Each model has different specifications. The GTLM, for example, uses a supercharger to boost power from 305 hp (227 kW) to 420 hp (313 kW), raising performance from 0–60 mph in 5 seconds to 4 seconds. The GTS on the other hand is built as a driver's class spec car, to SCCA standards, with harness, roll cage, side bars, etc. Additionally, it is around 600 lb (272 kg) lighter than the base Esperante, has a steel 5.8 liter V8 racing engine that produces 385 bhp (287 kW; 390 PS), and is made of easily replaceable panels to facilitate small impact race repair. It can do 0–60 mph (97 km/h) in 4.2 seconds, go up to a top speed of 182 mph (293 km/h), and achieve 0.98 g of lateral grip.

Introduced in 2014, the 2015 430-hp Spyder and 560-hp Spyder GT were only in production for about a year. As well as the Ford Modular V8, the second generation was equipped with more powerful General Motors LS engines, with available supercharging.

A racing version of the Esperante known as the Esperante GT-LM was developed by Panoz for the GT2 category of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. 2006 was a year of noticeable achievement for Panoz.

The #50 Multimatic Motorsports Team Panoz Esperante GT-LM took a first place podium finish at the 55th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring beating GT2 regulars BMW, Porsche, Ferrari, and Spyker.

That June the #81 Panoz Esperante GT-LM campaigned by England-based Team LNT managed to outlast and overtake the remaining LMGT2 contenders in the final hour of the 2006 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In Europe, Team LNT will be campaigning two Esperantes also. They will be competing in the British GT Championship and Le Mans Endurance Series. Team LNT will be returning to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2007 with both the #81 and #82 cars.[1]^{[permanent dead link]}