The Audi R8 Panther is very black, a bit red and 100% rear-wheel-drive

The rear-wheel-drive Audi R8 continues to be resurrected like a regular-production model for that 2021 model year and also to celebrate the model’s arrival, Audi is creating a limited-edition variant called Panther developed exclusively for the United States.

Named following the animal, not after Ford’s long-lived body-on-frame architecture, the Panther is provided only as a coupe. It wears Panther Black paint (it features a crystal effect that resembles a starlit sky), carbon fiber mirror caps, black emblems all around, and black 20-inch wheels with red accents. Summer performance tires come standard. If the specification sounds familiar, it’s probably since the RS 5 wore it first — also it looked great doing the work.

Stepping inside the Panther reveals black leather upholstery with red contrast stitching around the dashboard and on the door panels, a set of sport seats wrapped in red leather, and Alcantara around the headliner. Navigation and a Bang & Olufsen audio system with 13 speakers are among the highlights in the standard equipment list.

Audi made no mechanical modifications to the Panther, so power develops from a naturally-aspirated, 5.2-liter V10 which produces 532 horsepower and 398 pound-feet of torque. Mounted behind the passenger compartment, it exhales through a sport exhaust, and it sends its capacity to the rear wheels only using a seven-speed automatic transmission. Floor it, and you’ll see 60 mph appear on the digital instrument cluster in 3.6 seconds.

Only 30 units from the R8 RWD Panther are coming our way, and they’ll be sold through select dealers starting in December 2021. Pricing starts at $186,495 together with a $1,495 destination charge along with a $1,700 gas guzzler tax.