Yes and no.
While the exhaust pipes are a fact of life for the panther, the motor issues wasn't attributed to the A - and the chicken wire story isn't quite true either.
Unlike what you would think, the Developmental History of the Panther went thusly:
Panther Ausf D (some use the lower case d, german documents use both).
210001 - 210254 MAN
211001 - 211250 Daimler-Benz
212001 - 212130 Henschel
213001 - 213220 MNH
It was midway through the production run that the Motor (Which did have most of the issues Dragoon mentioned as well as the others) was changed from the Maybach HL210 P30 to the Maybach HL230 P30. The 230 was a much better motor overall, as long as the raw materials lived up to spec as well as the quality controls - as the war wore on both of these fell in quality.
Panther II
2 Prototypes built by MAN, one of which is in the Patton Museum.
Never entered production - but the work that was done on it influenced the A to a small degree, and the G to a large degree.
Panther Ausf A. Same hull as the D, but with a new turret. A lot of features was added during this run: in my mind its the best of the lot: High Quality Manufacturing standards, a collection of really useful production improvements, with very little wartime simplifications to make it cheaper and easier to build.
210255 - 210899 MAN
151901 - 152575 Daimler-Benz
154801 - 155630 MNH
158101 - 158150 Demag-Benrath
Panther Ausf G. Same turret as the A, but a new hull that was based largely off of the Panther II's hull. Here, there was a lot of simplifications that started to reduce, in my opinion, the qualities that make the Panther Great. But there was a few silver linings: Namely the hull shape. While it was meant to make it faster to build, it was a honest improvement overall. As well, the addition late in the run of the Mantlet Lip to prevent rounds glancing into the hull roof, and of course, the heater built into the engine compartment that solved a host of issues.
120301 - MAN
124301 - * Daimler-Benz
128301 - MNH
And Finally,
Panther Ausf F. Now, why would I add the Paper Panther? After all, it never did enter production yes?
Well... sorta.
MAN, D-B, MNH, Krupp, and Nibelungenwerk was to begin production, staggering start dates, in March of 45. None, save for D-B, actually did so. Hence the * in the above G SN list. However, even there, the F wasn't really produced either.
Whats this Panther Al you ask? They did but they didn't? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot over?
The F was supposed to be built on a modified G hull, with a totally new Turret. The Turret did start production, but none was turned over to the factories since the optics for it was never started in time before the war ended. However, Daimler Benz did start to receive the plates for the hull modifications for the F, and following the Standard Practice of last in, first out (Which BTW makes for a lot of fun in IDing production data of german tanks let me tell you), they did produce F hulls in random with G hulls during the last month or so of the war. In fact, at the end of the war, there was a pic of the DB line where you can see F hulls interspaced with G hulls on the line. Daimler Benz managers say they don't know for certain if any actually was issued, but they dis believe that it was very possible that a very small number was issued to II./PzR 2 for the defence of Berlin between the dates of 20-23 April (Where the factory was located).
Also, in the Ruhr, Hulls for the F was captured while still in the welding jigs, so there is a small possibility that a handful was delivered to MAN - but they did not enter the line as far as anyone knows.
Paper Panthers!
Yes, the German Uber Alles crap that some folks go for is here. Though to be fair, there really wasn't a lot in this category for the panther, excepting the weapon carriers that was shelved in late 43 to early 44, so they don't count.
There was a number of things they was shooting for - and mostly, they wasn't too out there either. Nightvision of course, which did see the field in small numbers, as well as new optics in general.
In addition, there was some effort towards mounting the 8.8cm Kw.K 43 L/71 in a schmalturm, which in my opinion was silly: it didn't make sense to cram a larger gun in a turret designed to be even smaller.
Maybach HL234 Motor. Oh, my.. what a could have been this is. It was discovered during the development of the HL230 that if any part of the motor was a failure point it was, as Dragoon and others pointed out, the Carburettor. It was decided then though, that careful attention to the quality control standards would suffice to keep it from being an issue. To be fair, that's correct. However, they did forget there was a war on...
However, Maybach had immediately started work on a new motor just in case: the 234. With the call to keep with the 230, they cut back on the development of it till they discovered that, hey - there is a war on, and that plays hell with the supply chain, and further, maybe they aught to have a look at that old plan B. This engine could have been introduced with Panther A, and what it was capable of is outstanding. Instead of the 750 horsepower of the 230, it was rated at 900, it was designed with wartime production in mind in regards to build quality, and coupled with the inclusion of fuel injection, actually got much better gas milage. This would have given the Panther the Power to Weight Ratio equal to that of a Hellcat. Not too shabby.