As you know by now, no road connects Panama to Colombia. A ferry that used to take you from Panama to Colombia no longer exists (they ceased operation in the late 1990s). As such, you must ship your car to South America. This is the trickiest part of the trip. You must RORO or ship your car via a container ship from Costa Rica or Panama to Colombia or Ecuador. This section tries to simplify all of that for you. The following is my recommended route, Colon, Panama to Cartagena, Colombia.
Panama
What you need to know before and when you get to Panama
Colombia
What you need to know before and when you get to Colombia
Helpful Links
Want a second opinion? See how others did it? Here are some other examples.
Note: There is some conflicting on whether you need Carnet de Pasaje or not. You don’t to enter Colombia. Not sure about Ecuador or Venezuela, though. Here’s an entry from 2004. October 2006, one party drove into, not shipped, their car into Ecuador. No Carnet was required.