1964 Pontiac Banshee Concept Car
Pontiac General Manager John DeLorean tried his damndest to get a moderately-priced 2-seat sports car for Pontiac; after GM management said, "no way" to his initial request, he had two Banshee concepts built, a 6 and this V8, to show them how the car would look and drive.
He was still shot down; Corvette was GM's sports car, expensive though it was, and that's how things would stay. GM management did toss him a bone, though; a Pontiac version of Chevy's upcoming Camaro. Better than nothing, but still not what he wanted.
Realistically, there was no way he was getting this accomplished; not with an almost identical but larger, more expensive and more-profitable-for-GM '68 Corvette coming down the pike. But he fought the good fight.,
But the Banshee's basic concept, a small, light 2-seater, showed up on the Opel GT, albeit as a coupe, on an Opel Kadett chassis and with much less powerful 1.1 and 1.9 liter 4-cylinder engines.
Pontiac would not get another chance at a 2-seat sports car until 15 year later, when GM management greenlighted development on the mid-engine Fiero, introduced 20 years after GM shot down the Banshee.
You can watch video of this car at www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5NcdXQfieM
1964 Pontiac Banshee Concept Car
Pontiac General Manager John DeLorean tried his damndest to get a moderately-priced 2-seat sports car for Pontiac; after GM management said, "no way" to his initial request, he had two Banshee concepts built, a 6 and this V8, to show them how the car would look and drive.
He was still shot down; Corvette was GM's sports car, expensive though it was, and that's how things would stay. GM management did toss him a bone, though; a Pontiac version of Chevy's upcoming Camaro. Better than nothing, but still not what he wanted.
Realistically, there was no way he was getting this accomplished; not with an almost identical but larger, more expensive and more-profitable-for-GM '68 Corvette coming down the pike. But he fought the good fight.,
But the Banshee's basic concept, a small, light 2-seater, showed up on the Opel GT, albeit as a coupe, on an Opel Kadett chassis and with much less powerful 1.1 and 1.9 liter 4-cylinder engines.
Pontiac would not get another chance at a 2-seat sports car until 15 year later, when GM management greenlighted development on the mid-engine Fiero, introduced 20 years after GM shot down the Banshee.
You can watch video of this car at www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5NcdXQfieM