Concept Car of the Week: Pontiac Banshee (1964)

In 1964, the Pontiac Motor Division was headed John DeLorean, who would go on to become one of the automotive industry's most divisive figures. He believed that Pontiac needed a compact, exciting car to compete with the newly launched Mustang and approved funding for the experimental Pontiac two-seat sports-car program, codenamed XP-833.

Inspired by another GM show car, the rear-engined Corvair Monza GT from 1963, the lines of the XP-833 were a perfect example of the Coke-bottle bodystyle: long hood, short deck and sweeping fender curves. Its slender body, carried by those fat tires, and the long dash-to axle were designed to leave onlookers in no doubt as to its sporty intentions.

The wheelbase was 200mm shorter than the C2 Corvette and the whole car was 300mm shorter. Two prototypes were built, a soft-top roadster painted white and the other, in silver, having a removable hardtop.

The silver car illustrated what would have been the base model and was powered by a 3.8-liter straight-six with 165bhp, while the roadster used Pontiac's bigger 6.9-liter V8 with four-barrel carburetors. This was rated at 320bhp – a tremendous amount of power considering the total weight of only 1,185kg, over 200kg less than the Corvette.

The interior used a straightforward T-shaped flat panel garnished with just a handful of items taken from the GM parts bin: a speedometer, a radio and a few knobs, not even a tachometer. The rest was trimmed in a combination of red and black with accents of wood and steel on the steering wheel. The warmth and the simplicity of this interior was designed to invite you to get in, plant your elbow on the door, ignite the rumble of the V8 and go for a cruise.

To keep costs down, DeLorean was careful to ensure that the car could have been built using existing GM components. However, despite his efforts to convince the management that they would be able to steal young customers from Ford, the board pulled the plug as they believe it would have been a threat to the cherished Corvette.

"I disagree about it being a Corvette killer," said DeLorean. "I think the Banshee would have been great for the Corvette. I've always felt healthy competition sharpens everyone. The Banshee would have forced a better Corvette from Chevrolet and added to GM's bottom line."

Some of the design elements did get used on production models. The lightness and elegance of the Banshee was combined with the drama of the Mako Shark concept to create the 1968 Corvette C3. The louvered tail-lamps appeared on the 1967 Firebird, while the overall car was shrunk to create the little Opel GT.

The name Banshee actually came from another car, the Banshee XP-798 luxury four-seater coupé concept. Bill Collins, chief engineer at Pontiac, bought the XP-833 when he left GM to join DeLorean, who had departed to establish his own, eponymous company. As the concept didn't have a proper name, Collins found some Banshee nameplates in the design studio and stuck them on the XP-833, thus creating the car that we know today.

Designer Ned Nichols
Length 4,257mm
Width 1,701mm
Height 1,143mm
Wheelbase 2,286mm
Weight 1,185kg
Engine (roadster) 6.9-liter V8, 320bhp
Engine (coupé) 3.8-liter straight 6, 165bhp

What else happened in 1964?
Fifty years ago this year, A Hard Day's Night, the first Beatles film, had its world premier, The Jackson 5 was formed and The Rolling Stones released their debut album. All of these artists could be played on the brand new 8-track tape that began launching at this time. GI Joe action figures and the Sharpie marker pen also date from this year, as do Michelle Obama, Nicholas Cage, Sandra Bullock, who were all born in '64.

Picture source David Freers/Motor Trend

By Flavien Dachet