The 1964 XP-883 Pontiac Banshee I Concept was John DeLorean’s pet project, and he wanted it in production. Two functional cars were designed by DeLorean’s design team and produced by an outside coachbuilder.
One was a two-passenger fiberglass coupe powered with a straight six-cylinder, overhead cam engine mated to a four-speed automatic transmission. It was painted Metallic Silver with a red interior and weighed approximately 2,200 pounds. The other vehicle was a pearlescent white, two-passenger roadster powered by 326 C.I.D. V8 engine.
The third generation Corvette was already on the drawing boards at this time, and the Banshee borrowed styling cues from that car. A few things that distinguished the Banshee from the Corvette were that the Banshee used a solid rear axle to keep costs down and make the car more affordable than the Corvette and a unique clamshell door design.
General Motors’ executives viewed the concepts as too much of a threat to the Corvette and, as a result, instructed DeLorean to cease additional development. Both concepts survive today and are in the hands of private collectors.
Source: Bill Bowman - wiki.gmnext.com
Images: www.hotrod.com
