1964 Pontiac Banshee XP-833

The 3rd generation Corvette was already on the drawing boards, and the Banshee borrowed styling cues from that car. A couple of things that distinguished the Banshee from the Corvette was 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. This was John Delorean’s pet project, and he really wanted it in production. Two functional cars were produced (built by an outside coach builder). One was a 6 cylinder engine, the other had a V8. One was a hardtop, the other a roadster. There was even a 4 passenger version that was proposed. But GM wasn’t interested in eroding the Corvette’s market share, and the top dogs nixed the project.

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 with a 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 couple of things that distinguished the Banshee from the Corvette was that the Banshee used a solid rear axle, to keep costs down, and make the car more affordable than the Corvette and an unique clamshell door design.

General Motor’s executives viewed the concepts to be 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