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Pontiac Banshee - impressive performance in several acts

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Created on March 30, 2014

Reading time 5min

Written by:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Darin Schnabel - Courtesy RM Auctions

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GM Corporation

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Archiv

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Darin Schnabel - Courtesy RM Auctions

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GM Corporation

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Pontiac Banshee (1965) - die Linien des Konzeptfahrzeugs nehmen viele Designcharakteristiken späterer GM-Fahrzeuge vorweg

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Pontiac Banshee (1965) - Klappscheinwerfer wie beim späteren Opel GT

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Pontiac Banshee (1965) - nur 116 Zentimeter hoch war der Traumwagen

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Pontiac Banshee (1965) - auch der Heckabschluss weiss zu gefallen

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Pontiac Banshee (1965) - das Heck erinnert an den späteren Camaro/Firebird

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Pontiac Banshee (1965) - elegante Kunststoff-Karosserie

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Pontiac Banshee (1965) - sportliches Interieur im Stil der Zeit - sehr seriennah gehalten

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Pontiac Banshee (1965) - Tacho bis 120 MPH

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Pontiac Banshee (1965) - vollständige Garnitur von Zusatzinstrumenten

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Pontiac Banshee (1965) - vier Gänge im herkömmlichen H-Schema

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Pontiac Banshee (1965) - versenkte Türgriffe

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Pontiac Banshee (1965) - die Hecklampen findet man später bei Firebird/Camaro in ähnlicher Form

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Pontiac Banshee (1965) - die Felgennabe mit dem PMD-Schriftzug

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Pontiac Banshee (1965) - der Reihensechszylinder im Konzeptfahrzeug leistete rund 165 PS

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Pontiac Banshee (1965) - die Nockenwelle wurde über einen Zahnriemen angetrieben - damals sehr innovativ

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Pontiac Banshee (1965) - das Markenzeichen der PMD

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Pontiac Banshee (1965) - der "Banshee"-Schriftzug

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Pontiac Banshee (1965) - als offene Version

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Pontiac Banshee (1966) - Projektname XP 798 - damals zwar angekündigt, aber nicht öffentlich präsentiert

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Pontiac Banshee (1966) - vierplätziges Konzeptfahrzeug als Konkurrent für den Ford Mustang gedacht, wie der erste Banshee mit innovativen Lösungsansätzen wie den Schmetterlings-Dachpartien für einen leichteren Einstieg

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Pontiac Banshee II (1968) - eine Barchetta-Version auf der Basis des Firebird, später in Richtung Fiero weiterentwickelt

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Pontiac Banshee III (1973) - vierplätziges Coupé mit modernen Zügen

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Pontiac Banshee (1987) - Konzeptfahrzeug auf Papier

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Pontiac Banshee (1988) - Showcar, um neue Ideen für die Innenraumgestaltung zu präsentieren

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Plymouth XNR (1960) - flach und gestreckt - Originalaufnahme

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Plymouth XNR (1960) - Vorderansicht - Originalaufnahme

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Ford Mustang (1962) - Misch und Bordinat zeigen den neuen Sportwagen mit Stolz

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Ford Mustang (1963) - flach und windschlüpfrig

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Opel GT (1966) - der Prototyp auf der New York Auto Show 1966

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Opel GT (1965) - der Prototyp 'Gran Tourisme Coupé' entspricht in vielen Aspekten dem späteren Serienmodell

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Summary

In the mid-sixties, Pontiac had a two-seater sports car waiting in the wings, which, under the name Banshee, did not find favor with GM management because the threat to the top dog Corvette was too great and the market niche was probably too small. This report looks back at the development history and also shows the indirect successors of the Pontiac Banshee.

This article contains the following chapters

America in sports car fever
Full steam ahead into the niche
Successful concept
80% ready for series production
Faster and sportier than GM allowed
A second attempt with four seats
Third, fourth and fifth variants also had no chance of series production
Survived
Further information

Estimated reading time: 5min

Preview (beginning of the article)

With the Pontiac Banshee, the GM subsidiary almost overtook the only real sports car of the time, the Chevrolet Corvette. But it didn't come to that, and the successors with the same name were no more successful. In the early sixties, the USA was in the grip of sports car fever. The Europeans had successfully demonstrated that small two-seaters could also be sold in America and the Chevrolet Corvette became more successful from year to year. In 1960, Chrysler had shown the Plymouth XNR, a sensational sports car designed by Virgil Exner, as a concept car at the New York Auto Show, and in 1962 Ford followed suit with the mid-engined Mustang I.

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