Hit the picture above for a high-res image.
A truly one-of-a-kind Pontiac popped up on eBay recently. The "Buy it Now" price of $1.3 million says it all. The car is a 1964 Pontiac Banshee Prototype XP-833 Coupe. It is one of two roadgoing Banshee prototype cars designed by John Delorean, although this particular offering is the only one left standing today. The deceased prototype was a white convertible powered by a V8. The existing XP-833 Coupe features a straight 6 cylinder overhead cam engine mated to a 4 speed automatic transmission and is claimed to weigh in at 2,200 lbs. The Banshee project was cancelled due to its encroachment on Corvette territory. However, it is apparent that Corvette engineers paid note to Delorean's concept as future Vette models are stylistically similar.
The car would make the ultimate addition to any collector's garage. Its design appears to have good balance with a wide rear stance, minimal overhang past the rear axle and an engine set far back in the engine bay. Another interesting feature of the design is the bump in the center of the hood that appears to be necessary in order to provide sufficient clearance for the engine's huge cam gear. Check the gallery below for pictures from the listing.
[Source: eBay]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Pat @ Nov 23rd 2007 1:26PM
Interesting looking car ...
I couldn't help notice the rear plate says "Mr. Goodwrench" and that you can see a "Suzuki Aerio" poster on one of the pictures ...
Yubastard @ Nov 23rd 2007 1:26PM
amazing car.
Anti-believer @ Nov 23rd 2007 1:55PM
Amazing car..... plz it's a Corvette. Tired-azz rebadging.
elprogramer @ Nov 23rd 2007 2:02PM
You're an idiot, you know that right?
Moltenauto @ Nov 23rd 2007 2:13PM
@elprogrammer: Have you heard the term Sarchasam? It's the gap between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it. Don't fall in...
Whitie @ Nov 23rd 2007 10:33PM
Moltenauto: you are an idiot too.
dskinner @ Nov 23rd 2007 2:35PM
Another beautiful work by John DeLorean!
falloutagain @ Nov 23rd 2007 2:39PM
didnt this go on the block a year or two back at the B-J auction?
Alex Nunez @ Nov 23rd 2007 2:56PM
Yep. Same car. If i remember correctly, when the current owner bought it, he paid just $214K at Barrett-Jackson. It was a steal...same year that GM Futurliner went for the big bucks.
500 @ Nov 23rd 2007 2:59PM
Wow! To only have Jay Leno's money...
And it appears that the rear was copied directly for the early 70's Firebird.
elprogramer @ Nov 23rd 2007 3:07PM
It was. And the similarity to the sting ray is no accident on the part of Chevrolet either.
letstakeawalk @ Nov 23rd 2007 3:31PM
Lots of design details here to digest...
This also became a large part of the Opel GT brief.
Awesome design, DeLorean was a true artist.
toronado455 @ Nov 23rd 2007 3:44PM
I hope Jay snaps this one up. Would make a fine addition to his garage.
Quattrofan @ Nov 23rd 2007 3:12PM
What a weird blend of classic Euro-italian styling cues and American bulges. BTW, if I had Leno's dough ....there is at least 50 other cars within that price range I could think of.
Bryan @ Nov 23rd 2007 4:42PM
With Jay's money he probably already has them lol! Neat car!
Galley @ Nov 23rd 2007 3:17PM
Nice! The front-end reminds me of the Monkeemobile.
Anti-believer @ Nov 23rd 2007 3:46PM
@ elprogramer & Moltenauto
It is what is... a Corvette. Don't hate cause I called it exactly what it was.
@ elprogramer : You even agree with me cause you called it a Stingray.
So your the idiot & the hypocrit.
anthro101 @ Nov 23rd 2007 4:44PM
You're the idiot. It isn't a re badged Corvette. GM pulled the plug on the Banshee because it was encroaching on Corvette territory. Did you read the article? Once the plug was pulled it's obvious Chevrolet pilfered some of the design cues for their 1968 Corvette. Which is exactly what elprogramer if you cared to read his post correctly. He said that the similarty of the 68 Stingray was no coincidence on the part of Chevrolet..as in since this car is older and the 68 Stingray is newer, it's no doubt Chevy used some of the same design elements. It's not a re badged corvette, back in the day of DeLorean the different brands had more autonomy than they do now and there wasn't as much heavy platform sharing. There still was and GM ultimately had the lat word, but DeLorean was the head of Pontiac back then this has zero to do with the Corvette.
tankd0g @ Nov 23rd 2007 4:04PM
Ah, it's the missing link that will shut up the creationists for good!
Steven T. @ Nov 23rd 2007 4:14PM
Does anyone know the backstory to this car? It looks like it has similar architecture to the 1968 Corvette, so did Delorean base his design off of the architecture of the next-generation Corvette, did the opposite occur, or were they being developed simultaneously?
This is a pretty nice design. It's interesting that it does not have a trunk lid, much like a Corvette. The windshield has a similar shape to the 1968, as do the doors and overall proportions.
With Chevrolet moving in the direction of a targa roof approach, the Banshee concept looks like Pontiac was attempting to carve out a niche with a fastback. Because of that, this design ironically has a stronger link to the mid-60s Stingray than the '68 Corvette.