Autoblog

Click above for a high-res gallery of the 1964 Pontiac Banshee

The very cool 1964 Pontiac Banshee prototype is being auctioned off, again. Back in November of last year, the super-cool and svelte vehicle was put up on eBay with a Buy-It-Now price of $1.3 million. It didn't sell, so it's back up... with a cool $2 hundred-grand tacked onto the price.

Powered by Pontiac's OHC straight-six engine, the Banshee was intended to compete with the just-introduced Ford Mustang. As an extremely unique piece of automotive history, there are surely a few people out there with very deep pockets who would like to get their hands on the car that GM thought was too close to Corvette territory. Because GM had already committed to the 'Vette as its halo-car, it squashed the Banshee program before John De Lorean, then head of Pontiac, was able to get the Banshee into production.

Look closely and you'll note that many of the design elements introduced on the Banshee prototype were stolen carried-over to the 1968 Corvette, along with the tail-end of the Banshee ending up on the new-for-1970 Pontiac Firebird and Trans Am. We're big fans of the Pontiac Banshee prototype, and current owner Len Napoli, a Connecticut car dealer, is understandably aiming to capitalize on the unbelievable deal he got when he snatched the car up for a mere $214,500 at the 2006 Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale. That, as they say, was well bought, indeed. In a December 2007 conversation with Automotive News, Napoli said that he hadn't gotten any offers at his then-$1.3M asking price and that he'd like to see the car go to a museum. If you have a museum and want to add the Banshee as an exhibit, it's there for the taking. Just bring money.


[Source: eBay via Car Scoop]