Pontiac Banshee XP

We spoke with Bill Collins, former staff engineer of Pontiac's Advanced Engineering (i.e., future product) group. As a close associate of Pontiac Motor Division head John DeLorean since Collins' arrival there in 1958, Collins said, "Someday, you've got to let us do a two-passenger sports car," to which DeLorean replied, "Someday, we'll do it." That day came in late 1963, when DeLorean approved funding for design and construction of the XP-833 two-seat sports car program. According to Collins, the body design was strongly influenced by the rear-engine Corvair Monza GT show car of 1963—and not Larry Shinoda's 1965 Mako Shark II Corvette show car, which morphed into the 1968 production Corvette. Collins adds, "We were working up exterior styling with Ned Nichols' design studio, and the Monza GT was our primary inspiration."

Collins and his team set about their work in the fully equipped Pontiac engineering building. One of his previous assignments was to lead development of the novel flexible steel driveshaft and rear-mounted transaxle that appeared beneath 1961-1963 Pontiac Tempest production models. The Tempest was Pontiac's first compact car, and moving the weight of the transaxle to the rear end of the body resulted in nearly ideal front/rear weight distribution. So it might be assumed the Pontiac Banshee would also utilize the transaxle drivetrain and perhaps even be based on a shrunken 1963 Tempest unibody platform. This was not to be.

In reality, the swing-axle Tempest models were only marginally successful in the marketplace. The buying public never grew to appreciate the extra engineering details under its metal skin. So, for the 1964 model year, the Tempest was entirely redesigned as a more conventional body-on-frame offering with larger dimensions and a live rear axle. It also became available with the optional GTO package, and a legend was born. But we digress. With the swing axle bits no longer in production, Collins' team took a few sections from the conventional 1964 Tempest perimeter frame and Salisbury-style 10-bolt live rear axle as jumping-off points for their small fleet of handbuilt concept cars.