The Pontiac XP-833 Banshee Concept Car: A Unique Piece of Automotive History
As you look at this amazing Pontiac concept car dating back to 1964, you can’t help but think you’ve seen it before. It looks familiar, but there’s something just a bit off—in a good way. For those old enough, it conjures up a nostalgic feeling for the third generation of the Chevy Corvette, which was made from 1968 until 1982. For others, the XP-833 Banshee concept shown here is evocative of the 1968–1973 Opel GT, which would also be incorrect, but tantalizingly close. In Steve Magnante’s seminal story on the XP-833 Banshee concept car, we learned that it was inspired by Opel’s 1963 Corvair Monza GT concept, not Chevy’s Larry Shinoda-designed Mako Shark II Corvette concept of 1965. With John Z. Delorean at the helm of Pontiac at the time, and with other domestic makers like Ford and Chrysler exploring downsized, affordable sports car concepts, the Pontiac Banshee initially got the green light for production as a 1966 model.
The Cancellation of the Banshee
Until it didn’t. What’s remarkable is that the fate of the Banshee concept—deemed by MotorTrend to be one of the 20 best concept cars of all time—was far from typical. Rather than have the concept crushed for reasons of legal liability, it was squirreled away on-site at Pontiac in storage containers by Bill Collins, the former staff engineer of Pontiac’s Advanced Engineering department, with help from a Pontiac master mechanic named Bill Killen. Both men had worked on the XP-833 and felt the heartbreak of such an unjust move. Their act of defiance was a last-ditch effort to preserve the history of what could have been while unintentionally exposing the seedy nature of back-room corporate politics.
Design and Features
The affordable, entry-level roadster was to be built with parts from GM’s then-new A-body lineup, and it was to be powered by both Pontiac’s overhead-cam inline six and by an optional 326ci Pontiac V-8. It’s been said that approximately 70 percent of the Banshee was built from existing parts in GM’s inventory. Two working prototypes of the XP-833 were built—a silver roadster with an inline-six and a removable fiberglass hardtop, and a white 326ci V-8 car with a convertible top. The silver roadster hardtop concept with the 200-hp straight-six is the one shown here.
The Threat to Chevy Corvette
By all accounts, the Banshee’s price and performance were a threat to Chevy’s Corvette, which would have had to fight not only perceived domestic and offshore sports cars but also intermural rival Pontiac. It was simply too much for Chevrolet. When the Banshee was revealed in pre-production form to top GM executives in February of 1965, GM chairman James Roche wasted no time and killed the Pontiac project to protect Corvette. Corvette was going to be the top dog—even though it still would’ve outperformed the Pontiac’s modest straight-six. By the time it was clear that the looming competition for the Corvette would never materialize, the Banshee had already been canceled and the two drivable prototypes (there were other non-driving prototypes!) were stashed. Executive fiat—not rational thinking—had changed the course of automotive history.
The Aftermath
When Collins and Killen left Pontiac in 1973, they asked to purchase the two Banshee XP-833 concepts. That request was approved, making the cars exceedingly rare not only for going on to private ownership but because they can also be legally driven by virtue of having VINs. The silver six-cylinder Banshee XP-833 seen here was originally purchased by Bill Killen, eventually ending up in the hands of Chicago-area Pontiac dealer Ben Napoli, who had bought it at a Scottsdale Barrett-Jackson auction in 2006 for $214,500. Napoli has attempted to sell it a few times since then, and as of recently, it was up for auction again, this time at Hemmings’ Make Offer virtual auction with an asking price of $1.2M, and the number of bids stalled at five with a top bid of $250K. It’s looking like it may remain unsold.
As for the white 326ci V-8-powered convertible version originally purchased by Bill Collins, that one is owned by Chicago-area restaurant and nightclub owner Joe Bortz, who purchased it in 1988. It can be found in the Bortz Auto Collection, an eclectic group comprised mostly of rare concept cars, some of which have been loaned in the past to the Petersen Automotive Museum. At the time of HOT ROD’s interview with Bortz, the owner claimed the XP-833 handled as if on roller skates—a convenient justification for anybody considering a bid!
