Here’s an original PR video from General Motors starring a bold concept vehicle with a number of forward-looking Pontiac features: the 1988 Banshee IV.
GM’s Pontiac division produced four different concept cars over the years bearing the Banshee name. There was the original 1964 prototype, also known as XP-833; the Banshee II of 1968; the 1974 Banshee III; and the final version featured here, the 1988 Banshee IV (often billed simply as Banshee in Pontiac PR materials). While there was never any specific production intent for the Banshee IV, a number of interior and exterior wrinkles found their way onto the fourth-generation Pontiac Firebird introduced in 1993, most notably the dramatic twin-nostril front end.
It barely shows due to the radically low cowl height, but like the Firebird, the Banshee carries its engine up front—a four-cam prototype V8 with an integral block-and-head configuration. Underneath the fiberglass body shell, there’s a full tubular chassis with 105-inch wheelbase and four-wheel independent suspension. Unlike many concept vehicles, the Banshee IV was actually roadworthy, as this video demonstrates, and the action segment really bring the car to life. Today the sole finished example (as far as we know) resides in the General Motors Heritage Collection in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
Something of a sensation in its time, the Banshee IV was produced in miniature form by both Revell and Hot Wheels, and it also appeared in the 1989 film Back to the Future II. As the video runs through a demonstration of all the advanced (for the 1980s, anyway) driver and convenience features on the Banshee, it’s interesting to note how many of these useful gadgets eventually made it into production automobiles from GM and others. See how many you can spot in the PR video below.
I was stunned when I accidentally ran across the original Banshee at a car dealer. I knew they had a small collection of collector cars alongside the showroom but expected it would be not more than a few common cars from the Sixties and maybe a tri-Chevy. In general, the place was interesting but I’d seen it all before. I think the Banshee was the last car before the door and I didn’t see it until I was in front of it. I don’t think I knew it had ever been created, much less that it would be sitting at a car dealer in a rust-belt town in the Northeast.
Pontiac should have built XP-833 instead of the Firebird. It was a different kind of car than the Corvette, more like the Corvair. At least in that original configuration, DeLorean would have had a 389 in it right quick. GM had some success with the Opel GT, they could have followed the same path earlier. I think they cancelled the Opel because it was too costly to import, not because there was no interest.
DeLorean and Pontiac division would have built it. The corporation as usual is what stopped Pontiac at almost every turn. XP 833 Banshee was Corvette like…..typical Front engine / Rear drive set up.