Look up the Chrysler Norseman. It was a concept car that Chrysler hired out to Italian designers. The prototype was built and fully functional. Unfortunately, it was lost in the sinking of the Andrea Doria.
They always looked like the same car to me. The TransAm was a performance package that also added some aero components that did significantly change the appearance to my eyes. My brother owned a series of Camaros and TransAms, one of each generation from the 1980s on, and we grew up racing them against a series of Toyota Supras I owned.
The Banshee, by far. I worked at the GM Powertrain center for two years. It used to be Pontiac Headquarters before GM reorganized in the 1980's and got rid of the autonomous divisions. But even then, there was still a lot of Pontiac memorabilia hanging on the walls of the building. There was still a large, framed picture of the Banshee in what used to the be the main entrance foyer off of Joslyn Ave. Apparently there was a lot of lingering memories of the Banshee's cancellation. Now that there are rumors of the Pontiac nameplate being revived, I'm dreaming about a modern version of the Banshee. Since the Corvette has gone upmarket with the mid-engine version, there is now room for a front-engine, rear-drive two-seater in the GM lineup.
Nope .. Humbert designed the firebird and the 77 Trans Am. Chevrolet shot Pontiac down every chance they had when it came to Performance and Design. Ever wonder why you can put a 350 in a Fiero? The 30th anniversary Trans Am outperformed the Camaro. The solstice was designed for V8. It's hard to build performance when you're handed crap overused platforms like GM's U platform. 9 or 10 body styles before pontiac was forced to add 1 more creating the Aztec? I wouldn't have put much thought into it either...
That's what happens when you allow GM to be run by people literally obsessed with keeping everything slower than the Corvette instead of simply trying to make EVERYTHING FASTER through COMPETITION. And we see the results today, with the company having gone from onetime world dominance to total irrelevance.
The Banshee would be an amazing car like how my Miata is. That light even low HP numbers and it is still fun to drive. If the handling was good then it would be a fun car.
I say bring Pontiac back, but also use it to bring back other discontinued cars we’d love new versions of like Olds 442 or Plymouth Roadrunner, for example
I think with the rise of restomods someone will have some company like that come out that focuses on redoing old niche cars for a select few buyers that aren't just the common porsches and what have you
Thank you so much for the Pontiac video. This was informative. I recall most of these. They woild have indeed put some excitement into Pontiac as a brand. They were held back by other GM brands for the looks of these concepts.
The 2nd generation Firebird & Camero (especially the Firebird 6.6L T/A) are the most beautiful vehicles ever due to the nose "radiator intake" of the vehicle.
The only problem with reviving the brand is to me, the executives now days only care about the bottom line-MONEY. Not to mention we do not produce engineers or designers like they used have. Everything looks the same today, and the styling isn’t what it used to be. If cars were able to get back the magic that once was they maybe it might fly. I grew up in the 60’s when one in the neighborhood got a new car/truck it brought out the neighbors and it was an event we gather in. It was cool.
Exactly...we saw the tragic results when they tried to bring back the "GTO"...and who can ever forget the mind-bending horror of the late '80s when they tried to bring back the "LeMans" badge. 🤮🤮🤮🤮
I liked back then how you can order a car they way you wanted instead of picking from 3 trim levels today. You also had a color chart to pick from instead with 4Xs or 5Xs as many colors as today.
That's exactly what I was about to post. The Banshee was 66 and the C3 came out in 68 (?). I'd say that Corvette ripped off the styling of the Banshee for the C3. It obviously inspired the Opel GT as well... Opel being GM in Germany...
I have seen pictures and mentions of those previously, but I appreciate the feature for all the folks who don’t know about these, or forgot. Wish every one of these was built as production vehicles.
# 5 had a lot of Buick Rivera in it! The hip on the rear wheels says it all!!~# 2 has the Oldsmobile Toronado rear end!!!~ That Bashe looked like a baby Vette!!~ Great content my brother.
Great video on one of the most forward leaning American car brands. You have done a lot of work to produce this. One small note, actually Bill Mitchell reached GM's mandatory 65 retirement age in 1977. So I don't think it wasn't an actual quitting in protest over the concept car. Bill spent 42 years at GM, he was probably all too familiar with how decisions were made at those executive levels.
I like the Banshee. If the mule had a Pontiac 326 V8, then a Pontiac 455 version of that same block would fit as well, and that would have been insanely fast if geared properly and mated with a 5-speed transmission! Of these 5 cars, this one seemed like it was the closest to becoming an affordable reality. Even with a steel body, it would have been a screamer!
You say the Pegasus looks weren't half bad, but you forgot to mention that they weren't half good either. What it really needed was to borrow a name from history that reflected the styling of the front end. The name "Edsel" comes to mind.
The banshee needed a big block with a 5-speed and posi. The Italian firebird is really cool but it has less in common with Pontiac. Really didn't like the big coupe. But the virago has serious potential with a nice body kit.
GM is where it is today because of the decades of bad decisions. You could go through GM's trash bin, and find many cars better than they actually made... Saturn Curve, Sky concepts for example... They were so consumed with their internal politics and rivalries that they wasted so many good concepts and designs.
@@rarecars3336 Crapvette, the most expensive ton of plastic you can buy. Electric cars with their ton of Horsepower and endless torque have ruined sports cars... You dont need 1000HP to have a fun car to drive... A nice 3.8 V6 with a smooth 6 speed manual (optional) priced under $40k, and you'd have a hit car...
I noticed a slight change in the voice of this video compared to previous posts......I hope you don't ever change to AI or Computer Generated voices. An actual human voice is what keeps me enthusiastic about videos like this.
"Hmmm...let me borrow some design form this concept car for our mustang' some one in ford must have been looking very closely on farago cr428 😅 i am really surprised with today's video as seeing phantom made me think of batmoble, the banshee should have been built but say it with me 'gm does not want a corvette rival in there line up' 😡😡😡 and finally that pegasus couldn't be anymore 70s if it was speedster (v12 coming from ferrari i would love to hear it roar 🤤) anyway thanks and have good day bye now.
The Banshee was beating the crap out of the vette! With the 326HO against the vettes 327. Chevy bitched to GM and so ,the Banshee was scraped. That's just one reason why I HATE CHEVY!
What’s with automobile manufacturers always giving us an option for massive fender flares and then proceeding to sink the wheels 3-6” inside of them? Looks ridiculous but they all do it.
Someone , most likely Trans Am Co. Should buy the Pontiac M C brand from General Motirs Co. and go through all the recorda of the Pontiac name badges & concepts, update them and put them out as the new Pontiac Motor Co. for the 21st Century!
Use code RARECARS50 to get 50% OFF your first Factor box plus 20% off your next month of orders at bit.ly/4fh52mD!
Look up the Chrysler Norseman. It was a concept car that Chrysler hired out to Italian designers. The prototype was built and fully functional. Unfortunately, it was lost in the sinking of the Andrea Doria.
The Firebird always looked better than the Camero to me.
67-69 I like the Camaro more. 70-78 I say the firebird is better personally
They always looked like the same car to me. The TransAm was a performance package that also added some aero components that did significantly change the appearance to my eyes. My brother owned a series of Camaros and TransAms, one of each generation from the 1980s on, and we grew up racing them against a series of Toyota Supras I owned.
Camaro!
Of course because of the chicken decal on the hood but without it they are almost the same looking car.
@@neal6473 That Chicken decal made them cars 40 MPH faster 🇺🇸💪🏁
The Banshee, by far. I worked at the GM Powertrain center for two years. It used to be Pontiac Headquarters before GM reorganized in the 1980's and got rid of the autonomous divisions. But even then, there was still a lot of Pontiac memorabilia hanging on the walls of the building. There was still a large, framed picture of the Banshee in what used to the be the main entrance foyer off of Joslyn Ave. Apparently there was a lot of lingering memories of the Banshee's cancellation.
Now that there are rumors of the Pontiac nameplate being revived, I'm dreaming about a modern version of the Banshee. Since the Corvette has gone upmarket with the mid-engine version, there is now room for a front-engine, rear-drive two-seater in the GM lineup.
Yep. I wouldn't even take a new C8 for free...being unable to do your own shifting in a Corvette is beyond ludicrous. 🤮
I remember that Hot Wheels made a Banshee toy car. Wish I still had it.
The Banshee, no question. The rest, other than the Farago, look like some hack mashed together some interesting design elements into some fugly car.
As a Pontiac guy I love this video.
Glad you enjoyed it- thanks for watching!!
That Pegasus was definitely cool, I've never seen or heard of it before.
Right!? A V12 under the hood is just bonkers for that car
The Farago kind of reminds me of the Lamborghini Espada
also the Maserati Ghibli of the 60s
The Banshee with an OHC Inline 6 would been the best choice for an Econo-Corvette. The design reminds me of the Opel sports car of that era.
Yep , Opel GT .
The Europa Corvette 😊 .
yep, GM cancelled the Banshee... yet went on to give us the Fiero and Soltice.
The paint on that Pegasus is to die for!
Lovely color - I prefer it without the pinstripes that were later added to it though but that is just me
@rarecars3336 There is something to he said for pure, uninterrupted color
Farago: cool & really exotic (you could easily chop off 1 foot in front)!
Pontiac would have been so much better if they weren’t under GM. They were so creative but gm wouldn’t let them outdo their stupid beloved Corvette.
Nope .. Humbert designed the firebird and the 77 Trans Am. Chevrolet shot Pontiac down every chance they had when it came to Performance and Design. Ever wonder why you can put a 350 in a Fiero? The 30th anniversary Trans Am outperformed the Camaro. The solstice was designed for V8. It's hard to build performance when you're handed crap overused platforms like GM's U platform. 9 or 10 body styles before pontiac was forced to add 1 more creating the Aztec? I wouldn't have put much thought into it either...
Great episode, l love the lines of the Banshee. I think that if it had made it into production, Corvette sales would have definitely taken a hit.
For sure even if it had just the 6, it still was such a looker it has to have impacted vette sales if it got greenlit
It would've only been fair that it stole sales from Chevy since THEY literally ripped off the ENTIRE design for their C3.
Farago front end looks like an anteater.
I'll bet DeLorean was thinking Banshee with an aluminum RAM AIR V!!!
Wow! That would have been unbeatable!
Or 455SD...or the old DOHC 428 or 366 NASCAR engines which never made it into production.
The Pontiac Banshee XP-833 was a missed opportunity. What a Gem.
That's what happens when you allow GM to be run by people literally obsessed with keeping everything slower than the Corvette instead of simply trying to make EVERYTHING FASTER through COMPETITION. And we see the results today, with the company having gone from onetime world dominance to total irrelevance.
The Pegasus for sure!
Great looking car I agree!
The Pontiac Phantom is my favorite hands down.
That Pegasus is beautiful, my favorite of the five.
Same - like it shouldn’t work well design wise but it does
@@rarecars3336ever seen the copper caddy on the kindig show? Think I know where that inspiration came from . Great video, thank you.
Pontiac would make even more interesting cars today and more powerful
Agreed I would love to see the brand come back
They would DESIGN them but GM would chuck anything decent in the roundfile.
The Banshee would be an amazing car like how my Miata is. That light even low HP numbers and it is still fun to drive. If the handling was good then it would be a fun car.
Yeah 160ish hp with such a light weight would have still been fun - American customers back then though desperately wanted that V8
Pegasus for sure that would have been a great to see in production.
I think you should have included the 1989 Fiero prototype. Especially since the Fiero is now quite a collectible special interest car.
Yep ..I've been loading up on them recently tryna corner the Fiero market while people still think they're worthless.😜
I say bring Pontiac back, but also use it to bring back other discontinued cars we’d love new versions of like Olds 442 or Plymouth Roadrunner, for example
I think with the rise of restomods someone will have some company like that come out that focuses on redoing old niche cars for a select few buyers that aren't just the common porsches and what have you
@@rarecars3336 I’d hope so! It’s been a niche that could really take off in the right hands!
phantom is gorgeous!
Thank you so much for the Pontiac video. This was informative. I recall most of these. They woild have indeed put some excitement into Pontiac as a brand. They were held back by other GM brands for the looks of these concepts.
I can imagine Sinatra driving a Stratostar.
The 2nd generation Firebird & Camero (especially the Firebird 6.6L T/A) are the most beautiful vehicles ever due to the nose "radiator intake" of the vehicle.
I agree the 2nd gen’s with that European design flair they have do look great 👍
I never had a Firebird but had a '70 Camaro. My favorite body style of all of them.
They all look great, but I seem to have a soft spot for the Farago... I also love the idea of a "mini-vette"!
The only problem with reviving the brand is to me, the executives now days only care about the bottom line-MONEY. Not to mention we do not produce engineers or designers like they used have. Everything looks the same today, and the styling isn’t what it used to be. If cars were able to get back the magic that once was they maybe it might fly. I grew up in the 60’s when one in the neighborhood got a new car/truck it brought out the neighbors and it was an event we gather in. It was cool.
Exactly...we saw the tragic results when they tried to bring back the "GTO"...and who can ever forget the mind-bending horror of the late '80s when they tried to bring back the "LeMans" badge. 🤮🤮🤮🤮
I liked back then how you can order a car they way you wanted instead of picking from 3 trim levels today. You also had a color chart to pick from instead with 4Xs or 5Xs as many colors as today.
How are we all ignoring the C3 Corvette similarities of the Banshee?
That's exactly what I was about to post. The Banshee was 66 and the C3 came out in 68 (?). I'd say that Corvette ripped off the styling of the Banshee for the C3. It obviously inspired the Opel GT as well... Opel being GM in Germany...
Yep 🇩🇪
@@lib556exactly, GM stiffs went into Delorian’s office and said “no competition to the vet allowed” and took the designs which became the C3.
I would have to say the banshee myself.
Agree 💯, to me it just has a balanced look.
It is a great looking car, no doubt about it. Thanks for watching!!!
Rip Pontiac
Indeed - we lost one of the greats
The Phantom is beautiful!
As always, great video! Thank you!
Could you please do a video on Mercury
I have seen pictures and mentions of those previously, but I appreciate the feature for all the folks who don’t know about these, or forgot.
Wish every one of these was built as production vehicles.
Pontiac always stood out with their production models. The Banshee looks reminiscent of the Opel GT with DeLorean wheels.
Great find on that Farago! Never heard of that one either, and I love the look.
# 5 had a lot of Buick Rivera in it! The hip on the rear wheels says it all!!~# 2 has the Oldsmobile Toronado rear end!!!~ That Bashe looked like a baby Vette!!~ Great content my brother.
Love the looks of the Phantom.
Im subbed to over 2000 channels and this is one of my favs. Great work, rare!
Pontiac, Pontiac, want my money back! lol.
kidding, I miss Pontiac as well.
Great video on one of the most forward leaning American car brands. You have done a lot of work to produce this. One small note, actually Bill Mitchell reached GM's mandatory 65 retirement age in 1977. So I don't think it wasn't an actual quitting in protest over the concept car. Bill spent 42 years at GM, he was probably all too familiar with how decisions were made at those executive levels.
That Furago Cf428. Looked like the hero car from a movie I saw one Saturday night 30 years ago called "Superago".
The cf 428 was the best of the lot!
Farago way better than banshee!
The Pontiac Banshee is my favourite American Car of All Time...Its stunning
I've always loved the Banshee. The Pontiac Polaris would have fit this list nicely, too.
That was also a great option I can’t believe I forgot about that one for this list :/
Yet another great video, nice. Also, I have no clue why. But everytime you said factor, I kept hearing the word vector. Thought it was funny.
Haha maybe that’s a sign I need to make a video on the Vector cars - thanks for watching
The Phantom is stunning. I would buy that car right now!
I think A LOT of us would
I like the Banshee. If the mule had a Pontiac 326 V8, then a Pontiac 455 version of that same block would fit as well, and that would have been insanely fast if geared properly and mated with a 5-speed transmission! Of these 5 cars, this one seemed like it was the closest to becoming an affordable reality. Even with a steel body, it would have been a screamer!
Pontiac Phantom is my favorite coz it looks like 1) Pontiac Firebird 1977 and a Ford Mustang Mach 1 from 1973, both are favorites of mine.
Love it.
Love the Farago !
Banshee is my favorite.
9:13 the Farago inspired the DeLorean, albeit, the DMC stainless steel body was more angular and with gulf wing doors
Look at the Citroen SM
You say the Pegasus looks weren't half bad, but you forgot to mention that they weren't half good either. What it really needed was to borrow a name from history that reflected the styling of the front end.
The name "Edsel" comes to mind.
A newer Banshee came about in the late 80s that was really groundbreaking, based on the F-body
the Phantom and Pegasus are to classy for American cars
DEFINITELY THE BANSHEE, AND PONTIAC IS MY FAVORITE GM!
Farago looks like a cross between a Javelin, 71 Mach 1, and a Maserati Ghibli
It was BEAUTIFUL!!❤❤
The Phantom was BEAUTIFUL!!❤❤
We got the Corvette & Banshee's little European cousin, the Opel GT.
I believe you need to give credit for the Tri 5 Chevys to Harley Earl. Mr. Mitchell didn’t take over Design until ‘58-‘59.
Farago has some Lambo-Espada/gene/splicing going on! Or maybe a hint of Maserati Merak/Bora?
I loved my Pontiacs!
Change the wheels, and the Farago, by farrrrrr!
The banshee with a 428HO would’ve been the baddest car on the planet at the time
Great video, my favorite is the Banshee. It was killed off for the same reason the next generation Fiero was, too much sales take away from the Vette.
I want to do a deep dive video on the Fiero at some point - such an interesting car that gets zero recognition
@@rarecars3336 That would be a great one. There are alot of rare Fiero special editions and prototypes.
I thought the GM firebird series was going to be included for some reason
The banshee needed a big block with a 5-speed and posi. The Italian firebird is really cool but it has less in common with Pontiac. Really didn't like the big coupe. But the virago has serious potential with a nice body kit.
I wonder if the front end design of the Farago inspired the front end of 1976-77 Aston Martin Lagonda. 🤔
I wonder if the Banshee was the inspiration for the Opel GT
GM is where it is today because of the decades of bad decisions. You could go through GM's trash bin, and find many cars better than they actually made... Saturn Curve, Sky concepts for example... They were so consumed with their internal politics and rivalries that they wasted so many good concepts and designs.
Very fair take - look at them now just the corvette. No camaro or anything :(
@@rarecars3336 Crapvette, the most expensive ton of plastic you can buy. Electric cars with their ton of Horsepower and endless torque have ruined sports cars... You dont need 1000HP to have a fun car to drive... A nice 3.8 V6 with a smooth 6 speed manual (optional) priced under $40k, and you'd have a hit car...
@@Sillydogification we used to call them Ponticraps.
Olds developed the current pro stock motor and i just heard pontiac developed the gm nascar heads
I remember the first time knowing Pontiac Banshee from CSR Classic
Boi it was fast
So fast that I don't need a super nitro to win a Shelby Cobra
The profile of the Farrago looks remarkably similar to the Citroen XM.
Correction - Citroen SM.
The Banshee reminds me of the Opal GT and the chevy powered cheeta (I cant spell) LOL.
The Banshee showed up for sale in Facebook Marketplace in Connecticut in June 2024!
Banshee looks like the get of a randy Corvette mating a lovestruck Opel GT. 😅
Pegasus all the way!
I noticed a slight change in the voice of this video compared to previous posts......I hope you don't ever change to AI or Computer Generated voices.
An actual human voice is what keeps me enthusiastic about videos like this.
I vote GM brings back the Banshee and put it in its line up as a Mazda MX5 killer!
They tried, with the bloated Solstice. By the time it got thru mgmt and acct, it wasn't even close to a Miata challenger.
They should have put some of these cars into production, they could have made more money!
It's about Selling in The Market
It could be Amazing but if the Crowd doesn't see it Your in Neutral
There was another banshee concept actually multiple look them up
The De Tomaso Mangusta is a sports car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer De Tomaso between 1967 and 1971. Looks like the Pontiac Farago.
Lamborghini Espada and the Mangustas love child!
@@angelb4677 Citroen SM has same profile as the Ferago.
I love the Pegasus and the Banshee.
"Hmmm...let me borrow some design form this concept car for our mustang' some one in ford must have been looking very closely on farago cr428 😅 i am really surprised with today's video as seeing phantom made me think of batmoble, the banshee should have been built but say it with me 'gm does not want a corvette rival in there line up' 😡😡😡 and finally that pegasus couldn't be anymore 70s if it was speedster (v12 coming from ferrari i would love to hear it roar 🤤) anyway thanks and have good day bye now.
Infomercial end’s at 4:50
Most of these cars could have been sold as Special Limited Editions.
The farago looks like it could have been be front wheel drive . Think tornado. Really long hood and wheelbase
The Banshee was beating the crap out of the vette! With the 326HO against the vettes 327. Chevy bitched to GM and so ,the Banshee was scraped. That's just one reason why I HATE CHEVY!
I miss Pontiac, tbh.
What’s with automobile manufacturers always giving us an option for massive fender flares and then proceeding to sink the wheels 3-6” inside of them? Looks ridiculous but they all do it.
Bring the Farago to Europ in 1968 and everybody think :
Its a new Ferrari or Lambo 😊 .
I love it ❤❤❤ 🇩🇪.
8:34 Pontiac pasted this design on to BMW the M1.
The Pontiac Banshee looks very much like the Opel GT , l wonder if Opel got the idea from this ?
It does look a lot like it someone else mentioned that as well!
I think pontiac got Chrysler to help develop a hemi head motor
Someone , most likely Trans Am Co. Should buy the Pontiac M C brand from General Motirs Co. and go through all the recorda of the Pontiac name badges & concepts, update them and put them out as the new Pontiac Motor Co. for the 21st Century!
The Pontiac Banshee is unobtainable. So if you want something close. Get an Opel GT
Honestly yeah visually speaking that’s the closest you are going to get
I have always thought it looked like the Opel GT.
V12 camaro would be my choice