The Greatest Pontiac Never Made

General Motors already a force to be reckoned with became an industrial Powerhouse in the Years following World War II no other Vehicle Manufacturer could match in Resources Personnel or influence to get an idea of their dominance just look at their numbers in 1955 GM became the first American company to earn a billion dollars in profit and all signs point it toward even stronger growth in the future as the corporation tightened its grip on the industry the Pontiac division began to slip no one could deny the fact that the brand produced Stout reliable vehicles but in the age of tail fins and chrome that simply wasn't enough car buyers craved style performance and excitement traits that pontiac's cars lacked it also found itself sandwiched between the interlevel Chevrolet and the mid-range oldmobile without a unique selling point Pontiac risked getting lost in the shuffle a Forbes article quotes author J Patrick wrri who said that Pontiac was really in trouble and went on to state that it was quote like an old person's division drastic changes had to be made to write the ship so in 1956 The company took a chance Seaman bunkey nudson took over as a general manager at just 43 years old he was the youngest division head in GM history up to that point nson got pontiac's reinvention going by overseeing its entrance into NASCAR and na jury competition he also shook up its engineering Division and brought in some fresh faces including a young gun by the name of John Z DeLorean he' made a name for himself at Chrysler and Packard nudson lured him away from GM's cross town rival by making him an offer that he couldn't refuse a $116,000 salary that's about $180,000 when adjusted for inflation DeLorean assisted in the creation of the next generation of Pontiacs including the first generation Tempest the compact car got younger buyers into showrooms and Signal the Brand's turnaround even more products were in the pipeline in December of 1962 the division began developing a four seat sports coupe under the code name of XP 798 or scorpion a 2018 curbside classic article states that it was an evolution of the two- seat XP 788 project chevrol and signed on in the hope of developing a four- seed Corvette but it dropped out soon after as work on this project got under way Pontiac broke ground on arguably its most iconic product of this period according to an article from horsepower Memories John DeLorean spent many of his weekends brainstorming with Engineers Bill Collins and Russ g at the Milford approving grounds on one such occasion they were examining a prototype 1964 Lama Collins mentioned that they could probably fit a 389 V in there with no issue pontiac's new found Ingenuity was on display here General Motors had a rule on the books that limited engine displacement to 1 cubic in per 10 lb of vehicle weight under normal circumstances they would not have been able to put the engine in the Lama they found a loophole in the Mandate it only applied to base engines no such restriction applied to optional engines so the GTO was an option package that included the 389 Pontiac released the car in September of 1963 to critical and Commercial Acclaim in a few short years the brand went from an unfashionable Mark to one that was on the rise how would it follow this up with XP 833 three a lowcost two seat sports [Music] car filling an entrant into the lower end of this Market seemed like a sound decision because American automakers had largely ignored it Pontiac had to act quickly though it feared that stiff competition was right around the corner Ford was undoubtedly the most likely of its rifles to release a sporty two-seater the Thunderbird had come out about a decade prior and while that car had evolved since then it's Illustrated that Ford knew how to make a sports car with wide appeal a few show carts hinted at a return of the segment the 1962 Mustang one concept relied on finesse rather than outright speed with a rear mounted inline 4 engine fully independent suspension and a curb weight of just 1,544 lb it was too Spartan to be truly mainstream but a more civilized version could attract a few buyers for andv build another Concept in 63 the cougar 2 was a more grounded sports car that would pose an even greater threat to the XP h33 visceral performance would have been the focus here given the fact that it was built upon the bones of a Shelby Cobra according to a Hemming's article it was chassis CSX 2008 its 260 in cubic in V8 also helped Propel it to a claimed top speed of 170 mph Ford showed it at the 1963 Chicago Auto Show in February so it was certainly on pontiac's radar they were more than aware a 1989 special interest Autos article contains excerpts from a brochure that it made to sell GM Executives on the idea of a Pontiac sports car the division singled this car out and went on to say we are convinced we must introduce our sports car in 1967 in order to protect our position hopefully beating forward to the punch another potential rival was surprisingly the production Mustang it didn't seem like a perfect match on the surface because it was a four-seater and the XP 833 was envisioned as a lightweight two-seater the brochure laid out their logic saying that it quote would appeal strongly to the youth Market as well as to those who did not buy a Mustang because it was not the honest sports car they had hoped it would be I suspect that Pontiac also Drew this comparison to each concerns about the XP 833 competing with the Corvette Pontiac also made heavy use of existing components the brochure stated that about 80% of the chassis components were the standard a body parts SAA said that this was similar to the approach that for it took with a Mustang by doing this they were able to save a great deal on tooling and development costs the company used this strategy to great success so it's no wonder why Pontiac took it up as well according to a curbside classic article several proposals were constructed and assigned designations from sp1 to sp6 sp1 through sp4 were nonfunctional mockups our attention will be focused on sp5 and sp6 the former was a coupe that was equipped with a Pontiac overhead cam 6 Colin said that this one was envisioned as the volume model sp6 was a convertible that had a 326 V8 under the hood this engine Choice was odd because it served as another point of comparison with the Corvette such links could potentially jeopardize the 833 fate weight figures for the sp5 and sp6 Vary from source to Source the 6 weighed between 2200 and 2300 lb while the V8 model weighed between 2600 and 2900 lb in a 2012 Motor Trend classic article Bill Collins said that its design was in inspired by the Chevrolet corer Manza GT from 1962 aside from the vents at the bases of their windshields there isn't much connecting them from the front more of the influence comes through in the side and rear views look at the shape of the front and rear hunches The Mid Engine Monza GT is more curvaceous but the XP 833 follows it in spirit a curve on the lower half of the body gives the Pontiac a bit of muscle creases also Trail the rear windows and stop just short of the edge this adds more definition and emphasizes the shoulders again the effect is more pronounced on the Monza GT but it can still be made out on the 833 some say that the Mako Shark 2 concept was also a source of inspiration for the car and at a glance there are a few Lings both have long hoods pointy chromed front ends thin aars and flared wheel arches Colin shut this down down directly stating that the team looked to the Monza GT for inspiration and not the Mao Shark 2 it was finally time to pitch the car to GM management sources differ on exactly when it took place some state that it happened in mid1 1964 While others say 1965 they stressed the car's low development costs as well as how it diverged from the Corvette according to the documentation they aimed for a 1967 launch as well as a base price of $2,500 this was a relative bargain compared to the Corvette which started at about $4200 ideally this was slotted in a different segment and therefore appeal to a different customer base the curbside classic article gives an idea of what its competitors could have looked like in terms of pricing it would have been on par with cars like the Triumph TR4 and Austin Healey and above Vehicles such as the Spitfire development costs meanwhile were estimated between $15 and $18 million things seemed to be in their favor initially Bill Mitchell GM's vice president of design was present and he was surprised to see not one but two running prototypes an outright yes however unlikely would have been ideal getting sent back to the drawing board was more of a possibility but that would have at least given them more time instead the higher-ups outright cancelled the project in a 2012 interview with motor TR classic Colin said that the car was about 80% ready for production he also revealed that they spent weeks trying to change their minds to no a fail often times rejected proposals get sent to the scrapyard the XP 833 managed to cheat death Engineers Bill Collins and Bill Kellan hid both cars away in shipping containers production may have been off the table but they were at least able to reserve the culmination of their Blood Sweat and Tears the Pontiac division had something else in the works remember the XP 798 the for seed Coupe had come into its own by 1966 by this point it had retired with scorpion moniker and adopted the Banshee name some elements such as the chromed two-party Grill and Central Hood crease are shared between it and the 833 the Banshee does more than enough to stand on its own though the long low and wide Dimensions make it look downright exotic according to a Pontiac press release it's nearly 197 in long and it also had Ain wheelbase in between the axles are massive doors Pontiac said they were 20 in longer than conventional ones opening doors that large would turn into a trur pretty quickly but the company considered this as well they open by sliding parallel to the body and that isn't all there is a pair of Gold Wing doors on the roof that makes accessing the rear seats easier Pontiac had planned on showing the Banshee at the 1966 New York Auto Show at a concept this doesn't necessarily mean that GM had plans to build it but if it received a warm enough reception then perhaps it could have become a consideration they wouldn't even get the chance management stonewalled them at the last moment the book original Pontiac Firebird in transm 1967 to 2002 the restorage guide by Jim shild states that GM President James roach didn't think it complied with pontiac's image of safety although it never saw the light of day The Banshee found a way to endure John DeLorean left a promising career at GM in 1973 to establish his own company Bill a Collins planned on joining him but first he had some unfinished business to attend to his babies were still packed away in those shipping containers the company didn't give the time of Dat Back Then and since then they'd let it gather dust this wasn't likely to change anytime soon so Collins and kilan took matters into their own hands they walked into the GM purchasing department and asked to buy the cars thankfully they were able to come to an agreement killan took home the six cylinder Coupe while Collins got the vit convertible something didn't feel right though the car didn't have names or real ones at least internal designations have their place but XP 833 wouldn't mean a damn thing outside the confines of the GM Technical Center how would they be known in their new lives Collins had an idea at this point the banshe she was long gone its script badges had been left behind though Collins grabbed them and placed one in each car nearly a decade after their Creation The Cars finally had identities banshe she embodied the Vigor excitement and ambition of a new Pontiac it was a reminder of what could have been

Channel: Barchetta

Views: 801,943

Keywords: pontiac, xp-833, pontic, pntiac, barchetta, car design, automotive history

Id: UM6E-kmiJcI

Length: 14min 8sec (848 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 29 2023