5 Concept Pontiacs That Never Made It to Production – Jalopnik

Like most brands, Pontiac has created its fair share of concept cars, most of which never saw a dealer’s sales floor. In some cases that was a good thing. We’re not sure we want to tarnish the memory of the Trans Am with a station wagon version. But there were some real winners among these concept vehicles, and we wish some of them made it to production instead of the Pontiac-rebadged cars from other brands.

Some of the most interesting concepts include the 1964 Pontiac Banshee XP-833, which looked a lot like a Corvette. The 1971 Pontiac Pegasus was just as cool and featured real Ferrari parts. The 1985 Pontiac Trans Am Kammback is the aforementioned ill-conceived Trans Am station wagon. The 1997 Pontiac Rageous was the Swiss army knife of the automotive sector and an epitome of greatness. And the 2007 Pontiac Solstice SD290 Concept was a funky race car concept with a retro design.

Pontiac released a bunch of other concept cars, and many of them were downright cool. But these five models caught our attention. It’s fun to look at the possibilities, and we think many of these concept models show the potential of what we could have had if Pontiac had stayed put.

It was built under the supervision of the iconic John DeLorean. It included a six-cylinder engine capable of delivering 155 horsepower, and it had a single-barrel carburetor, a four-speed transmission, and a live rear axle. But a strengthened version was promised with a four-barrel carburetor and a high-performance camshaft, and would have produced 215 hp.

Several other concept cars bearing the Banshee name would emerge over the decades. One such model, the 1988 Pontiac Banshee IV, was the design template for the hero car that served as KITT’s new “body” in the 1991 made-for-TV reunion movie, “Knight Rider 2000.” The producers were unable to obtain the Banshee, so they had to use a Dodge Stealth instead.

That engine was a 365 GTB/4 V12, normally designed for a top speed of 175 miles per hour – although the speedometer in the Pegasus goes up to 200. It could also deliver 352 hp. The V12 engine was a bit big for the engine bay of the Pegasus, which was built from a 1970 Firebird. They even had to take out the air conditioning to make room for it.

The Pegasus never made it to the showroom floor, but that was never the intention. It started as a sketch a Chevy stylist made to freshen up the Camaro. But the head of GM Design took the sketches to Pontiac and had it developed specifically as a design concept vehicle. Elements of the Pegasus would eventually find their way into newer versions of the Firebird and Camaro.

But in 1985, the powers that be at GM decided to unveil the Trans Am Kammback. We can only speculate about what that conversation was like:

“You know what’s wrong with the Trans Am?”

“What?”

“It’s cool.”

“Yes, we have to do something about that.”

And so the Trans Am Kammback was built. Apparently GM executives thought this iconic muscle car should have a station wagon version. The roof was extended all the way to the back with large glass windows on the sides, presumably so that the children who were thrown in the back there with the groceries could stare out and make faces at the drivers of other cars. At least that’s how we remember the backs of station wagons being used. (We may or may not have made some faces in our time.) But thankfully, this sin against all that is awesome never made it into production.

This car not only looked great, but it was everything at the same time. We’re not sure how else to describe a hatchback with a V8 engine, rear-hinged doors, four bucket seats, and a fold-down tailgate that provided access to nearly 50 cubic feet of cargo space. And the front end wasn’t the only aggressive thing about this car, as the V8 engine was capable of delivering 315 horsepower. The technology inside was also quite impressive for the time, with a heads-up display and a trackball built into the steering wheel. This car was cooler than any hatchback has the right to be, although we may be showing our age with that opinion. The Rageous was truly the 1990s version of cool (we’re surprised it wasn’t called the “Rageous Xtreme”).

Unfortunately, this car never made it to the assembly line. What did we get instead just three years later? The Aztecs. We have a boxy SUV that tried so hard to be awesome, but was about as cool as your mom’s minivan. With decisions like this, it’s no wonder Pontiac is gone.

But seriously, this model was intended as a concept race car and the design was inspired by retro single-seat racing cars. The windshield was also sacrificed to keep it light and was replaced with a small windshield for the driver. For the same reason, this car has no doors, a hard roof or a convertible top, any HVAC system, or windshield wipers. It only has a four-cylinder engine, but it’s a 2.0-liter direct-injection, turbocharged Ecotec engine that can deliver 290 horsepower. It is also equipped with Hoosier R6 racing tires on 19-inch forged wheels. As weird as this car looks, it would probably be fun to drive around the track.

It’s fun to look at Pontiac’s concept cars to get a glimpse of what could have been. We would have liked to try out some of these models. Pontiac may no longer exist, but it left its mark on the auto industry with a series of attractive, eye-catching cars.