I never knew the C3 design came form Pontiac. Is this correct?
Pontiac Banshee concept
Supposedly the sporty brand in GM’s portfolio, Pontiac – and its head, John DeLorean – felt it deserved a two-seat sports car to rival sister brand Chevrolet’s Corvette.
GM bosses disagreed, ordered Pontiac to cancel the project, and just to rub salt in the wound, used the Banshee’s design as the basis for the 1968 C3 Corvette.
View attachment 34144
well, truth kind of depends on who you believe. I was always under the understanding the C3 design came out of the Mako II show car (later called the Manta Ray), which was first revealed in 65 and penned by Larry Shinoda.
My understanding was the "Banshee" was a simultaneous design exercise at Pontiac, as it ran around the design studio in the 64/65 time frame. Supposedly, GM corporate killed it because they were worried it would compete with the Corvette for sales. Looking at the design, you can see why that might be a concern. Heck, looking at the design, it doesn't take a lot of imagination to think Delorean (or someone in Pontiac) saw the Mako II show car and decided to get in on it with some "badge engineering" once the Mako II became a production car.
Delorean was a rebel inside GM, he was perfectly happy with competing with the other divisions for sales, even cutting into thier bottom line to bolster Pontiac's. That kind of thing usually doesn't fly well with corporate, as they want the company to succeed, not just a division a the expense of the others. But the corporate boys had other ideas, like staying profitable as a
company, not a
division.
John Delorean always ran Pontiac like it was his own separate company, like when he "got around" GM corporate decree that big engines would
NOT be put into intermediate and small bodies. He didn't like that and released the GTO an option package on the Tempest, which slip-slided around the GM corporate rule of "no new models with big engines".
Sure, he made an iconic car that has been credited with kicking off the whole "pony car" craze, but he didn't make any friends in Detroit at the big boy table and when he left as Ex Vp in truck and car production in the early 70's, rumors ran rampant about whether he quit or was fired.
I'm inclined to believe he was let go", as he ruffled a lot of very high level feathers with his "unconventional" approach to vehicle design. I'm also inclined to believe he "stole/copied" the Banshee design off the Mako II. It wouldn't be the first time he went down that road.....
