That was pretty standard for 1989/1990. Emissions standards completely neutered performance in the 1970s and it took a couple decades for manufacturers to get that power back. By the mid 90s both US and Japanese sports cars were ruining an average of 300 hrsprs, then they all stopped making them. The Supra, gone. The RX-8, gone. The 300zx, gone. The Shadow/3000gt, gone. The Camaro and Firebird, gone. Only the Viper, Mustang and Corvette survived to see the year 2002. Thank god Nissan came out with the 350z. That really ushered in the era of modern performance.
I agree, the only concepts that seem to get put out now are based around being a minivan or crossover that's more smartphone than car and drives you around, if that's where cars are going ill just get a bus pass and buy a tablet
Couldn't agree more but it was all about the popularity of Buick in China. Could have rolled the two divisions together but GM was in free fall and I guess it didn't pencil out. Shame.
Pontiac was ahead of their time people... Is what most dont realize but this car was one of the first to have heads up display or even the idea. Could be one of the first to have rear view camera and GPS for road cars. Aztek people say thats hideous. But guys look at some crossovers today. If it weren't for that, would we still have crossovers.
No shit. Freakin kids and their teslas. They talk all this shit about how superior their technology is but they dont want to show respect to the time period where their prescious technology was developed. I guess they think that someone woke up suddenly and had a vision of exactly how a tesla should be engineered. Nope. All the new technologies were developed from years of trial and era. Without the wild concepts of the 90s there would be no modern day technology. So all little punk ass millenials need to tip their hats and say thank you to my generation for the hard work that was done to develop the technologies that are around today.
Manuel L no man.. just no.. look up citroen SM this car was truly ahead of its time... some cars have one or two features ahead of its time. But the sm had more
Meh pontiac and it's crazy electrical issues. nothing like failing power windows in every Pontiac i've ever owned, and fudge buildup in like every turn signal bulb/receptacle ever.....
@@samuelpierce2.088 Pontiac sold lots of cars... It was one of gm's best selling brands, GM just stopped caring and GM went bankrupt so they had to drop a bunch of brands and pontiac got the axe
And the 3rd gen GTA with digital displays was more technologically exciting than the watered down 4th gens with analog gauges and conventional gm era layout. I love my 4th gen, but the interiors and features are boring. Many prototype features that the Banshee had can be found as refined features on up level V6 and V8 Camaros.
pontiac had there shit together look at the 1993-99 pontiac gto concept car then look at the 2012 camaro if pontiac could of stayed in business a little longer i think they would of knocked chevy off the map as far as muscle-performance cars
He also forgot to mention the rear defense system one button that releases rusty nails behind you for tailgators 2nd button deploys defense scharfel And the toggle switch for the rear smoke screen with oil slick.
Many of them already existed by time the Banshee concept debuted. HUD, steering wheel controls, headrest mounted speakers, Gmeters (the one in the video is a production Valentine G-Analyst), etc were already out by then.
The only thing that didn't make it was The Styling the kind of plastic junk generic we turn out today real creative less you have $200,000 to buy a plastic Corvette that has five different buttons to change the exhaust sound LOL
Honestly, quite impressive for the time this was built, well done. Just needs a few modifications like the rear, wheels, steering wheel layout, and seats, this would be freaking dope
It’s kind of impressive how a lot of this technology we now have. The style of the car looks like something from the mid to late 90s, so that came true. The rear view camera, GPS navigation system, individual configuration for stuff such as music (but mostly heating and air for modern cars), etc. It hasn’t really aged that badly, this car.
How did they get shots like that before drones? At first I was assuming a helicopter, but they flew really close to the trees. Did they hook up a camera to a model airplane or something? The camera was really shaky.
ricky spanish It still is. I died a little inside the day Pontiac went under... My first car was a 78 Trans-Am. One of those kids who grew up on Smokey and the Bandit, and I was hell bent on owning one... Look at all the concept drawings and body kits for the camaro. The market for the car is still viable but sadly I don't think it will ever happen. Who knows... Maybe I'll win the lottery one day and revive Pontiac!!! Lol
Roshan Mathew You ever owned a Ws6 Trans am? Ever seen a SLP firebird? Nah man, you haven't. You don't know much about them at all. They were fantastic cars with a huge following, if not they wouldn't be making reproduction parts starting with the 1st gen. The only reason they aren't in production is due to GM having to shut down Pontiac over corporate debt. Stick to your econo box fwds.
Oh yeah those seats were for looks for sure. Yup they were going crazy with over done features like that. Remember the motorized belts around that time companies were doing.
This car was featured in the TV movie Knight Rider 2000. It became the Knight Industries 4000 and eventually a new body for KITT when his circuitry was transplanted into the Knight 4000.
+GrnArrow092: No, the Banshee wasn't used. Pontiac wouldn't let the production company use their Banshee for the movie. So, they did the next best thing: They got a Dodge Stealth and put a Banshee body on it that they made. This way, it appears to be a Banshee, but it was really a Dodge Stealth. Worked like a charm and fooled many people, including myself. It wasn't exact, but it was enough to fool the masses.
@@ki5aok Yes the Knight 4000 was a cheapo looking kit car version of the real Banshee and was front wheel drive instead of RWD like the real Banshee . Nonetheless it was neat looking though I would have prefered they used a Trans Am for KITT in the Knight Rider 2000 TV movie
But Mitch Buchanan with Baywatch Knights rebuilt KITT to Black Trans Am 1987 version and Hoff used the 1987 Trans Am with SPM in 2010 America's Got Talent and Comedy Central Hoff roast. After an older Michael Knight tutor Mike Knight (Traucer) on KR Mustang GT edition. Then Hoff sold KITT back to Michael Knight in 2020 after reboot of the movie spanning three movies. Knight Rider Unleashed 3 has KITT in Lowe's Blue after DS KITT shows up.
Thank you for this historically important clip i will always love pontiac and condemn gm for what they did to their wild child of performance experimentation thank you
people talking smack about this car but most of them are driving foreign cars with the technology from the banshee 30 years later and they think thats kool like gps 30 years later rear view cameras 30 years later isnt that what new cars are barely coming out with so stop the hate and realize this was a long time ago so it was well ahead for its time plus this car looks way better then any new import out there even 30 years later
cesar palafox hell yes bruh. Tell it like it is lol. It's a pretty awesome machine whether it's ahead of its time or not. It's own one if I could afford it and get one Lol
This was the Banshee IV from 1988. Pontiac took it on a Tour of some of their dealerships and I remember when it was in Panama City Florida in late 1989. There was one in one of the Back to the Future movies as well. Other than the over the top look, all of these features are here today, even in some cheaper cars. How times change.
Pablocruiser... Didn't elements from this car make it to the 4th gen firebird/transam... The nose & wing... Some even thought it was going to be the next corvette
+K03sport: The nose does look like the one you'll find in the 4th gen Firebird. My sister had one of those and that Banshee nose was definitely on her Firebird.
K03sport definitely influential, but here's a corporation that thought it was ok to re-badge a Cavalier with Cadillac badges. My point being we were lucky to get some design influence from this beauty passed on. My guess is this car would hit a home run if it were put on the market right now.
As somebody said before - it definately looks like a relation to KIFT (Knight Ind 4000) from the KR 2000 movie. The 'nose' air-intakes, the way the tailgate rakes up at the back, the sunken in wheels, even the wheel design looks very similar - red body, grey interior. The Banshee is by far a beautiful car though - and thanks for sharing ;-)
The car from the movie was actually a Dodge Stealth. They were turned down by Pontiac when they asked if they could use the Banshee for the movie, so they replicated it as much as they could.
the future looks like it has a live rear axle. also, how and from where do US manufacturers manage to get leather that looks like it's made from recycled plastic shopping bags?
+colin5577 What they used to say was Rolls-Royce spent a fortune making wood look like plastic and the Americans spent a fortune making plastic look like wood.
+colin5577 Here in the US, despite our plentiful cattle, we have most of our automotive leather imported from Greece. Specifically from the surrounding area of the municipality of Corinth. Hence the name, "Corinthian Leather". I don't know why we do this, or even why we thought it was something to brag about.
The Wraith, (Dodge Turbo Interceptor,) was really just a pretty racecar, (not that there's a damn thing wrong with that.) (At all.) The Banshee, on the other hand, was a road car that could actually do everything they claimed. Everything except pass DOT safety and crash standards. It was hugely ahead of it's time. Both were cool cars from back when American cars were wildly creative. Now, they're not even mildly creative. "I'll take my blandmobile in babyshit green metallic, please."
1988?! I'd say that Concept Design Team derived a raise! If this Pontiac Banshee IV could become 95% delivered both style and tech, which of today's concept cars will we say the same about in 2048!!??
Y'all gotta remember that not only this was the precursor to the Firebird..the 90s Camaro looked exactly like this. My momma had one in red. Also every Pontiac back then got some version if this steering wheel.
this car was used in the nbc movie knight rider 2000... it aired in 1990 a lil while after the series had ended.... kit was transferred to this car called the knight 4000 after the 57 chevy michael knight put him in went to the bottom of the ocean....
+moparlover82: No, the Banshee wasn't used. Pontiac wouldn't let the production company use their Banshee for the movie. So, they did the next best thing: They got a Dodge Stealth and put a Banshee body on it that they made. This way, it appears to be a Banshee, but it was really a Dodge Stealth. Worked like a charm and fooled many people, including myself.
I remember having a lot of hot wheels and matchbox toy cars that were prototypes that never went into production. This was one of them, along with the car Michael Jackson transforms into in Moonwalker. What I like about the Banshee is, besides the fact that the Firebird would end up looking somewhat like that someday, as well as the clear inspiration for te Nazca C2, the Banshee reminds me of the spaceship from Flight of the Navigator, one of my favorite movies as a kid.
The original banshee is from the 60s a John DeLorean creation when he was head of Pontiac.wasnt aloud to produce it because brass at GM didn't want competition to their beloved corvette. Ironically they stole the design and it would become the C3 corvette.
King Rose Archives I always thought it was a shame DeLorean didn't tough it out until he was head of all GM. Imagine what he could have accomplished. Then I think the GM shareholders would've tied his hands.
John Fiskin Is that why they said "space-age design"? I was a bit puzzled about that, because the space-age peaked in the late '60's as far as I am concerned. This steering wheel looks like a joke. To memorize all the buttons is one challenge, but to replace or maintain them would be a much bigger problem. Multifuncion buttons were no option, I guess. It looks interesting from the front, but that's about it. Is it rear engine? I can't figure out how to open that hood or put an engine in there.
@@LocoMotion99 exactly, they were experimenting with various engines, had an awesome 89 prototype, with a V8, it's lower weight, and smaller size, would have provided a faster car than the vette of that time, at much less cost.. Bye Bye Fiero...
I might not have been alive during the Fiero’s production. But it was my first car and I don’t think I’ll be able to forgive GM for axing the Fiero just as it was getting more performance based.
This is true. Pontiac oldsmobile all were just a bunch of big brainstormers for tech and performance that got Xed on the show room floor and replaced by junk engines while everythibg went to the vette and cadillacs.
Thanks for sharing. I remember the Banshee from back then but never got to actually see all this great footage of it driving. GM did a good job with this
That's pretty awesome dude all the best with your studies. I'm starting my postgraduate studies in mathematics but it has always been my dream to develop a really good South African car manufacturer that even Europeans and Americans would consider driving. Perhaps one day our paths will cross.
@TheHealthyDonut they cant do a car like that today, 70's cars had the so called "coke bottle shape" , this car have some of it. modern cars have to lowest part as the most outside the body, coke bottle cars have this outside line higher ( at center of the side pannels in the camaro 67 and at upper part of the fender on the chryslers). All this because a lower outside line is good for side impact colisions.
john jackson They'd have lost a shit ton of money, not to mention people wouldn't buy it. People love to marvel at futuristic concepts like this, but I doubt many would be brave enough to buy something so radical.
Close, Diarmuid. Everybody seems to have raging hard-ons for SUVs. I rarely watch television but when I do it's always truck and SUV commercials, rarely cars anymore. I owned a few Pontiac A-B cars and they served their purpose okay but I'm glad the company went under. Only good thing they made in the past 30 years was the Bonneville, GTO, and G8 ... if you were lucky to find and afford one. Anything else was just so blah.
I think you are correct they would still be around but I think the decision was not that of Pontiac. The divisions of Pontiac were not autonomous by this time. Decisions came from the board and Pontiac suffered. Remember the return of the LeMans one of the most Iconic of muscle cars reintroduced as a 4 banger little gas saver., Then they reintroduce the GTO another Iconic car but it looks like a Japanese car with a V8, it did not take you back the lineage of the Muscle car GTO like Mustang and Camaro. Still have nightmars about the Aztec. WTH. I was a Pontiac fan and owned several they were fast and fun to drive.
One might argue that they did build this car. Tone it down enough to actually be produced and sold, with acceptable ground clearance and visibility, and get it to meet safety regulations, and what you end up with is basically a fourth gen (1993+) Firebird coupe.
Rashid Cotton THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS CAR. , IT LOOKS FAR GREATLY BETTER THAN ANY MODERN AUTOMOBILE. IT MIGHT COULD USE SOME LOWER PROFILE TIRES ,, BUT THEN AGAIN , MANY BRAND NEW MODERN AUTOMOBILES OF TODAY , DO NOT REALLY HAVE LOW PROFILE PERFORMANCE SPORT TIRES. AND THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE SIDES.
***** well your from a different time frame then i am we see things differently and i just feel that they should do a revamp of the car. Only problem is pontiac is no longer in production and GM keeps up with the brand for pontiac customers i like the car it just needs a revamp. Slimmer,smaller, and much more powerful it just needs to be up to date.
Yeah I have the red/black one that looked like the real car and then the gold chrome one that came out later, along with the AMT or ERTL plastic model, whoever made it , I can't remember. Neat looking car along with the Corvette Indy of the same era
Wow! Would have been real cool. Could've had a more powerful LS engine if it was produced, but GM doesn't ever risk cannibalizing Corvette sales. The last generation of Firebirds used features from this concept.
True. Look at the video of the 82 trans am that was gonna be a turbo car..was faster and than the Vette but gm couldnt have anything outshine there vette
@@bohoward8945 they had another "Banshee" concept on the early 60s. GM took it and turned it into the Corvette C3. They weren't about to let Pontiac have something like a Corvette.
+Theshadowcar because they made aztek, vibe, solstice, and the g6. they got rid of grand am and grand prix which were top sellers. they continued power and performance but they're design crew messed up. g6 and solstice are powerful but very ugly. they ruined it and it's a shame. I love my grand am gt
I had a Hot Wheels toy of this car in the 80s. I painted it glossy black (using my mom's nail polish), as a stand in for the Chrysler pace car used in The Wraith, and it was the badass of my imagination for years. Good meomries.
I remember seeing this thing in Hot Rod and other car magazines and wishing and praying that GM would make something like this. Harley Earl would have liked it.
SS Blazin' someone’s been reading Wikipedia lol unfortunately I was around in those days and it’s unavailing (through media like magazines and in video)was an 88 .then most of 89 it went to dealerships to be shown as a gimmick to get people in the door.it wasn’t until late 91 it started making the tour at auto shows and that too was publicity for the new body style coming for 1993 that was released late 92...
+Caleb Youngs Yeah but back in the 60s and early 70s cars were pushing 500hp but they were underated to get them on the market. So there was really no excuse
the high end horsepower was dogpoop in the 80s and 90s because of emissions and fuel injection being in their infancy but the v-8's still had around 300lb-ft of torque do to their displacement.
The Knight 4000 car is actually a Dodge Stealth (Mitsubishi GTO3000) with the external sculpting modified to resemble the Banshee, but the Camaro California concept and period-accurate C4 Corvette could've been used for Knight Rider since the Camaro and Corvette are built by General Motors. For-the-C4-Corvette-and-Camaro-California-to-replicate-the-Banshee, the car would be painted mostly red with the hood (including air intake), side pillars, rear spoiler, and roof black. Story-wise, the KR2000 movie takes place after Team Knight Rider to bridge the flow of the franchise between the end of the G2 series and the 2008 G3 series.
I remember seeing this car in a magazine back in the late 80s. According the the article it was originally intended to be the next generation of Firebird. Ironically when this concept failed they used this car in a Knight Rider tv movie called Knight Rider 2000 and Kitt's original Trans Am body was gone and they put his CPU in this. What I find interesting is how life imitates fiction. Many of the futuristic features in Kitt are now standard on many car designs today. Even the features of this concept car are standard today. Steering Wheel controls, heads up displays, GPS, diagnostics, rear view cameras, etc.
Ron Cash some cars of today copied adesign que here or there, heads up display ...lincoln continental n s550 benz copied from this pontiac, how the hell the modern engineers biting off early designing
Only a few short years later, Pontiac released the Aztek
They lost their mojo.
Haha, The Pontiac Boggle
I actually like the Aztec, some even came with a tent and matress. I also kinda like how it looks.
The Aztek, gave me the impression, of being a Plymouth Horizon on steroids.
I like the Banshee. Was a natural new look for KITT. Too bad the tv movie script wasn't as polished.
This was way ahead for its time. GPS, rear-view cameras, controls, etc. Incredible.
I agree and to think Pontiac is gone now its truly sad.
Digital dash, and HUD. Dude that's crazy.
This was the first with heads up display. And virtual graphics on screen. Idk bout gps though but way too futuristic
@@RetroKingOG the Nissan Maxima had HUD in 1991.
I'm sure that GPS didnt work
A BLISTERING 210 HORSEPOWER! OUT OF A V8!
Good power for the time.
I think it was even a disguised Aurora V8
Blistering!!! 🤣
That was pretty standard for 1989/1990. Emissions standards completely neutered performance in the 1970s and it took a couple decades for manufacturers to get that power back. By the mid 90s both US and Japanese sports cars were ruining an average of 300 hrsprs, then they all stopped making them. The Supra, gone. The RX-8, gone. The 300zx, gone. The Shadow/3000gt, gone. The Camaro and Firebird, gone. Only the Viper, Mustang and Corvette survived to see the year 2002. Thank god Nissan came out with the 350z. That really ushered in the era of modern performance.
Twin turbo no less. Makes as much power as my ten year old 328i
Rest in Peace Pontiac
I got a 96 Sunfire GT that runs perfect and will for another 20 plus years Pontiac will never die!
❤️
Pontiac will never die in my Heart
@@BurglecutUfgood it can comeback electric
One of my favorite concept cars. It's outer design was truly stunning 10/10
God I miss the 80s and 90s
Why, were you not alive then?
FACTS 💯💪 GOOD TIMES✔
Why? Literally everything was shitier
@@OutOfNameIdeas2 lol you definitely need to get off that blow 80's and 90's are great years
@@OutOfNameIdeas2 *_You're one to think artists today have more talent_*
When futuristic cars were exciting, and not based around infantilizing driverless pods.
Idiot.
I agree, the only concepts that seem to get put out now are based around being a minivan or crossover that's more smartphone than car and drives you around, if that's where cars are going ill just get a bus pass and buy a tablet
Fadel_novalhidayat novalhidayat stfu boomer
MisterBuklau you mean zoomer
Z T okay yoomer
This is why they never should of dropped pontiac
Couldn't agree more but it was all about the popularity of Buick in China. Could have rolled the two divisions together but GM was in free fall and I guess it didn't pencil out. Shame.
mazilla122 this is exactly why they dropped Pontiac. this car is fucking laughable.
mazilla122 so true
+Andrue i bet you drive a PRIUS
Pontiac was ahead of their time people... Is what most dont realize but this car was one of the first to have heads up display or even the idea. Could be one of the first to have rear view camera and GPS for road cars. Aztek people say thats hideous. But guys look at some crossovers today. If it weren't for that, would we still have crossovers.
How many buttons should we add to the steering wheel?
Yes.
That joke only works on Asian videos pal.
Try again.
@@dr.abelgideon7747 what?
Instead grand am got it
@@oaksynia7353 ...........Uhhhhhhh......Well, I guess you could use that joke on videos that are inexplicable too.
@@dr.abelgideon7747 what are you on about for this lmao, and what does asian videos have to do with this?
I remember getting a hotwheel banchee back in the 80's. Coolest car ever.
Me 2 I thought it was the best ever
I got mine on display in my room. It is such a beautiful car.
Love how easy it is for all the engineers in the comments to bash on 30 year old stuff.
LOL, no shit eh.
sidefx996 they know nothing about the time before they were even born. (Millenial Flakes).....
Fuckin Millennials anyways!!!!
No shit. Freakin kids and their teslas. They talk all this shit about how superior their technology is but they dont want to show respect to the time period where their prescious technology was developed. I guess they think that someone woke up suddenly and had a vision of exactly how a tesla should be engineered. Nope. All the new technologies were developed from years of trial and era. Without the wild concepts of the 90s there would be no modern day technology. So all little punk ass millenials need to tip their hats and say thank you to my generation for the hard work that was done to develop the technologies that are around today.
@@bryankerbow7871 ok boomer
This was way ahead of its time its crazy
Manuel L no man.. just no.. look up citroen SM this car was truly ahead of its time... some cars have one or two features ahead of its time. But the sm had more
No it isn't. There were plenty of concepts that looked just as futuristic as this.
Almost everything you see in this car is included in modern cars like the corvette c7 rip pontiac your ambitious style will be missed
Meh pontiac and it's crazy electrical issues. nothing like failing power windows in every Pontiac i've ever owned, and fudge buildup in like every turn signal bulb/receptacle ever.....
@@crimescene25 Thats not just pontiac thats GM in general
"A Pontiac vision of the future" although there will be no Pontiac in that future… sadly.
DarkLight why?
@@sergo_ex6648 Pontiac as a brand was officially dissolved back in 2012. There simply wasn't enough cars being sold to keep the lights on.
Samuel Pierce 2.0 thx
@@samuelpierce2.088 Pontiac sold lots of cars... It was one of gm's best selling brands, GM just stopped caring and GM went bankrupt so they had to drop a bunch of brands and pontiac got the axe
how many buttons can you fit on a steering wheel?
If, in today's world, smartphones are said to be distracting, imagine THAT!
Pontiac did it before Ferrari, Pontiac was way ahead of its time, I guess
Idk, ask my Oldsmobile 98. It's filthy with buttons
It has more buttons than horsepower lol
Look at shift boot LOL
love 80-90 concept cars
It's funny how some of the features of this car has become the standard on new cars, like the rear video and that windshield display thing.
I know, concept cars used to be real test beds for features that were years away from being seen but would actually show up eventually.
living in the future now
And the 3rd gen GTA with digital displays was more technologically exciting than the watered down 4th gens with analog gauges and conventional gm era layout. I love my 4th gen, but the interiors and features are boring. Many prototype features that the Banshee had can be found as refined features on up level V6 and V8 Camaros.
pontiac had there shit together look at the 1993-99 pontiac gto concept car then look at the 2012 camaro if pontiac could of stayed in business a little longer i think they would of knocked chevy off the map as far as muscle-performance cars
I don't know. I and everyone who rides in or operates my '97 Firebird Formula seems to really enjoy it. Especially on a nice day with the top down.
He forgot to mention the button on the wheel that switches your AIM-9 sidewinder to your AGM-65 maverick.
He also forgot to mention the rear defense system one button that releases rusty nails behind you for tailgators 2nd button deploys defense scharfel And the toggle switch for the rear smoke screen with oil slick.
What an awesome 80's intro!
When they say "this is why we can't have nice things", this is one of those things. Damn I'd love this car
It's a sweet looking car.
Buy a 93-97 firebird formula or base near identical just toned down a bit
Every one of these technologies made it into different production cars!
Many of them already existed by time the Banshee concept debuted. HUD, steering wheel controls, headrest mounted speakers, Gmeters (the one in the video is a production Valentine G-Analyst), etc were already out by then.
Did that navigation gps system make it? And to what models?
That's the point of concept cars.. to present the tech from which car company draws to make other vehicles
The only thing that didn't make it was The Styling the kind of plastic junk generic we turn out today real creative less you have $200,000 to buy a plastic Corvette that has five different buttons to change the exhaust sound LOL
To never be seen again in a GM warehouse in a corner somewhere. :(
lol
TurboMitsubishi where it belongs...... Ridiculous
This was the most futuristic prototype of its era. Todays vehicles are boring compared today.
Captain FALKEN
Please never speak again.
Honestly, quite impressive for the time this was built, well done. Just needs a few modifications like the rear, wheels, steering wheel layout, and seats, this would be freaking dope
It’s kind of impressive how a lot of this technology we now have. The style of the car looks like something from the mid to late 90s, so that came true. The rear view camera, GPS navigation system, individual configuration for stuff such as music (but mostly heating and air for modern cars), etc. It hasn’t really aged that badly, this car.
Gotta love retrofuturism.
Opening was like Baywatch..
JonnyInfinite i thought it was the lowered expectations skit from madtv
How did they get shots like that before drones? At first I was assuming a helicopter, but they flew really close to the trees. Did they hook up a camera to a model airplane or something? The camera was really shaky.
And Dallas
Pretty ahead of its time.
Thank god we got the firebird instead
Greatest King the firebird was the car everyone wanted
ricky spanish It still is. I died a little inside the day Pontiac went under... My first car was a 78 Trans-Am. One of those kids who grew up on Smokey and the Bandit, and I was hell bent on owning one... Look at all the concept drawings and body kits for the camaro. The market for the car is still viable but sadly I don't think it will ever happen. Who knows... Maybe I'll win the lottery one day and revive Pontiac!!! Lol
Ae86 Hachi you’d best revive it we’re counting on you
Greatest King and the firebird was shit and they don't make it anymore lmao
Roshan Mathew You ever owned a Ws6 Trans am? Ever seen a SLP firebird? Nah man, you haven't. You don't know much about them at all. They were fantastic cars with a huge following, if not they wouldn't be making reproduction parts starting with the 1st gen. The only reason they aren't in production is due to GM having to shut down Pontiac over corporate debt. Stick to your econo box fwds.
Those seats look uncomfortable as hell. And I love the "convenient" steering wheel with its 500 buttons.
You're so hard to please. Next you'll complain about it getting stuck on speed bumps.
badbirdkc hahahahahahhaha. Yeah!!!!
look at a modern Ferrari wheel.... its about the same...
Oh yeah those seats were for looks for sure. Yup they were going crazy with over done features like that. Remember the motorized belts around that time companies were doing.
King Rose Archives convenience with P O N T I️ A C B A N S H E E
2022 version of me: thats some sick drone footage!
1990 version of me: dude is flying the hell out of that heli!
Imagine where American cars would be if this got built for real
Instead we stayed behind
All of this tech is in the new Corvette.
VJ SWORD the banshee was over 25 plus years ago!
Gm waited far to long
Corvette should of been developed as a specialty brand.
We sold out all our ideas to other countrys so they can catch up.
This car was featured in the TV movie Knight Rider 2000. It became the Knight Industries 4000 and eventually a new body for KITT when his circuitry was transplanted into the Knight 4000.
GrnArrow092 nice tidbit!
+GrnArrow092: No, the Banshee wasn't used. Pontiac wouldn't let the production company use their Banshee for the movie. So, they did the next best thing: They got a Dodge Stealth and put a Banshee body on it that they made. This way, it appears to be a Banshee, but it was really a Dodge Stealth. Worked like a charm and fooled many people, including myself.
It wasn't exact, but it was enough to fool the masses.
@@ki5aok Yes the Knight 4000 was a cheapo looking kit car version of the real Banshee and was front wheel drive instead of RWD like the real Banshee . Nonetheless it was neat looking though I would have prefered they used a Trans Am for KITT in the Knight Rider 2000 TV movie
But Mitch Buchanan with Baywatch Knights rebuilt KITT to Black Trans Am 1987 version and Hoff used the 1987 Trans Am with SPM in 2010 America's Got Talent and Comedy Central Hoff roast. After an older Michael Knight tutor Mike Knight (Traucer) on KR Mustang GT edition. Then Hoff sold KITT back to Michael Knight in 2020 after reboot of the movie spanning three movies. Knight Rider Unleashed 3 has KITT in Lowe's Blue after DS KITT shows up.
@@digitalmagicAR Dodge Stealth is AWD.
Thank you for this historically important clip i will always love pontiac and condemn gm for what they did to their wild child of performance experimentation thank you
people talking smack about this car but most of them are driving foreign cars with the technology from the banshee 30 years later and they think thats kool like gps 30 years later rear view cameras 30 years later isnt that what new cars are barely coming out with so stop the hate and realize this was a long time ago so it was well ahead for its time plus this car looks way better then any new import out there even 30 years later
cesar palafox Kind of sad you're butthurt over a car that never made it into production.
Aaron Dizon my butt cannot be hurt as it is still young and malleable!
cesar palafox Hey! Let the trolls have their minute of glory lol.
cesar palafox well said
cesar palafox hell yes bruh. Tell it like it is lol. It's a pretty awesome machine whether it's ahead of its time or not. It's own one if I could afford it and get one Lol
210 HORSEPOWER OMG!
www.GPcarAudio.com My 1.8T Jetta makes 250!
Those are Astronomical numbers!
www.GPcarAudio.com Lol😂
That was alot. We're living in horsepower heaven these days. Todays accords could smoke every muscle car from the 60's and 70's.
Sean O my Kia could do that.
The Knight Industries Four Thousand. Better known as "KIFT", from the movie Knight Rider 2000.
The LaFerrari totally ripped off that front spoiler, though.
+Johan Karlsson Ferrari actually designed a car with GM that never came out also. All of the car companies swap info and designs at some point
to me it looks like a P1 McLaren with rear seats... just saying...
This was the Banshee IV from 1988. Pontiac took it on a Tour of some of their dealerships and I remember when it was in Panama City Florida in late 1989. There was one in one of the Back to the Future movies as well. Other than the over the top look, all of these features are here today, even in some cheaper cars. How times change.
The only car with a Fraps FPS counter
MrNayru what's that?
Andrew G., Lol it's been 2 years hahaha, What an old comment.
Andrew G. It's a screen recorder that has a frames per second counter
😂
Another missed opportunity for GM.
Pablocruiser... Didn't elements from this car make it to the 4th gen firebird/transam... The nose & wing... Some even thought it was going to be the next corvette
+K03sport: The nose does look like the one you'll find in the 4th gen Firebird. My sister had one of those and that Banshee nose was definitely on her Firebird.
Even the later third gen front end was inspired by the banshee
K03sport definitely influential, but here's a corporation that thought it was ok to re-badge a Cavalier with Cadillac badges. My point being we were lucky to get some design influence from this beauty passed on. My guess is this car would hit a home run if it were put on the market right now.
K03sport: Ah, yes. The Cimmaron. One of those "What the hell were you thinking" moments courtesy of GM.
Those interior buttons definitely made it into production. I remember them in my sister’s Sunfire.
As somebody said before - it definately looks like a relation to KIFT (Knight Ind 4000) from the KR 2000 movie. The 'nose' air-intakes, the way the tailgate rakes up at the back, the sunken in wheels, even the wheel design looks very similar - red body, grey interior. The Banshee is by far a beautiful car though - and thanks for sharing ;-)
The car from the movie was actually a Dodge Stealth. They were turned down by Pontiac when they asked if they could use the Banshee for the movie, so they replicated it as much as they could.
the future looks like it has a live rear axle. also, how and from where do US manufacturers manage to get leather that looks like it's made from recycled plastic shopping bags?
+colin5577 What they used to say was Rolls-Royce spent a fortune making wood look like plastic and the Americans spent a fortune making plastic look like wood.
Known within GM as the "Banshee IV", unveiled in 1988, 28 years ago.
+King Rose Archives lol nice
colin5577 Plastic cows of course
+colin5577 Here in the US, despite our plentiful cattle, we have most of our automotive leather imported from Greece. Specifically from the surrounding area of the municipality of Corinth. Hence the name, "Corinthian Leather".
I don't know why we do this, or even why we thought it was something to brag about.
Its like "Kit" and the car from "The Wraith" had a baby....lol
Dodge Wraith
Vin Della well that was Kitt in knight rider 2000...lol...
The Wraith, (Dodge Turbo Interceptor,) was really just a pretty racecar, (not that there's a damn thing wrong with that.) (At all.) The Banshee, on the other hand, was a road car that could actually do everything they claimed. Everything except pass DOT safety and crash standards. It was hugely ahead of it's time. Both were cool cars from back when American cars were wildly creative. Now, they're not even mildly creative. "I'll take my blandmobile in babyshit green metallic, please."
1988?! I'd say that Concept Design Team derived a raise! If this Pontiac Banshee IV could become 95% delivered both style and tech, which of today's concept cars will we say the same about in 2048!!??
Y'all gotta remember that not only this was the precursor to the Firebird..the 90s Camaro looked exactly like this. My momma had one in red. Also every Pontiac back then got some version if this steering wheel.
Damn... it even has a compact disc player!
Retroman so did the eagle talon
most cars in the late 80s did, fam
Kiboe only sports/luxury cars... CD players weren’t added to modern vehicles until early 2000
I'd still perfer the eight track player. With all the real solid chrome buttons and radio dials.
@@RingoYote No they didnt.
this car was used in the nbc movie knight rider 2000... it aired in 1990 a lil while after the series had ended.... kit was transferred to this car called the knight 4000 after the 57 chevy michael knight put him in went to the bottom of the ocean....
+moparlover82: No, the Banshee wasn't used. Pontiac wouldn't let the production company use their Banshee for the movie. So, they did the next best thing: They got a Dodge Stealth and put a Banshee body on it that they made. This way, it appears to be a Banshee, but it was really a Dodge Stealth. Worked like a charm and fooled many people, including myself.
moparlover82 it was also in the movie “ The Wraith “ starring Charlie Sheen
I'd like to get my hands on that prototype and make molds off of it !
I remember having the hot wheels version of this car.. Didn't think it was real holy shit
The 90's fourth-get Firebird really took a lot of styling cues from this car.
I remember having a lot of hot wheels and matchbox toy cars that were prototypes that never went into production. This was one of them, along with the car Michael Jackson transforms into in Moonwalker. What I like about the Banshee is, besides the fact that the Firebird would end up looking somewhat like that someday, as well as the clear inspiration for te Nazca C2, the Banshee reminds me of the spaceship from Flight of the Navigator, one of my favorite movies as a kid.
the 1970 bertone stratos zero concept
The original banshee is from the 60s a John DeLorean creation when he was head of Pontiac.wasnt aloud to produce it because brass at GM didn't want competition to their beloved corvette. Ironically they stole the design and it would become the C3 corvette.
John Fiskin I know. I think that's one of the reasons DeLorean eventually left GM. He wanted to produce his dream car.
King Rose Archives I always thought it was a shame DeLorean didn't tough it out until he was head of all GM. Imagine what he could have accomplished. Then I think the GM shareholders would've tied his hands.
John Fiskin Is that why they said "space-age design"? I was a bit puzzled about that, because the space-age peaked in the late '60's as far as I am concerned. This steering wheel looks like a joke. To memorize all the buttons is one challenge, but to replace or maintain them would be a much bigger problem. Multifuncion buttons were no option, I guess. It looks interesting from the front, but that's about it. Is it rear engine? I can't figure out how to open that hood or put an engine in there.
John Fiskin This was ahead of its time. Some cars don't have these features today.
"DeLorean left to make his dream car"
And only had minor success due to Hollywood, the DeLorean was one of the biggest pieces of shit you could buy.
"A threat to the all mighty pole polishing corvette oh hell no, fuck that nothing is allowed to touch the corvette"
actual statement from a GM exec.
Russell that’s what happened to this and the Fiero, quite sad
@@LocoMotion99 exactly, they were experimenting with various engines, had an awesome 89 prototype, with a V8, it's lower weight, and smaller size, would have provided a faster car than the vette of that time, at much less cost..
Bye Bye Fiero...
I might not have been alive during the Fiero’s production. But it was my first car and I don’t think I’ll be able to forgive GM for axing the Fiero just as it was getting more performance based.
This is true. Pontiac oldsmobile all were just a bunch of big brainstormers for tech and performance that got Xed on the show room floor and replaced by junk engines while everythibg went to the vette and cadillacs.
Thanks for sharing. I remember the Banshee from back then but never got to actually see all this great footage of it driving. GM did a good job with this
This looks aerodynamically sound. The chassis could survive in the 20's with a few tweaks.
@TheHealthyDonut of course. I bet some Chinese company could use the design though.
That's pretty awesome dude all the best with your studies. I'm starting my postgraduate studies in mathematics but it has always been my dream to develop a really good South African car manufacturer that even Europeans and Americans would consider driving. Perhaps one day our paths will cross.
@TheHealthyDonut they cant do a car like that today, 70's cars had the so called "coke bottle shape" , this car have some of it.
modern cars have to lowest part as the most outside the body, coke bottle cars have this outside line higher ( at center of the side pannels in the camaro 67 and at upper part of the fender on the chryslers).
All this because a lower outside line is good for side impact colisions.
Too bad Pontiac didn't have the balls to build this car, if they did, Pontiac might still be around building cars.
john jackson
They'd have lost a shit ton of money, not to mention people wouldn't buy it. People love to marvel at futuristic concepts like this, but I doubt many would be brave enough to buy something so radical.
Close, Diarmuid. Everybody seems to have raging hard-ons for SUVs. I rarely watch television but when I do it's always truck and SUV commercials, rarely cars anymore. I owned a few Pontiac A-B cars and they served their purpose okay but I'm glad the company went under. Only good thing they made in the past 30 years was the Bonneville, GTO, and G8 ... if you were lucky to find and afford one. Anything else was just so blah.
The 1993 Firebird was pretty similar to this car. From the front, it almost looked the same.
I think you are correct they would still be around but I think the decision was not that of Pontiac. The divisions of Pontiac were not autonomous by this time. Decisions came from the board and Pontiac suffered. Remember the return of the LeMans one of the most Iconic of muscle cars reintroduced as a 4 banger little gas saver., Then they reintroduce the GTO another Iconic car but it looks like a Japanese car with a V8, it did not take you back the lineage of the Muscle car GTO like Mustang and Camaro. Still have nightmars about the Aztec. WTH. I was a Pontiac fan and owned several they were fast and fun to drive.
One might argue that they did build this car. Tone it down enough to actually be produced and sold, with acceptable ground clearance and visibility, and get it to meet safety regulations, and what you end up with is basically a fourth gen (1993+) Firebird coupe.
I always loved this car as a kid. I'm hoping to see it in person. Thank you for sharing this!
We need a remake of the banshee for the times of the now its nice in the front but the sides of the car and tires need revamping.
Rashid Cotton
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS CAR. , IT LOOKS FAR GREATLY BETTER THAN ANY MODERN AUTOMOBILE.
IT MIGHT COULD USE SOME LOWER PROFILE TIRES ,, BUT THEN AGAIN , MANY BRAND NEW MODERN AUTOMOBILES OF TODAY , DO NOT REALLY HAVE LOW PROFILE PERFORMANCE SPORT TIRES.
AND THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE SIDES.
***** well your from a different time frame then i am we see things differently and i just feel that they should do a revamp of the car. Only problem is pontiac is no longer in production and GM keeps up with the brand for pontiac customers i like the car it just needs a revamp. Slimmer,smaller, and much more powerful it just needs to be up to date.
I have one it's kinda small though (hot wheels) lol
Me to, 1:24th scale model
I thought I was alone.
Yeah I have the red/black one that looked like the real car and then the gold chrome one that came out later, along with the AMT or ERTL plastic model, whoever made it , I can't remember. Neat looking car along with the Corvette Indy of the same era
What is this, a car for ants?
GM was ahead of the curve, now they are so behind.
Go drive a new vette & say that.
@@clarkkent5632 the vette is mimicked off the 458 Italia Ferrari. Go and find another way to be an ass.
The person or persons who designed this car undoubtedly had mullets.
Wow! Would have been real cool. Could've had a more powerful LS engine if it was produced, but GM doesn't ever risk cannibalizing Corvette sales. The last generation of Firebirds used features from this concept.
True. Look at the video of the 82 trans am that was gonna be a turbo car..was faster and than the Vette but gm couldnt have anything outshine there vette
@@bohoward8945 they had another "Banshee" concept on the early 60s. GM took it and turned it into the Corvette C3. They weren't about to let Pontiac have something like a Corvette.
@@JamesAdams-bd9df oh I know. I was also talking about the turbo 82 trans am with a 301 they were gonna do .but ya know the Vette
2nd song is "Think Original" by Andy Clark. Love that 80's synth music.
Do you know the others?
PONTIAC NEEDS TO MAKE A COMEBACK!! BRING BACK THE TRANS AM AND FIREBIRD THATS ALL!!😎
A lot of fine vehicles but it's not going to happen.
to be honest pontiac made the best cars don't know why they stop.. missing pontiac fiero..trans am ...firebird..gto.
+Theshadowcar because they made aztek, vibe, solstice, and the g6. they got rid of grand am and grand prix which were top sellers. they continued power and performance but they're design crew messed up. g6 and solstice are powerful but very ugly. they ruined it and it's a shame. I love my grand am gt
+Theshadowcar they also got rid of gto, trans am and firebirds. tf were they thinking? ? ?
you are right and don't forget pontiac company was the only who try to show modren interior disgns during 80th which is seen in some 90th 2000+ cars.
This thing is so 90s it comes with a Zack Morris brick cell phone.
Marshal Arnold 80’s. Listen to the crap background music.
@@joeblow1942 No. It's from 1992. That's not 80s music. It's early 90s.
Mario M Okay, I’m just saying it sounds 80’s and the ridiculous back of that car looks 80’s.
The style is so futuristic that this 1988 concept makes any car, Tesla or others, totally outdated in 2020.
Great concept , minus the 4 liter V8 should have been a 6 Liter ....Love Pontiacs 😎
SurferJoe71 imagine an electric version... or a more modern engine with that body...
the McLaren P1 got a 3.8L V8 and that puts out around 900-1000hp.... come to think about it this looks like a McLaren P1 but with rear seats...
Can't compete with Corvette, every great thing Pontiac did was limited cause Corvette was gonna be out done or shown up.
I got one, but it's a hot wheel 😁😁😎
Still counts.
mines purple and black
I remember getting a hotwheel banchee back when it first came out.
Yea me too! And also bought the revell 1/24 scale model, still have them.
Closest you'll get to one lol
I remember owning this Matchbox car!
I still have & my kids play with it now
+Jason Rushing I still have the Revell Model kit.
+The Flat Piece of Metal Network That's cool.
Me too
rbarbetta1978 that was literally my favorite toy car. I wonder whatever happened to it 😒
I had a Hot Wheels toy of this car in the 80s. I painted it glossy black (using my mom's nail polish), as a stand in for the Chrysler pace car used in The Wraith, and it was the badass of my imagination for years. Good meomries.
Nail polish as car paint - clever! Glad it brought back good memories.
You know they're hiding top secret alien technology when they cut every scene right before the actors open the car doors.
That's what I was waiting to see! Then it cuts to the next scene...
Racer x
I remember seeing this thing in Hot Rod and other car magazines and wishing and praying that GM would make something like this. Harley Earl would have liked it.
Just waiting for this to show up in a gran turismo game (with the same music as well)
I would like to buy this car,
The features were awesome for the time!
I had a hotwheels of this concept...
needs newer rims, and a better rear.. i love everything else.. of course the dash can be modernized as well.. definitely an 80's vision right here.
slikdarelic well... The rims are alright and the dash is acceptable (Even though it's not good at all) but the rear has gotta go
slikdarelic 80s?????...lol its from early to mid 90s....like 94-95
dick liddle this was at the 1988 auto show
SS Blazin' someone’s been reading Wikipedia lol unfortunately I was around in those days and it’s unavailing (through media like magazines and in video)was an 88 .then most of 89 it went to dealerships to be shown as a gimmick to get people in the door.it wasn’t until late 91 it started making the tour at auto shows and that too was publicity for the new body style coming for 1993 that was released late 92...
I agree the rear makes it hideous
I honestly laughed, when they called it a "road warrior", but then said it made 210 hp and 225 tq
Well, keep in mind, those were considered decent numbers before. They weren't the highest, but they were higher than most other vehicles of the time.
+Caleb Youngs Yeah but back in the 60s and early 70s cars were pushing 500hp but they were underated to get them on the market. So there was really no excuse
Depends on how heavy the car is, plus 80's man. The Corvette had 250Hp at the time, so 210 hp wasn't bad in comparison.
I do believe the C4 Corvette was at least 3500lbs. Just as much a 2005 v6 mustang with 200hp. But barely any faster i bet
the high end horsepower was dogpoop in the 80s and 90s because of emissions and fuel injection being in their infancy but the v-8's still had around 300lb-ft of torque do to their displacement.
This design became the basis for the 4th gen firebird
I loved this car!!
moparlover82 it was also in the movie “ The Wraith “ starring Charlie Sheen
It’s like I’m watching a scam advertisement
😅🤣😂😂😂 , thats so funny, and it your wright
In a way you are LOL!
The opening seconds seemed like an episode of baywatch.
Lol
This thing has a GPS WHEN GPS wasn't know as GPS and rearview camera WTF way ahead of it's time
Way ahead of its time. LOOKS SO CLEAN.
Steering wheel looks busy
I remember having the Hot Wheel toy of this car.
Love how nobody has made the reference that this is VERY close to the version of it used in Knight Rider 2000 for KITT
The Knight 4000 car is actually a Dodge Stealth (Mitsubishi GTO3000) with the external sculpting modified to resemble the Banshee, but the Camaro California concept and period-accurate C4 Corvette could've been used for Knight Rider since the Camaro and Corvette are built by General Motors.
For-the-C4-Corvette-and-Camaro-California-to-replicate-the-Banshee, the car would be painted mostly red with the hood (including air intake), side pillars, rear spoiler, and roof black.
Story-wise, the KR2000 movie takes place after Team Knight Rider to bridge the flow of the franchise between the end of the G2 series and the 2008 G3 series.
if you say so.....
I remember seeing this car in a magazine back in the late 80s. According the the article it was originally intended to be the next generation of Firebird. Ironically when this concept failed they used this car in a Knight Rider tv movie called Knight Rider 2000 and Kitt's original Trans Am body was gone and they put his CPU in this.
What I find interesting is how life imitates fiction. Many of the futuristic features in Kitt are now standard on many car designs today. Even the features of this concept car are standard today. Steering Wheel controls, heads up displays, GPS, diagnostics, rear view cameras, etc.
SUGGESTION: PLEASE CONSIDER BRINGING BACK THE BANSHEE!!!! GREAT VIDEO & THANKS FOR SHARING.
It doesn't look like anything more than a customized Trans-Am.
Probably because they were building cars off this concept. The sunfire and Firebird can clearly trace their lines to this concept.
Why am I just now getting this on my feed lol. It’s 2020.
Anyhow this thing should’ve been in KUNG-FURY
I use to have this in my Hot Wheels collection.
I always loved this car. I still have it as the model kit I build as a kid.
Yep. I have an unbuilt kit from Revell. Such a stunning car!
I still have my Hot Wheels/Matchbox version of this car. It was always my favorite as a kid. The Banshee's design is still impressive to this day.
Say what you want this car could compete today. Shows we're paying too much for the tech we have now
that's a fire bird
LOOKS LIKE A TRANS AM
it is
Called a *"Concept"* car most automakers have these, but GM makes the best concept cars I've ever seen.
Looks nothing like a trans am
This is the future we need
The engineers of this car were well ahead of us . Look at that steering wheel , really? Amazing interior
That car was ahead of it's time, they would kill that same design today. Somebody should modernize it. . .
Ron Cash some cars of today copied adesign que here or there, heads up display ...lincoln continental n s550 benz copied from this pontiac, how the hell the modern engineers biting off early designing
already done, google pics of McLaren P1 and then look at this....
dunhillsupramk3 I've already seen it, but good observation tho 😉.