1964 Pontiac Banshee Prototype XP-833 is for sale again

A one-off concept of a 1964 Pontiac Banshee Coupe is once again for sale at Hemmings. The asking price is $1.2 million.

The Banshee was General Motors' early attempt to compete with the Ford Mustang. Known internally as the XP-833, it was the brainchild of John Z. DeLorean, then head of Pontiac. It was more of a sports car than a pony car, with sleek fiberglass bodywork similar to the later C3 Chevrolet Corvette and Opel GT.

But instead of a custom-built sports car platform, the Banshee borrowed mechanical hardware from the original Pontiac Tempest. An unusual rear transaxle, driven by a flexible metal driveshaft called a "rope drive," was used to send power from the inline six-cylinder engine to the rear wheels.

After GM built two prototypes of the car, a silver coupe and a white convertible, it is said that GM discontinued the Banshee because some executives were concerned that Pontiac would steal sales from the Corvette. Instead, Pontiac got the Firebird, which shared GM's F-body platform with the Chevrolet Camaro, to compete with the Mustang.

The two banshee prototypes remained hidden until they were purchased by GM employees. The coupe remained in the buyer's possession until 2006, when it was purchased by dealer Len Napoli of Milford, Connecticut, at a Barrett-Jackson auction for $210,600. Napoli was a well-known Pontiac collector, and his family owned a Pontiac dealership from 1958 until GM pulled the plug on the Pontiac division.

Napoli has tried to sell the Banshee Coupe several times. The first time it was offered for sale was in 2010, and the last time it was offered for sale in 2020 through Napoli's Kia dealer for an asking price of $750,000. Naples appears to be the seller again, and the car is still listed for sale by a dealer in Milford, Connecticut, with 1,498 miles on the odometer, the same as last time. Will a buyer be found this time?