Pontiac's Corvette Look-alike for Sale on e-Bay

Filed in archive American Specials on March 28, 2008

No, that's not a Corvette, though the similarity is striking. It's a 1964 Pontiac Banshee concept that never got past the prototype stage when GM management worried that it would threaten Corvette's lofty status. No wonder John Delorean eventually left to build his own sports car! Actually the banshee was intended as a competitor for the Mustang. The dynamic styling and unique overhead-cam inline six certainly would have cut into Mustang sales because of the latter's more conservative styling and uninspiring base six. Fortunately the Banshee was saved from the crusher and eventually came into the possession of Len Napoli, a Connecticut car dealer, who bought the car for a mere $214,500 at the 2006 Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale. Late last year Napoli offered it on eBay for $1.3 million but there were no takers. Now it's back with the price raised by an additional $200,000. Is Mr. Napoli asking too much, perhaps? Thanks to Autoblog for this lead.