What does a man do who has previously modified Knight Rider reproductions and who has been a "Pontiac Firebird Man" for years? If that man is Rob Louisell of Louisell Motors, he takes an F-Body frame and creates a wild body to adorn it with.
Louisell spent about a year building his new creation, the Banshee, as an obsession. "Once I got into this design, I knew I needed to complete it," he said. He had created the Knight Rider replicar for the general public in the '80s, and when Pontiac killed off the Firebird, Louisell, inspired by the '88 Banshee concept car, stylized a Fourth-Generation F-bird to bring excitement back to the 'Bird's fans.
The original Banshee concept car was once thought to be the 'Bird of the future, but by 1994, that dream had been abandoned by GM officials. Louisell took a scale model of "his" Banshee to Pontiac headquarters and was told that if he built it, Pontiac would consider offering it as an option. He returned a year later with a finished design and was told to take it through crash tests. As that was his ONLY car, he chose to take his design home.
After redesigning his conversion, he came up with what you see here. This Banshee model from Louisell has gone a few steps farther than the original. The front fascia now has a "floating wing," which is a lower spoiler attached to the front nose, by the middle portion only. The fenders and front fascia are molded as one seamless composite piece. The rear spoilers rise up about 3 inches, are separated in the middle, extend toward the front of the car, and blend into the top of the doors, which open by remote control.
To build the beauty you see here, he used a stock '93 GM F-Body frame, put in a Chevy 3:23 gear ratio, and incorporated a lot of Chevy in this Pontiac. He selected Chevy tuned-port injection for aspiration and a Corvette LT1 ignition. He popped in a stock 700-R4 transmission, K&N air cleaner, Flowmaster mufflers, and 3-inch exhaust tubes.
The body was a '93 Firebird Formula, which he modified to its current Banshee status, done in '93 Firebird red and black.
He went back to the Bow Tie for power. The '93 Chevy LT1 V-8 engine is stock (350 ci) and will achieve about 285 hp at 4,500 rpm with a torque of about 310 lb-ft at 4,500 rpm. That might not sound too powerful, but Louisell said that his car will scream to a top speed of 155 mph. He has taken it on trips as long as 2,500 miles-from his headquarters in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, to last year's AHA Knott's Berry Farm Show in Buena Park, California-and drives it about 10,000 miles a year, getting about 23 mpg on the highway.
Louisell said, "I have been a member of the TransAm Firebird Club and have been a Pontiac guy. This car seems like the best of the Pontiac frame world with a 21st century body."
Thanks to Louisell, the Pontiac is alive and well, and screaming like a Banshee.