A bit Batmobile and a bit KITT – the protagonist of the TV series Knight Rider -, but with various influences deriving from the Corvette. This is how we could summarise the Pontiac Phantomthe muscle car created exclusively as a concept designed by Bill Mitchell.
The same creator of the first two generations of the Chevrolet Corvette gave life to the Phantom as the last act of his career before retirement, imagining the stereotype of the star-spangled sports car in an even more original way.
Inspired by the myths of the past
Presented in 1977, the Phantom has almost cartoon-like shapes, with a long hood that encloses the thin horizontal headlights and integrates a series of important chrome parts. The very low sides do not go unnoticed either, with white-lined tires and muscular rear wheel arches.
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The bodywork is entirely made of fibreglass and the chassis derives from the Pontiac Grand Prix. Overall, the design is reminiscent of the Cadillacs of the 1930s, some of Mitchell’s earliest designs. Too bad there’s no engine under the hood, though.
Goodbye to muscle cars
In fact, the Pontiac is not imagined as a future production model, but as a pure exercise in style by Mitchell. Among other things, the “father” of the Phantom himself describes the car as “the expression of what he has always loved”.
A sort of love letter to muscle cars, in an era – the late 70s – that saw this sector in great difficulty due to the energy crisis of 1973 which had made large sports cars with immense (and thirsty) V8 engines unaffordable.
Even though the Pontiac never came to life, it can be admired in person in the collection of the Museo Sloan a Flint, in Michigan.
Source: it.motor1.com
