1925–2005
John Z. DeLorean
Pontiac chief engineer, then general manager
John Z. DeLorean, Pontiac's chief engineer and then (from 1965) general manager, had been pushing GM leadership hard for a two-seat Pontiac sports car codenamed Banshee. Ed Cole didn't approve the Banshee, but offered DeLorean a compromise: a Pontiac-badged version of the already-planned Chevrolet F-body. Pontiac's engineers gave their car (the Firebird) its own spring/damper calibrations and other chassis differences plus distinct styling, and i
John Z. DeLorean, Pontiac's chief engineer and then (from 1965) general manager, had been pushing GM leadership hard for a two-seat Pontiac sports car codenamed Banshee. Ed Cole didn't approve the Banshee, but offered DeLorean a compromise: a Pontiac-badged version of the already-planned Chevrolet F-body. Pontiac's engineers gave their car (the Firebird) its own spring/damper calibrations and other chassis differences plus distinct styling, and it reached showrooms February 23, 1967 — deliberately staggered a few months after Camaro's September 1966 debut so the two GM siblings wouldn't collide in the launch news cycle. This is the direct origin of the Camaro/Firebird "sibling rivalry" that runs the whole F-body's shared-platform history through 2002.