Most of the people on here have seen the photos of the fastback prototype and some of the few notchback prototypes. The notchbacks were destroyed before they even hit the public sector. First, here are the few pictures of the notchback:





Here is a blown up shot of the first picture. There appears to be a Grand Am in this shot with the 2000 up to recent final production taillights. My question is, were these notchbacks truly destroyed in the early 90's based on the fact that there is a very modern car in the picture or are they really tucked away somewhere? I doubt that they designed the Grand Am prototype in 1989 11 years in advance with the 2000-2010 taillights, otherwise they would have just used those lights from 89 on up. Just another conspiracy question



Edit to add....I know one of the members on here knows the person that took these photos. I just cannot find the info. Hopefully he can shed a little light on the timeframe of when these photos were taken.

[This message has been edited by IMSA GT (edited 10-12-2011).]

Could it be a 1992+ Grand Am? They looked a lot alike for several years, at least to me.

Those pictures weren't taken that far back. They were taken around 1998-1999. It's been mentioned a few times on the forum that a member took them in the late 20th century. You can tell that also because the digitial camera technology that was around then is consistent with these photographs (at least at the general consumer grade). It's believed they were crushed down some time later after these shots were taken.

quote Originally posted by css9450: Could it be a 1992+ Grand Am? They looked a lot alike for several years, at least to me.

I own a 2001 and those are the taillights from the 2000 on up years. The 90's models had a different curve going down through the trunk.

quote Originally posted by Fiero84Freak: Those pictures weren't taken that far back. They were taken around 1998-1999. It's been mentioned a few times on the forum that a member took them in the late 20th century. You can tell that also because the digitial camera technology that was around then is consistent with these photographs (at least at the general consumer grade). It's believed they were crushed down some time later after these shots were taken.

I didn't remember the dates that the photos were taken. I had THOUGHT that the person was not supposed to be taking these photos so he downsized them for the internet so no details could be seen.....but I may be wrong. If they truly were destroyed, it's such a waste that GM does this to the cars that do not get released to the public. I would have thought that they would have wanted to make a few bucks by selling the prototypes like they did on the Barrett Jackson auction but I guess back then, they weren't too concerned with going bankrupt

I am very interested in these cars, and I always have been since I originally saw these photos around ten years or so ago when I lurked the forum.

I personally think they're more interesting than even the 1990 prototype, in that you can see common parts the '90 prototype and these cars share like the headlights and hood. However you also can see subtile differences between these three cars themselves. The first car in line was likely going to be the new '89 base coupe, as you can see a luggage rack and the standard 14" "hi-tech" wheels. However, if you look at the other two, they were likely 1989 Formula models, as they have a spoiler, GT wheels, and a black roof. However the basic body is essentially the same between all three cars. If you look REALLY hard, you'll see the base and the middle "Formula" has no sunroof. The last car does have a sunroof though, as is evident in the second photo.

Also looks like the red car behind the Grand Am is a newer Grand Prix SE with the aluminum Mesh wheels
like these


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Car Threads
86 Fiero 2M4 Silver https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/115701.html
and 86 GT
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/F...ML/085541.html

[This message has been edited by jwrape (edited 10-12-2011).]

quote Originally posted by jwrape: Also looks like the red car behind the Grand Am is a newer Grand Prix SE with the aluminum Mesh wheels....

Thats why I started this thread....not that it will get any more info out of anyone but the timeline of the photos doesn't seem right. I was going to say something about the even newer cars in the photos but I wasn't sure. I'm glad you mentioned it.

quote Originally posted by IMSA GT: I own a 2001 and those are the taillights from the 2000 on up years. The 90's models had a different curve going down through the trunk.

Hmmm, yeah now that you mention it they were more bulbous in the 90s. Good eye.

From my Pontiac connections these were around for a good while and made it past 2000. GM Purged this lot and most of the prototype and pilot cars here at some point after this. These cars even sport some of the emblems that some of us have here.

I do know they were looking to restore the Trans Am Terrritory GMC camper but I have yet to see it in the GM collection.

suprised noone mentioned the 1998-up blazer / jimmy in the last photo..

So the next question relating to the prototype is if anyone knows what this particular font is called?

While this isn't the 89 prototype, it a cool one also

Seems like it was a friend of Ausfiero's that took the pics, but I won't swear to it. Might drop him a note, as I think either way, he had info about it.

HAGO!

Some info from Aus can be found here: https://www.fiero.nl/forum/F...L/045263-4.html#p125

quote Originally posted by IMSA GT: So the next question relating to the prototype is if anyone knows what this particular font is called?

I have one and am not sure. I know Pontiac started to use this in the late 80's and early 90's on all their cars. It may just be something they made up?