In the mid-1980s General Motors was working on the GM80 project, an FWD/AWD replacement for the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird, featuring plastic panels bolted to a spaceframe. It was cancelled in 1986 due to high development costs.
I'm reading John Z. DeLorean's book "On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors" about GM in the 60s and early 70s. (PM me if you want the file). It mentions a stillborn 60s Pontiac prototype that was "a sprightly, low-cost, two-seat sports car that incorporated the Pontiac overhead cam, six-cylinder engine and a fiberglass body. It was an exciting little car that would have given competition, at that time, to the growing number of foreign sports cars, such as the Triumph Spitfire and Austin-Healy Sprite, and later the Fiat 124 and the Datsun 240Z." --- Post updated --- The book also mentions the idea of using a common platform for compacts, midsizers and pony cars. "The K-Car program proposed a common body and chassis for all of the GM cars in the intermediate and compact car classes. On the Chevrolet lines alone this meant building the Chevelle, Camaro and Nova, which at the time varied greatly in weight and dimensions, from essentially the same components. Like the similar program for big cars, this proposal was aimed at taking weight and cost out of these car lines and improving their fuel mileage. The Nova alone was scheduled to lose 600 pounds as its weight dropped from 3400 pounds to 2800. The equivalent savings in the intermediate car would be 800-900 pounds. In addition, we proposed a substantial change in the looks of these car lines. They would become more compact, higher and shorter, which would enable us to make more efficient use of the passenger compartment."
Before choosing the Fiat 124 for license production, the Soviets also considered the Renault 16, Peugeot 204, Ford Taunus 12M, Cortina and Austin 1100.
I thought this was for cars that came close to production but didn’t. “Considering” other cars than the one they made is a very, very far cry from that.
