This not so dirty little secret about the 1986 Pontiac Trans Sport Concept has slowly waned and watered down through time but I’m here to remind you of it.

When revolutionary concept vehicles, particularly around vans pops up, invariably someone mentions the Pontiac Trans Sport Concept with its gull-wing doors, helicopter-like windshield, turbocharged engine, and out-of-this-world styling, but Pontiac used a not so known industry practice to birth this concept in the first place.

Pontiac, in its heart of hearts, never really planned to bring the Trans Sport Concept into production anyways. That’s because the concept came after the production version. That’s right, sitting in the shadows of the Trans Sport Concept was the bland Trans Sport dust-buster ready to be tweaked here and there before finalizing and heading to production lines.

But don’t take my word for it.

In researching the current location of the Trans Sport Concept, an endeavor in procrastination birthed from an @ItsVanTime thread, I came across an interesting article hyping up the 1999 Greater Cleveland International Auto Show by auto writer Christopher Hensen titled, “Inside Story of Concept Cars of the 21st Century.”

In his article, Hensen spells out the various reasons concept cars come out in the first place, the 1986 Trans Sport Concept being of example.

Sometimes, automakers get tricky and the concept vehicle design is based on a real production vehicle already scheduled to be introduced. The idea is to prepare the public for a new look.

One example of that was the Pontiac Trans Sport concept car. The concept vehicle was designed after the real Trans Sport minivan was finished and waiting to be introduced, said James N. Hall, vice president of industry analysis for AutoPacific Inc.

Coincidentally enough, Jalopnik editor Raphael Orlove had an inkling this was the case long after Hensen’s article was written. In his commentary on the Trans Sport Concept, Orlove says, 

 There is no doubt in my mind that the production version was designed first, then given more zazz and pizzazz for the concept version. By this I mean, I don’t think that the concept was watered down for production, more like it went the other way around.

So, although we might think Pontiac had a real winner with its curvaceous styling, hotted up engine, and state of the art interior, they, in fact, already had a hand ready to play.

Ironically enough, although the concept was well-received, even the production version design was too radical for a US minivan market that preferred more traditionally styled vans like the Ford Windstar, Nissan Quest, and Dodge Caravan.

As to the location of this Trans Sport Concept, as of 2007, according to Hot Rod Magazine, it still exists.

Fortunately, the ’86 Trans Sport has remained in excellent condition and is part of Pontiac’s Historic Fleet. When GM returned to building true concept vehicles in the ’80s, it decided these unique creations were significant pieces of its corporate history and the practice of destroying non-production-based show cars ended.

A quick check on GM’s heritage center fleet reveals no Trans Sport Concept but I’ve shot them an e-mail asking anyways. I’ll update all y’all if and when I hear back.