In 1989, people were wearing a whole lot of neon with acid-washed denim, the only Tesla on anybody?s mind was a butt-rock band from Sacramento, cellular phones were still regularly referred to as ?car phones,” and the Howard Hesseman vehicle Head of the Class was the number-20 show on television. Beach-oriented culture was a huge influence on young people, and hang gliding was still seen as a relevant and not at all ludicrous adventure sport. Into this environment leapt General Motors? Excitement Division?the late Pontiac?with the Stinger concept, a celly-equipped beach buggy with air suspension and a host of action-oriented features.

Rolling on stupid-wide-for-the-day 295/50R-16 front and 295/50R-18 rear Goodyears, the Stinger could rock a four-inch lift if conditions called for it. So far, that?s pretty standard conceptual stuff, the kind of thing that ultimately came true in the future. But then the Stinger got weird. Real weird. It came equipped with everything from a door-mounted cooler to a calculator; from a sewing kit to a garden hose to a Dustbuster (perhaps a nod to GM?s soon-to-arrive U-body minivans). The pull-out cellphone could be hooked up to an included answering machine, while a second phone resided in the passenger armrest.
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To showcase all this and more, GM put together...