One must note that the independent rear suspension of the ‘61-‘63 Tempest saved the main characters from the movie “My Cousin Vinny” from going to jail during the climactic murder trial at the end of the movie!
I heard the clip from the trial in which the female lawyer compares the '63 Tempest to the '64 Skylark. Much of what she said was wrong, including the claim that the cars shared the same wheelbase, but I doubt most people watching that movie (in maybe 1992 ?) noticed.
I had a 1962 Tempest in 1969. A friend joking said I should put a 327 in it and I did. I strengthened the unibody to support leaf springs for the rearend and transmission and welded a new floor for the transmission. It was quick. I blew the 327 and ran it with a 283 for a few years and sold it.
That engine really was very common to the 389-V8. One time my dad was tuning up a friend's Tempest and the local parts store did not have the required distributor cap. Dad bought the cap for the V8, put the plugs in every other wire nipple, and it worked great.
At 08:30 there were actually two V8's available by 1963, the Buick all aluminum 215" V8 (2 and 4 bbl. carb.s?) and the Pontiac iron '326' V8 (actually 336" because Pontiac developed it before the GM 330" size limit mandate for mid-sized cars)... The 4 bbl. carb. 4 banger engines were basically half of upcoming GTO V8 engines at 1/2 GTO HP/torque but same higher RPMs... The 4's could also have been named 'Sewing Machine 4's' because, unfortunately, that's what they sounded like...
We had a 1961 Tempest with the aluminum V-8. One thing about the transaxle- there was no Park position. I worked as the janitor at a church in my hometown of Sierra Madre, CA. Set up against the San Gabriel Mountains, the north-south streets were pretty steep. I had turned the front wheels out and rolled against the curb, left the car in Drive and crammed on the emergency brake. I was inside when I heard a series of serious noises. Imagining that the car was rolling backwards down Baldwin Avenue. I rushed outside and saw that the Tempest had rolled, but, with the wheels turned, it jumped the curb, rolled actually uphill and then forward, over the curb and sidewalk and into a bed of ivy. Wow! I backed it out and made sure to park on a flat street from then on.
My dad bought a used 61 Tempest for my mother in 1966. Great car, I learned to drive in this car. The original owner had it repainted , was like knew when we got it. I remember the gear selector was mounted on the dash and there was no park just neutral. Sold it back to the original owners son a few years later when my dad bought my mother a 68 Galaxie 500 in 1971. Thanks for the memories Adam.
Another great video that brings back memories! My parents purchased a 1962 Tempest Lemans, white with "powder. blue" leather seats and factory a/c (a large breadbox that rested on the floor under the dashboard). This went along with their 1956 Pontiac Star Chief 2-door coupe, also white with blue leather interior. I can still remember what the two of them looked like together in the garage. Thanks, Adam.
I turned 16 in early 1965. My parents had previously purchased a '62 Tempest as a second car, which then came to me. Four-door, front bench seat, 3-speed on the floor. I don't recall which engine was in it. It may not have been blazing fast but that little 4-banger was easy on the gas and more fun than having one of those late 50s behemoths that some friends had. It was a great vehicle for a 16-year-old high school boy. It was easy to work on and required only basic maintenance. It was replaced by a 1965 Tempest Custom Convertible which, in turn, was replaced by a brand-new 1967 Firebird. I would love to have any one of those three back in my garage. Thanks for the great video.
I worked for Pontiac in 72-74. The 4 cyl Tempest with the 4 barrel, duel exhaust and standard transmission was a decent performance car. It was competitive with the OHC six in the 66 Tempest comparatively equipped. Enjoyed your commentary Adam.
Thank you for the memories. I had a 63, 2-speed auto. Badge “ tempest” on the exterior, “ Le Mans” of the interior. No guts in power, shook and whined at idle. But fun to drive.
Approached one of these, a beautifully restored 1963 Copper 195 CI 4 Speed convertible, from the right side at a show and shine in White Rock, BC a couple of years ago. All of sudden I realized it was a 4 Cylinder. Never knew they existed. Spoke to the owner and learned about the tranny being in the rear. Such an interesting conversation piece and nice car. Glad you did this review and got this story out there. Thanks.
I had a 62 Pontiac Tempest when I was in high school. Mine was the convertible with the four-barrel engine 3-speed transmission on the floor. Great car I loved it!
I had a 1962 Skylark 2 door hardtop with the 190hp 215 V8 with factory air, ps, pb and power windows. It had a LOT more room inside than many modern "full sized" cars.
I had a 63 with 326 V8 and a three speed manual floor shifter. It was a pretty fast car and would really burn the tires ! It was my first car when I was 17 years old and I was pretty proud of it . I do remember having to replace the clutch in it 👍
I had either a Tempest or Lemans (can't remember) but it had a 326. Nice running car. My girlfriend had a Pinto and loved driving my Pontiac because it had so much power. I drove her Pinto a few times and couldn't believe what a "slug" it was.
Thank you Adam. Out of small things come big things indeed. It is interesting how the Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick versions of this car were so different from each other. They all went on to become massive legends in their later years. They used to really engineer the cars and and it shows. Pontiac was building excitement back then. There was so much innovation back then as well. Tempest became LeMans and we know what happened after that as you were saying with the GTO. Thank you again.
I remember that. My dad was a product engineer at Pontiac from '47 to '85, so I took a big interest in cars and Pontiacs in particular. In the late '60s, I actually had a '64 GTO with the 389 cu in V8 engine. Engines today are so-o much better with fuel injection and precise monitoring of the air-fuel ratio not to mention the tight tolerances of the machined parts. Thanks for this walk down memory lane.
Also remarkable about today's V6 engines is with the power they generate with regular gasoline; yet, the modern engines can have fuel mileage equal to, or better than, of early generation compact cars.
I learned to drive in a '63 four-banger Tempest wagon, which my Dad bought after I tore the oil pan out of a '56 Plymouth after going airborne on a country road. Guess he thought it might slow me down. The wagon was a decent performer and the '63 style change made it look more like a GTO. With all the glass and the transaxle in the rear, it was unstoppable in the snow. I nearly rolled it once when the swing axel swung tucked under on a sharp turn, but the Tempest had better front-to-rear balance than the Corvair.
My parents had the Buick Special which was based on this Y Platform...Tempest and Olds F-85. It had the Buick V6 which pretty much evolved into the 3800 V6. Dad liked the car, though it was a basic "keys and a heater." It had a 3 speed on the tree manual and he said it would get 27 MPG on the highway at 65 to 70 mph. I think the next generation...the 64 A body Intermediates were a step backward in innovation versus the Y body of 61 to 63.
Adam, I was happy to see you do a video of the 61-63 Tempest with the "Trophy 4". My first car was a '62 4-door with 101,000 miles. That engine was a good one. With the transmission in the rear it went through snow like nobody's business. The drive train was the only thing good about it, though. It was a rust bucket and the bench seat was tore up but the radio worked and it started every time. Even in the coldest weather. I really enjoy your channel.
Adam, I'm so glad you did a feature on this very interesting engine and car. I hope you do another one on the overall drivetrain someday. I've always found the engineering rather fascinating and innovative for the time.
@@cdjhyoung I know it's called a 'rope', but the driveshaft is just a piece of 5/8 steel rod that is forced into a small arc by some bearings in the torque tube. Keeping in mind that GM did this engineering on a cheap car means that, in typical fashion, everything was done as cheaply as possible. Funny thing, but when Porsche came out with the 924, and later 944, it was laid out exactly as GM did: Half-a-V8 4cyl, enclosed curved driveshaft, and rear transaxle. Of course, being Porsche, it was done with a much higher grade of refinement.
@@61rampy65 I read in an article from 1961 introducing the Tempest, that Pontiac matched the sag that gravity imposed on the long shaft if it was supported only on the extreme ends. Can’t remember which magazine, though.
DSP I was glad Adam brought up this car.As for the trans had no parking sprawl so you used the emergency brake for parking.Many rolled away on inclines.My dad a 62 as a 2nd car for over 10 yrs that wasn,t the best but was dependable.If you had a plug foul it was very bad.Put it on a lift and look at the rear wheels camber in .Strange little car.Good sounding solid state radio.Funny looking gear shift on the dash.
Hi Adam. Thanks for this interesting video. It brought back memories of the 1963 Tempest that my parents had in the early 1970's. A rather odd car but roomy and dependable. It had the gearshift lever on the dashboard and just a small driveshaft tunnel providing much more interior space due to it's transaxle design. They replaced it with a brand new Ford Maverick in 1975 ( 4 door sedan ). One the first things I noticed when riding in the new Ford was how much less leg room there was due to the bell housing tunnel.
My parents bought a brand new dark blue 61 Tempest in early 62. Half a 389 with a 2 speed automatic connected to the transaxle with a "rope" driveshaft. I wasn't old enough to go to kindergarten when they bought it. I cried when we got rid of it.
Very Nicely Done! Pontiacs were wonderful cars, our neighbors had one of the Tempest station wagons of the model years you described and yes, it had the four cylinder engine. Also, the control lever for the automatic transmission was mounted on the dashboard, also a unique feature! Thank You Very Much!!!
I owned a 1962 Lemans convertible for 162,820 miles. White/Red buckets/Blk top. Best car I ever owned!!!! In my youth I cut a wide swathe with it. The ONLY reason I sold it was the fed reg that was gonna end convertibles and I wanted another vert!! (turned out that never happened but too late for me LOL) LOVED THAT CAR!!!! (best part next) This wont help anyone now but after I cut 2" holes on either side of the radiator and fed the air cleaner with cool outside air, it gave me "back" more than 80HP. (Smokey Yunick "showed me how"). You would be surprised how many 215V8 F85s and Skylarks I surprised. (if ya want I'll explain the math why)
When I started at the local Pontiac dealership in 1972 a few of these were still coming in for service. I got to drive a 1962 4 cylinder and a 1963 326 V8, both were automatics. Never seen one with the aluminum 215 V8, but the 326 ran really good!
@@jimhaines8370 They were technically available on the Pontiac, but Pontiac had to buy those engines from Buick, so they charged a huge amount of money for the V8, until they came out with the 326 in 63.
Thank you Adam. As always, a comprehensive and interesting presentation with a great balance of photos and vintage engineering documentation. My Mother had an early (‘61 or’62) Tempest in the same gold color. Great memories.
Back then, I was obsessed with maximum hp...as an older man now, I really appreciate the tempest package...wow, a 4sp, 166hp 4cyl would be such fun to drive around in now...that car would offer offer both decent handling, and enough power to move that rather light vehicle down the road...and with 4-wheel independent suspension too? Very impressive effort for that time period...Of course, the eventual 6cyl, OHC engine was an even better choice for those who wanted at least a modicum of gas mileage--and also more performance. But this 4cyl adventure is very cool!
I think the 4 banger eventually reached 180 HP... 1/2 that of a later tripower 360 HP GTO 389" V8... and was available with a 4 speed manual... by '63 had Buick 215" and Pontiac '326' (336")V8's... Back in 1960's, my daily driver was the 1962 Olds Jetfire version of this car body: th-cam.com/video/Jzw5W1rRMog/w-d-xo.html
You need to remember the Tempest had the same swing axle rear suspension that got the Corvair labeled as "Unsafe at Any Speed". I don't know if it suffered from the same wheel jacking problems as the Corvair, but the swing axle wasn't a great arrangement in most cars that used it. The swing axle rear end contributed to my brother rolling a Triumph GT6 that had it.
Although not a Tempest, my first car was the 67 Firebird. It had the lower power OHC six. My buddy had the Firebird Sprint OHC six. Mine came with a single barrel carb and his had the four barrel quadrajet. I believe the Sprint was rated at 250 HP, I could be wrong though. He could burn rubber in all three gears! We just loved are Pontiac’s!❤
@@nealrehm6895 We had a 66 Lemans with the OHC 6 and Powerglide 2 speed trans. If you floored it from take off, it would hold first gear to 65 mph. Don't know how fast the engine was spinning, but it didn't sound like you wanted to hold that gear any longer.
Thanks for this, it was fun seeing it. In the 1990s I purchased from a couple of college students a red '62 Tempest convertible with 2-speed automatic transmission for my wife, who was born in 1962. It was a bit tired but we enjoyed driving it. I feel a little sad that we eventually sold it. But it went to an afficionado so I'm sure it's still rolling around somewhere out there!
@@BuzzLOLOL Yes I know it got the crossflow after a while. The Puke was actually based on the Brazilian version of the Chevy ll 4 banger. Which was based off of the Chevy 6 as I understand it. If so its has the same bore spead as the Small Block and could probably take an LS head with some surgery.
In Jan. 1966, I bought a slightly used 1964 Pontiac Tempest, 6 cyl.(first of the larger version Tempests) which ran flawlessly for another 16 years, until being vandalized! I only drove the smaller 1963 V-8 model once, but it was compatible with a GTO in performance! Until this video, I had no idea that the earlier model 4 cyl.'s engine/transmissions were configured that way!
And with certain mods, those motors made STUPID power.....ergo Nunzi's '63 4 cyl Tempest......Nunzi was known as the Pontiac Expert.....i had the honor of knowing him thru my brother (who used to have lunch with him every week in the '80's)...he took that motor, put a Super Duty head on it, a large camshaft, and with a 4 sp manual, and 4brl carb, ran the quarter mile in 11:70 secs at a 113 mph.......absolutly RIDICULOUS power he made........you can find a vid or 2 under Nunzis 63 Tempest on u-tube......find the later one, it has that 11 sec pass......i'm VERY proud to have his LAST 3" Super Duty scoop on my '64 Tempest......i run 10:90's on pump gas in the qtr at 120, but i have a built 455, with lits of goodies, he was a MASTER of Poncho Power makin!!
As a transmission rebuilder back in the day, I rebuilt several of the "Tempest torqs" (spl?) transmissions.... basically a modified Power Glide. Corvair also used a similar design. Ah the good old days before electronics go involved!! LOL
Those Tempest transaxles had extra concentric shafts in them versus a regular automatic transmission. I saw one of those Tempests back in 1984 when I briefly worked in the torque converter shop of a transmission shop in Pittsburgh. I remember the tranny dipstick tube was behind the license plate. Did you guys charge extra to rebuild them and did they hold up OK compared to other trannies of the day?
These cars were very similar in concept to the Porsche 924/944/968 and the 928 models. My understanding is that Porsche did not copy the Tempest drivetrain, but came upon the rear transaxle layout in order to get away from the rear-engine trailing throttle oversteer effect that made the 911 such a squirrel. The 928 was a 100% bespoke design, but the 924 family was a Volkswagen/Audi parts bin special. And the 944 even used half of a 928's engine! The Tempest itself was basically a way to use the Corvair chassis with a front engine, hence the famous "rope drive". I drove a 928 for 19 years and in some situations, you could get a harmonic twisting of the driveshaft that gave the same effect as what the Tempest was known for. Great video!
@@BuzzLOLOL Porsche's cars have always competed with GM's Corvette. They weren't thinking about the Camaro when the 928 was designed in 1972, they simply wanted something that would appeal to Americans and have a front engine. Afterall, the Camaro/Firebird/Mustang products were in a totally different price range. Emissions controls were coming meaning that power would drop so they went with a large water cooled V8. Also, they feared that the US government would soon ban rear-engine cars, so their 911 replacement, the 928, was built and sold with a front engine/rear transaxle. As to the 928 being a replacement for the 911, we can see how that worked out....
Did these Porsches have the drive cable in a tube or was it a rigid torque tube? I assume Porsche made the unit true and straight unlike the offset in the cheaper GM car
My first car was a '63 Pontiac Tempest with the 4 cylinder engine. In the late 1960s they were called "gutless wonders". The 63 was much better looking than the earlier models. The timing chain was a weak point. It only lasted about 60,000 miles. Good Luck, Rick
I am old enough to say I worked on those in the mid 1960s they had a front engine rear transaxle set up. A pretty unique car for the time, I really enjoyed this video very interesting and informative.
I got a 63 Tempest in 68. My second car and loved it! 2 door sedan , 3 speed floor shift! Great little car! Big difference after my first car, 50 Ford convertible, 3 speed on the column! Loved that car too!😊
I bought a 1962 Tempest convertible with the 🏆 4 in high school for $100. It was in rough shape and old even then but I drove it for a whole (very fun) summer and then the motor seize around back to school time in September. I found a guy with a nice Tempest convertible who gave me $300 for it as a parts car. Nothing like being 16 with a convertible, even for just one Michigan summer. Great memories, thanks for the video!
That was fun Adam,, I love the oddballs !! I'd really like to see an in depth video on the "rope drive" and rear transmission setup,,, that is classic GM oddballery in the extreme..
My parents bought new a '62 Pontiac Tempest Station Wagon. They sold it to me when I was 16. It had the 4 cylinder engine in it that was an 8 cylinder block with only half of it being used. Wildest looking 4 cylinder engine I've ever seen. The independent rear suspension was great in snow or mud. Loved that car.
The rear-mounted transmission was a brilliant idea and the Trophy Four was clever though inferior to Chrysler's Slant Six. Back then, GM still did some real engineering.
That ad actually shows the '62 Tempest, but great video! Back in the early '70s, my best friend's neighbor had a '61 Navy-Blue Tempest with that strange 4. She let me have a look at the engine. But I never learned what other weirdness lurked under those cars until many years later. By the way, there are a few Corvairs around that have had GMs small aluminum V8 swapped in the rear!
I drove my dads 1961 Tempest in the mid 70's for a short time. It had about 140,000 miles on it used a bit of oil but handled very well for an old high milage car. It was a three speed floor shift as I remember and had great leg room. It was slow on steep hills but other than that was a fine car.
My family bought a ‘61 Tempest brand new with an automatic transmission as a second car. It had an interesting dash-mounted short throw gear shift lever. I was 7-years old at the time and I remember the engine vibrations and rather loud exhaust note compared to our primary vehicle which was a gorgeous blue 1960 Buick Invicta hardtop. Good times!
As an owner of a very nice ‘67 GTO in the Navy, I was made caretaker for a friend’s ‘62 Tempest for a month. it had a 2bbl version of the Trophy 4. I really enjoyed driving it around and loved the idea of the half-a-V8 engine. Very cool 😎
The Tempast was HEAVILY derived from the Corvair, basically a front engine Corvair. Corporate wanted Pontiac to use the corvairs rear engine for the Tempast but Delorean refused because he knew the Corvairs flaws and didnt want it for Pontiac.
The Tempest body appeared in four GM car lines in 61. Buick had their aluminum 215 inch V8 in their car, but it was a standard front engine and transmission set up. I'm not sure of Oldsmobile's power train or model designation. I find it amazing that GM could design a new small format car that would accommodate three decidedly different power plant installations.
@@cdjhyoung GM was far more daring in those days. The Olds F-85 had an Olds version of the Buick 215 V8, with different heads and 1 additional head bolt per cylinder. And Buick lopped off the two rear cylinders of their V8 to create the V6, which went on to live as the 3800 well into the 2000's.
Really there were no serious flaws. Ask anyone who own a Corvair. The Delorean car had a rear engined six, so I don't think that was the reason, but he wanted a Pontiac engine.
@@danr1920 The flaw in the Corvair rear suspension was that in a high speed maneuver the car could take so much body lean at the rear end that the inner wheel in the turn could actual come under the body and 'jack' the car into a roll over accident when the side force of the turn had ended. The problem was that there was no limit on how far the rear suspension could travel when the body leaned.
@@cdjhyoung yep. But having the engine in the back made it far more likely to happen in the corvair. That being said it was possible to have this happen on a beetle and triumphs which also had swing axle rear ends.
I learned to drive in a 62 tempest, 3 on the floor. A long stretch between 1st and 2nd, very spartan car no extras. We lived in Seattle. My dad would make me drive up really steep streets, then make me stop in the middle of them, and start back up. You learned how to drive doing that. Warm place for that little brown car, all rubber steel and vinyl in the cab.
Interesting video, Adam, learned some new things, thanks. Years ago, I bought a semi-restored 1963 Oldsmobile F85 that had the famous 215 aluminum V8. Best engine I ever had in any car. The slightest touch of the ignition switch would start the engine in a fraction of a second, and it ran and idled flawlessly, hot or cold. At idle, you could barely tell it was running. Best part: I got it at a great price because it would instantly stall out the moment you touched the throttle, so you had to drive it extremely carefully. A few weeks later, I took off the top of the carburetor and looked into the accelerator pump tube, and noticed that some moron carburetor rebuilder had left out the tiny ball bearing that acted as a check valve. Dropped a random ball bearing into the tube, reassembled the carburetor, and suddenly the car would spin the tires on heavy acceleration. That was a very happy day. Kept the car for a long time until I loaned it to my brother, who took out the side of it, claiming someone sideswiped him on a bridge and then drove off. He later admitted he did it in a parking lot.
My mom bought a 1963 Tempest wagon. She loved it at first but it started having lots of problems. One time the idler arm broke and fell out of the car. My mom had me go out and pick it up. By 1968 my dad got tired of dealing with the problems and traded it in on a Chevy Nova. According to my parents the vibration from the driveshaft spinning at engine speed was noticeable. I recall the car as being okay and we went all over the place in it but I was only 10 when it was traded in.
Once again I’m enlightened…TY! I like to think I have a pretty high automotive IQ and am pretty knowledgeable about the wide variety of automotive designs, but I had no idea this even existed. I think a nice 166 H.P. Trophy 4 two door with AC would be a very nice daily driver! 😍
I had one, a 1963 convertible. A real shaker, but also a sleeper. The shifter was in the lower dash board. The carb was a 600 cfm Carter. Tranny was a power glide. I loved it. A "mechanic" said it had a burnt valve, took it apart. Never ran again
The tempest was a damned great car lot of power comfort gas mileage and not a bad looking vehicle for its time. The two-door tempest can burn rubber in Easley in the first and second gear ⚙️ I believe it was a 289 and I'm talking 2 barrel carburetor
I bought a 1963 Tempest LeMans with this 4 cylinder engine as poor college student in 1970. It was my second car purchase. Paid $300 for it if memory serves me right. Thats more money than it seems. Minimum wage was well under a buck and my good paying summer construction job paid a little less than $100 per week. It was wonderfully inexpensive to drive and the motor was great. The wonky drive train; not so much. I had to replace the torque tube that held the 1" diameter drive shaft rigid. (Damn wintertime midwest road salt.) It did have a habit of eating clutches as well, but that might have been the varied girlfriends trying to learn to drive it. Thanks for reviving old memories.
In 1969 I bought a white 1962 Tempest convertible. It ran great, but kept pulling the left rear axle shaft out of the trans ... and the automatic trans shops were killing me. I sold it and bought a 1965 Bonneville convertible, red, red gut, white top ... which I wish I still had today.
My mother had a 1963 Pontiac Tempest Le Mans with a 326 cubic inch V8. I got to drive it from time to time. It had the quickest throttle response time, which made it hot off the line. I loved that car in its Burgundy exterior and black bucket seats. I had a 1966 GTO with a 389 and a single 4 barrel carb. I only had the GTO for a year when it was stolen in Euclid, Ohio at a Holiday Inn. Sadly, 6 months later it was found in a junkyard and it had been gutted for ALL its parts and accessories. i would go on to have several Grand Prix's one of which was a 1976 with a 455 cubic inch V8. Good road car. I eventually sold it to a friend who had it for a very long time.
I'm old enough to remember seeing lots of 60s era Template on the road!!! Quite a few Corvairs & VW Bugs and Micro-Busses!!!! I can even remember cars with no seat belts!
What’s terrifying is I heard of this engine only yesterday, read about it before bed and hear a video from my favorite channel pops ups the next day about it. Well done and fascinating i say.
Yup. I was a kid when my dad bought a new 1962 white tempest station wagon. When I got older I was surprised to learn that it was a four cylinder! It served us well for a number of camping trips. I'm pretty sure ours was an automatic. Thanks for the memories and interesting facts!
This video encouraged me to dig out an archived article I have. Sometimes it pays to keep the old stuff! I pulled out the January, 1961 issue of "Popular Mechanics". Beginning on page 147, they did a comparison road test of the Dodge Lancer (both 101 hp and 145 hp), Buick Special, Oldsmobile F85 and Pontiac Tempest. This was back in the day when they actually road tested cars. So, some interesting facts regarding the test Tempest: Base price (4-cylinder) $2167 4-door sedan 3-speed on the floor 4-cylinder, 110 hp 3.55 rear end 16.7 mpg (lowest in group) 0 to 60 was 15.7mph (second slowest in group) Good passing punch Top speed just under 90 mph Rear slides out under hard cornering Steering is slow but precise Ride is firm but not harsh Brakes good
@@samholdsworth420 You'd be surprised how slow most cars were back then and in the 1970s compared to the last 30 years. All anyone really talks about are the muscle cars and sports cars of a given era. The regular cars are often slower than you would think. Some economy cars like the VW Beetle were 18-22 seconds 0-60 MPH.
@@samholdsworth420 Yeah, I'm 58 and never in the dark days of 1980 did I think we'd see trucks like that. Or, a street-legal 707HP American factory daily driver like the Dodge Hellcat Challenger and Charger. Those top out at 195 and 205 MPH respectively. I remember when any car that could do 150 MPH was a big deal. Now, that's not noteworthy unless it's a lower cost family car.
In the mid 70's I had a 1961 Buick Special with a V-6. I believe it had an aluminum block with the transmission in the rear as the Tempest you speak of here. Pontiac had some great engines. I particularly liked their overhead cam straight 6.
@@Rick-S-6063 Thanx for correcting me. I had it for a while but never laid eyes on the transmission. The body was pretty much rusted out with holes in the floor so I did not have the car for very long.
The 1963 Tempest had an optional 326 CID V8, a debored 389, available. It was slightly undersquare. The flexible rope drive shaft would keep rotating when in neutral with the automatic, which irritated some people.
When I was a teenager I kept up with automotive improvements and Hot Rod magazine. I never expressed this thought to anyone because I didn't think I knew was interested in cars. One thing I did notice was that I had gotten to the point where I began to think Pontiac was the "experiment" department of GM. My interest in Pontiac was fueled by the 56 Pontiac we had when I was a teenager. It seemed to me that Pontiac was coming out with all these weird new ideas like the 4 cyl. engine, the rear transmission and things like their overhead cam 6 cyl. using a belt drive. That idea vanished as I noticed other GM manufacturers weren't using those ideas. My favorite Pontiac is still the 65 & 66 GTO with the big block.
Wow, when they play the VERlZON commerical before the clip, one of the Actors goes "Ho-HOAH!" Sounds exactly like a good friend who passed recently. Thank you Verizon. Thank you.
Very interesting video. I didn’t know about that engine until today. In 1970, my second car, replacing my leaky ‘62 Impala convertible, was a ‘61 Olds F85, gray 2-door post with bucket seats. That had the 215 V-8 with the Slim Jim automatic. P-N-D-L-R configuration. Where the Chevy was leaking everything, the Olds was smelly. I ultimately sold that shortly before going into the Army.
The Olds F85 was P-N-D-S-L-R... 2nd gear was called "Super" for quick passing use... of course, there was also the factory turbocharged V8 version: th-cam.com/video/Jzw5W1rRMog/w-d-xo.html Buick Special and Pontiac Tempest automatics had just D and L... 2 gears...
@@BuzzLOLOL Yes, I forgot about the S tucked in between D and L. I saw that turbocharged version, Jay Leno’s Garage video. 1st to 2nd was practically instantaneous and 3rd came soon after. It was an odd car all around.
In the early 70s, I bought a 1963 tempest with the 326 V8 in it. I loved that it had the stransaxle and swing arm suspension. It ran great. For some reason though Pontiac put a flexible driveshaft in them. Those were prone to failing, although mine never broke. However, the shift mechanism was similar to a VW s. The stick on the floor went down with a tang into a cup on the shaft. The tang had a ball on the end. The shaft had a 90 degree and then went back to the three speed transaxle and worked on cams to shift gears. That shift rod or shaft was held up with a bracket that had a two-piece neoprene bushing in it. Mine wore out and fell apart while driving on the highway. I could not get that bushing or anything close, so I had to junk the car.
The manufacturing process was very economical because the the same machine tooling that was manufacturing the 389 was easily modified to manufacture the four-cylinder engine. It didn't take the hot rod community too long to figure out that the 389 bolted right into The Tempest. As a matter of fact they bolted a 421 into two of these and they led the first lap of the 24 hour Daytona by out accelerating every other car in the field including some full race Ferraris, they simply blew their doors off everything on the straight away into the first turn. We had a 389 and the 4 cylinder side by side in our H.S. auto mechanics class.
My dad bought a 63 tempest 4-cylinder four-door hard top with 3 speed manual on the floor and 2 barrel carb, new in 63. His twin brother bought a convertible at the same time. Later my dad sold it to my grandfather. My grandfather eventually parked it and it sat for 10 years. Around 1980, my uncle towed it to my house. I went through the whole thing, pulled the engine apart, the old oil was like roofing shingles. I steam cleaned the inside of the engine, rebuilt the carb, fixed the brakes, etc. In total including the steam cleaner rental I invested about $200. It was 17 years old at that point, so no gasket sets were available, but some smart parts dealer ordered me what I remember as a 326 set, but which must have been a 389 set, and I used the half I needed. He threw in a tube of permatex for free to help construct the cork intake manifold gasket. I drove that from Connecticut to Virginia to college and back several times. It was a fun car, although it had a bit of rust inside and out, common for the era. It had a cool stock white cue-ball shift knob, but smaller. The distance between first and second gear was severe, so you had to rev it up pretty good to make the switch. Going up a very steep hill from a slow speed or stop required a fair bit of skill as a result. It was awesome in snow, because of the corvair "unsafe at any speed" suspension. When you jacked it up to change a rear tire, the rear wheels would lower and toe in - you had to jack it up pretty high. That combined with a relatively even front/back weight distribution is what made it so good in snow. Also, it had unusually large wheels for the time - most cars tires look too small in stock 60s cars, but not this one. You could literally get past cars stuck in the snow by going off-road!
That whole car deserves a vid. Derived from the corvair, Slant i4, rear tranny, rope drive, swing axle rear suspension. Its alot of coolness.
One must note that the independent rear suspension of the ‘61-‘63 Tempest saved the main characters from the movie “My Cousin Vinny” from going to jail during the climactic murder trial at the end of the movie!
I heard the clip from the trial in which the female lawyer compares the '63 Tempest to the '64 Skylark. Much of what she said was wrong, including the claim that the cars shared the same wheelbase, but I doubt most people watching that movie (in maybe 1992 ?) noticed.
Although by the time the movie came out it was out of date and those cars were mostly off the road...
The first thing I thought about when I saw this video on my feed.
I had a 1962 Tempest in 1969. A friend joking said I should put a 327 in it and I did. I strengthened the unibody to support leaf springs for the rearend and transmission and welded a new floor for the transmission. It was quick. I blew the 327 and ran it with a 283 for a few years and sold it.
@@msmeyersmd8 me too
That engine really was very common to the 389-V8. One time my dad was tuning up a friend's Tempest and the local parts store did not have the required distributor cap. Dad bought the cap for the V8, put the plugs in every other wire nipple, and it worked great.
At 08:30 there were actually two V8's available by 1963, the Buick all aluminum 215" V8 (2 and 4 bbl. carb.s?) and the Pontiac iron '326' V8 (actually 336" because Pontiac developed it before the GM 330" size limit mandate for mid-sized cars)...
The 4 bbl. carb. 4 banger engines were basically half of upcoming GTO V8 engines at 1/2 GTO HP/torque but same higher RPMs...
The 4's could also have been named 'Sewing Machine 4's' because, unfortunately, that's what they sounded like...
@@BuzzLOLOL The 326 was a sweetheart of a motor...great torque, and smooth. Perfect motor for a car that light.
@@BuzzLOLOL First year for 389 was '59, they were in full size before GTO.
INTERNATIONAL HARVESTOR DID THE SAME THING FOR THE
SCOUT ,A COMPETITOR OF BLAZER AND BRONCOS
It was half a 389
We had a 1961 Tempest with the aluminum V-8. One thing about the transaxle- there was no Park position. I worked as the janitor at a church in my hometown of Sierra Madre, CA. Set up against the San Gabriel Mountains, the north-south streets were pretty steep. I had turned the front wheels out and rolled against the curb, left the car in Drive and crammed on the emergency brake. I was inside when I heard a series of serious noises. Imagining that the car was rolling backwards down Baldwin Avenue. I rushed outside and saw that the Tempest had rolled, but, with the wheels turned, it jumped the curb, rolled actually uphill and then forward, over the curb and sidewalk and into a bed of ivy. Wow! I backed it out and made sure to park on a flat street from then on.
I remember back in the sixties my aunt had a Pontiac Tempest that was a really fun little car!! She drove it for many years!!! 👍👍🙂
My dad bought a used 61 Tempest for my mother in 1966. Great car, I learned to drive in this car. The original owner had it repainted , was like knew when we got it. I remember the gear selector was mounted on the dash and there was no park just neutral. Sold it back to the original owners son a few years later when my dad bought my mother a 68 Galaxie 500 in 1971. Thanks for the memories Adam.
Odd ball engines are awesome. I'd love a video on the Pontiac Sprint OHC 6, too.
If I'm correct, I think Adam did a video on the Pontiac OHC engines a while back...
My neighbor had a new one,OHC 6. Very interesting to a young kid like myself.
@@timmotel5804 Me too. My cousin raced one with his old 56 Ford V8 and the Poncho won.
The biggest problem I remember with the Pontiac OHC 6 was camshaft failure. The cam lobs would wear down to nothing.
Me too i seen one of those cars in junkyard once
Another great video that brings back memories! My parents purchased a 1962 Tempest Lemans, white with "powder. blue" leather seats and factory a/c (a large breadbox that rested on the floor under the dashboard). This went along with their 1956 Pontiac Star Chief 2-door coupe, also white with blue leather interior. I can still remember what the two of them looked like together in the garage. Thanks, Adam.
I turned 16 in early 1965. My parents had previously purchased a '62 Tempest as a second car, which then came to me. Four-door, front bench seat, 3-speed on the floor. I don't recall which engine was in it. It may not have been blazing fast but that little 4-banger was easy on the gas and more fun than having one of those late 50s behemoths that some friends had. It was a great vehicle for a 16-year-old high school boy. It was easy to work on and required only basic maintenance. It was replaced by a 1965 Tempest Custom Convertible which, in turn, was replaced by a brand-new 1967 Firebird. I would love to have any one of those three back in my garage. Thanks for the great video.
I worked for Pontiac in 72-74. The 4 cyl Tempest with the 4 barrel, duel exhaust and standard transmission was a decent performance car. It was competitive with the OHC six in the 66 Tempest comparatively equipped. Enjoyed your commentary Adam.
"blah blah blah .. 4 barrel, duel exhaust ..."
Banjos?
"dual". A "duel" is 2 guys with pistols or swords!
I really doubt that.
Thank you for the memories. I had a 63, 2-speed auto. Badge “ tempest” on the exterior, “ Le Mans” of the interior. No guts in power, shook and whined at idle. But fun to drive.
Approached one of these, a beautifully restored 1963 Copper 195 CI 4 Speed convertible, from the right side at a show and shine in White Rock, BC a couple of years ago. All of sudden I realized it was a 4 Cylinder. Never knew they existed. Spoke to the owner and learned about the tranny being in the rear. Such an interesting conversation piece and nice car. Glad you did this review and got this story out there. Thanks.
GM did it before Porsche!
Very high praise for archiving little-known facts of Pontiac's early 60's mechanical innovation. The '63 Tempest was particularly handsome.
The Pontiac and Olds were the best looking. I would love a 63 F85 V8.
I had a 62 Pontiac Tempest when I was in high school. Mine was the convertible with the four-barrel engine 3-speed transmission on the floor. Great car I loved it!
I had a 1962 Skylark 2 door hardtop with the 190hp 215 V8 with factory air, ps, pb and power windows. It had a LOT more room inside than many modern "full sized" cars.
I had a 63 with 326 V8 and a three speed manual floor shifter. It was a pretty fast car and would really burn the tires ! It was my first car when I was 17 years old and I was pretty proud of it . I do remember having to replace the clutch in it 👍
Where was the clutch 🤔
Front or back
I had either a Tempest or Lemans (can't remember) but it had a 326. Nice running car. My girlfriend had a Pinto and loved driving my Pontiac because it had so much power. I drove her Pinto a few times and couldn't believe what a "slug" it was.
Clutch change was a PITA - didn’t know how to do it with the torque tube & trans-axle.
Thank you Adam. Out of small things come big things indeed. It is interesting how the Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick versions of this car were so different from each other. They all went on to become massive legends in their later years. They used to really engineer the cars and and it shows. Pontiac was building excitement back then. There was so much innovation back then as well. Tempest became LeMans and we know what happened after that as you were saying with the GTO. Thank you again.
Another innovation which came along a few years later was the Pontiac OHC6. I'd love to see a feature on that engine!
I remember that. My dad was a product engineer at Pontiac from '47 to '85, so I took a big interest in cars and Pontiacs in particular. In the late '60s, I actually had a '64 GTO with the 389 cu in V8 engine. Engines today are so-o much better with fuel injection and precise monitoring of the air-fuel ratio not to mention the tight tolerances of the machined parts. Thanks for this walk down memory lane.
Also remarkable about today's V6 engines is with the power they generate with regular gasoline; yet, the modern engines can have fuel mileage equal to, or better than, of early generation compact cars.
I learned to drive in a '63 four-banger Tempest wagon, which my Dad bought after I tore the oil pan out of a '56 Plymouth after going airborne on a country road. Guess he thought it might slow me down.
The wagon was a decent performer and the '63 style change made it look more like a GTO. With all the glass and the transaxle in the rear, it was unstoppable in the snow. I nearly rolled it once when the swing axel swung tucked under on a sharp turn, but the Tempest had better front-to-rear balance than the Corvair.
My parents had the Buick Special which was based on this Y Platform...Tempest and Olds F-85. It had the Buick V6 which pretty much evolved into the 3800 V6. Dad liked the car, though it was a basic "keys and a heater." It had a 3 speed on the tree manual and he said it would get 27 MPG on the highway at 65 to 70 mph. I think the next generation...the 64 A body Intermediates were a step backward in innovation versus the Y body of 61 to 63.
Olds had an aluminum v8.
Adam, I was happy to see you do a video of the 61-63 Tempest with the "Trophy 4". My first car was a '62 4-door with 101,000 miles. That engine was a good one. With the transmission in the rear it went through snow like nobody's business. The drive train was the only thing good about it, though. It was a rust bucket and the bench seat was tore up but the radio worked and it started every time. Even in the coldest weather. I really enjoy your channel.
Very cool!
Adam, I'm so glad you did a feature on this very interesting engine and car. I hope you do another one on the overall drivetrain someday. I've always found the engineering rather fascinating and innovative for the time.
Like the enclosed rope drive shaft back to the transmission?
@@cdjhyoung I know it's called a 'rope', but the driveshaft is just a piece of 5/8 steel rod that is forced into a small arc by some bearings in the torque tube. Keeping in mind that GM did this engineering on a cheap car means that, in typical fashion, everything was done as cheaply as possible. Funny thing, but when Porsche came out with the 924, and later 944, it was laid out exactly as GM did: Half-a-V8 4cyl, enclosed curved driveshaft, and rear transaxle. Of course, being Porsche, it was done with a much higher grade of refinement.
@@61rampy65 I read in an article from 1961 introducing the Tempest, that Pontiac matched the sag that gravity imposed on the long shaft if it was supported only on the extreme ends. Can’t remember which magazine, though.
DSP I was glad Adam brought up this car.As for the trans had no parking sprawl so you used the emergency brake for parking.Many rolled away on inclines.My dad a 62 as a 2nd car for over 10 yrs that wasn,t the best but was dependable.If you had a plug foul it was very bad.Put it on a lift and look at the rear wheels camber in .Strange little car.Good sounding solid state radio.Funny looking gear shift on the dash.
I wrote prawl not sprawl boob tube changes like they are smart but not
Hi Adam. Thanks for this interesting video. It brought back memories of the 1963 Tempest that my parents had in the early 1970's. A rather odd car but roomy and dependable. It had the gearshift lever on the dashboard and just a small driveshaft tunnel providing much more interior space due to it's transaxle design. They replaced it with a brand new Ford Maverick in 1975 ( 4 door sedan ). One the first things I noticed when riding in the new Ford was how much less leg room there was due to the bell housing tunnel.
Dependability? not so much with the YES a Corvair two speed powerglide transaxle. went through two of them.....
rode in a friends in High school back in 67 and it rode great, he always had troubles with the trans though.
My parents bought a brand new dark blue 61 Tempest in early 62. Half a 389 with a 2 speed automatic connected to the transaxle with a "rope" driveshaft. I wasn't old enough to go to kindergarten when they bought it. I cried when we got rid of it.
geesh you are a Gold Mine of Car info! you should have millions of subs!
Very Nicely Done! Pontiacs were wonderful cars, our neighbors had one of the Tempest station wagons of the model years you described and yes, it had the four cylinder engine. Also, the control lever for the automatic transmission was mounted on the dashboard, also a unique feature! Thank You Very Much!!!
I owned a 1962 Lemans convertible for 162,820 miles. White/Red buckets/Blk top. Best car I ever owned!!!! In my youth I cut a wide swathe with it. The ONLY reason I sold it was the fed reg that was gonna end convertibles and I wanted another vert!! (turned out that never happened but too late for me LOL) LOVED THAT CAR!!!! (best part next)
This wont help anyone now but after I cut 2" holes on either side of the radiator and fed the air cleaner with cool outside air, it gave me "back" more than 80HP. (Smokey Yunick "showed me how"). You would be surprised how many 215V8 F85s and Skylarks I surprised.
(if ya want I'll explain the math why)
When I started at the local Pontiac dealership in 1972 a few of these were still coming in for service. I got to drive a 1962 4 cylinder and a 1963 326 V8, both were automatics. Never seen one with the aluminum 215 V8, but the 326 ran really good!
the only 215 aluminum engine cars I ever saw in person was a Buick and an Oldsmobile
@@jimhaines8370 They were technically available on the Pontiac, but Pontiac had to buy those engines from Buick, so they charged a huge amount of money for the V8, until they came out with the 326 in 63.
@@61rampy65 I really don't question it but just never have seen one
@@jimhaines8370 Neither have I, I just know stupid trivia like this.
Jim Haines correct. Don't know if Pontiac ever put aluminum V8 in production cars. Have seen them in Buick and Oldsmobile.
haha. Pontiac was extremely innovative in motors during this time. i LOVE this idea !
In 1984 I acquired a 62 trophy 4 still have it today. I still drive it to car shows. It gets lots of looks 👌. Thank you for the video
Thank you Adam. As always, a comprehensive and interesting presentation with a great balance of photos and vintage engineering documentation. My Mother had an early (‘61 or’62) Tempest in the same gold color. Great memories.
Back then, I was obsessed with maximum hp...as an older man now, I really appreciate the tempest package...wow, a 4sp, 166hp 4cyl would be such fun to drive around in now...that car would offer offer both decent handling, and enough power to move that rather light vehicle down the road...and with 4-wheel independent suspension too? Very impressive effort for that time period...Of course, the eventual 6cyl, OHC engine was an even better choice for those who wanted at least a modicum of gas mileage--and also more performance. But this 4cyl adventure is very cool!
I think the 4 banger eventually reached 180 HP... 1/2 that of a later tripower 360 HP GTO 389" V8... and was available with a 4 speed manual... by '63 had Buick 215" and Pontiac '326' (336")V8's...
Back in 1960's, my daily driver was the 1962 Olds Jetfire version of this car body:
th-cam.com/video/Jzw5W1rRMog/w-d-xo.html
Gimme a V8! 😀
You need to remember the Tempest had the same swing axle rear suspension that got the Corvair labeled as "Unsafe at Any Speed". I don't know if it suffered from the same wheel jacking problems as the Corvair, but the swing axle wasn't a great arrangement in most cars that used it. The swing axle rear end contributed to my brother rolling a Triumph GT6 that had it.
Although not a Tempest, my first car was the 67 Firebird. It had the lower power OHC six. My buddy had the Firebird Sprint OHC six. Mine came with a single barrel carb and his had the four barrel quadrajet. I believe the Sprint was rated at 250 HP, I could be wrong though. He could burn rubber in all three gears!
We just loved are Pontiac’s!❤
@@nealrehm6895 We had a 66 Lemans with the OHC 6 and Powerglide 2 speed trans. If you floored it from take off, it would hold first gear to 65 mph. Don't know how fast the engine was spinning, but it didn't sound like you wanted to hold that gear any longer.
Thanks for this, it was fun seeing it. In the 1990s I purchased from a couple of college students a red '62 Tempest convertible with 2-speed automatic transmission for my wife, who was born in 1962. It was a bit tired but we enjoyed driving it. I feel a little sad that we eventually sold it. But it went to an afficionado so I'm sure it's still rolling around somewhere out there!
I enjoyed this very factual look at tempest cars by pontiac.... it was a throw back to a different time.....
It's also a cross flow head design which is rare for 4 cylinders back then
Well it is a 389 head. Their later Iron Puke was also cross flow
@@mpetersen6
I loved the Iron Duke.
@@mpetersen6 - Iron Duke got cross flow head and DOHC head later on...
@@BuzzLOLOL
Yes I know it got the crossflow after a while. The Puke was actually based on the Brazilian version of the Chevy ll 4 banger. Which was based off of the Chevy 6 as I understand it. If so its has the same bore spead as the Small Block and could probably take an LS head with some surgery.
@@mpetersen6 Thats what midget racers did with the Chevy II 153 back in the 60s and 70s and they made great power.
In Jan. 1966, I bought a slightly used 1964 Pontiac Tempest, 6 cyl.(first of the larger version
Tempests) which ran flawlessly for another 16 years, until being vandalized! I only drove the
smaller 1963 V-8 model once, but it was compatible with a GTO in performance! Until this
video, I had no idea that the earlier model 4 cyl.'s engine/transmissions were configured that way!
Dad had a 61 when I was a kid. We lived in the hills of southern Wisconsin. The car had plenty of power to go up those hills.
And with certain mods, those motors made STUPID power.....ergo Nunzi's '63 4 cyl Tempest......Nunzi was known as the Pontiac Expert.....i had the honor of knowing him thru my brother (who used to have lunch with him every week in the '80's)...he took that motor, put a Super Duty head on it, a large camshaft, and with a 4 sp manual, and 4brl carb, ran the quarter mile in 11:70 secs at a 113 mph.......absolutly RIDICULOUS power he made........you can find a vid or 2 under Nunzis 63 Tempest on u-tube......find the later one, it has that 11 sec pass......i'm VERY proud to have his LAST 3" Super Duty scoop on my '64 Tempest......i run 10:90's on pump gas in the qtr at 120, but i have a built 455, with lits of goodies, he was a MASTER of Poncho Power makin!!
Thank you for this video presentation. I had never heard about this engine. Awesome!
Adam I'm speaking for most of us, (I'm sure) we always enjoy your shows, and knowledge of the Autos you speak of. Thanks Adam
I appreciate that!
As a transmission rebuilder back in the day, I rebuilt several of the "Tempest torqs" (spl?) transmissions.... basically a modified Power Glide. Corvair also used a similar design. Ah the good old days before electronics go involved!! LOL
Those Tempest transaxles had extra concentric shafts in them versus a regular automatic transmission. I saw one of those Tempests back in 1984 when I briefly worked in the torque converter shop of a transmission shop in Pittsburgh. I remember the tranny dipstick tube was behind the license plate. Did you guys charge extra to rebuild them and did they hold up OK compared to other trannies of the day?
These cars were very similar in concept to the Porsche 924/944/968 and the 928 models. My understanding is that Porsche did not copy the Tempest drivetrain, but came upon the rear transaxle layout in order to get away from the rear-engine trailing throttle oversteer effect that made the 911 such a squirrel. The 928 was a 100% bespoke design, but the 924 family was a Volkswagen/Audi parts bin special. And the 944 even used half of a 928's engine!
The Tempest itself was basically a way to use the Corvair chassis with a front engine, hence the famous "rope drive".
I drove a 928 for 19 years and in some situations, you could get a harmonic twisting of the driveshaft that gave the same effect as what the Tempest was known for.
Great video!
The 928 was intended to cut into the vast Camaro/Firebird market...
@@BuzzLOLOL Porsche's cars have always competed with GM's Corvette. They weren't thinking about the Camaro when the 928 was designed in 1972, they simply wanted something that would appeal to Americans and have a front engine. Afterall, the Camaro/Firebird/Mustang products were in a totally different price range. Emissions controls were coming meaning that power would drop so they went with a large water cooled V8. Also, they feared that the US government would soon ban rear-engine cars, so their 911 replacement, the 928, was built and sold with a front engine/rear transaxle.
As to the 928 being a replacement for the 911, we can see how that worked out....
Did these Porsches have the drive cable in a tube or was it a rigid torque tube? I assume Porsche made the unit true and straight unlike the offset in the cheaper GM car
My Father had one of these. I loved riding init with him.😊
We had a 62 Olds F85 (the next generation), with the 315 aluminum block v8. I loved that engine, even had people who wanted it for their kit plane.
My first car was a '63 Pontiac Tempest with the 4 cylinder engine. In the late 1960s they were called "gutless wonders". The 63 was much better looking than the earlier models. The timing chain was a weak point. It only lasted about 60,000 miles. Good Luck,
Rick
I am old enough to say I worked on those in the mid 1960s they had a front engine rear transaxle set up. A pretty unique car for the time, I really enjoyed this video very interesting and informative.
We are very old ! love to you.
Thanks for this one! I love some of the Pontiac "interesting" engine set ups from the 60s such as this and the OHC Six they put in a Firebird.
I got a 63 Tempest in 68. My second car and loved it! 2 door sedan , 3 speed floor shift! Great little car! Big difference after my first car, 50 Ford convertible, 3 speed on the column! Loved that car too!😊
I bought a 1962 Tempest convertible with the 🏆 4 in high school for $100. It was in rough shape and old even then but I drove it for a whole (very fun) summer and then the motor seize around back to school time in September. I found a guy with a nice Tempest convertible who gave me $300 for it as a parts car. Nothing like being 16 with a convertible, even for just one Michigan summer. Great memories, thanks for the video!
That was fun Adam,, I love the
oddballs !!
I'd really like to see an in depth video on the "rope drive" and rear transmission setup,,, that is classic GM oddballery in the extreme..
All new information for me!
Thx Adam!
This was an excellent edition. Thank you,
Thanks Adam for featuring this unsung engine, love your channel, peace brother
My parents bought new a '62 Pontiac Tempest Station Wagon. They sold it to me when I was 16. It had the 4 cylinder engine in it that was an 8 cylinder block with only half of it being used. Wildest looking 4 cylinder engine I've ever seen. The independent rear suspension was great in snow or mud. Loved that car.
i had a friend thathad a 62 tempest 4 cyl. 4 bbl. 4 speed, it was a station wagon, it was a fun car to drive. this was back in 1965.
The rear-mounted transmission was a brilliant idea and the Trophy Four was clever though inferior to Chrysler's Slant Six. Back then, GM still did some real engineering.
Trophy 4 wasn't inferior in HP, though... up to 180 HP...
That ad actually shows the '62 Tempest, but great video!
Back in the early '70s, my best friend's neighbor had a '61 Navy-Blue Tempest with that strange 4. She let me have a look at the engine. But I never learned what other weirdness lurked under those cars until many years later.
By the way, there are a few Corvairs around that have had GMs small aluminum V8 swapped in the rear!
I drove my dads 1961 Tempest in the mid 70's for a short time. It had about 140,000 miles on it used a bit of oil but handled very well for an old high milage car. It was a three speed floor shift as I remember and had great leg room. It was slow on steep hills but other than that was a fine car.
My family bought a ‘61 Tempest brand new with an automatic transmission as a second car. It had an interesting dash-mounted short throw gear shift lever. I was 7-years old at the time and I remember the engine vibrations and rather loud exhaust note compared to our primary vehicle which was a gorgeous blue 1960 Buick Invicta hardtop. Good times!
The advertisement at the end actually sold it quite well. Now I want one.
Super interesting! I had no idea this motor existed. Thanks for shining the light on it!
Love the unusual features you highlight in your videos.
As an owner of a very nice ‘67 GTO in the Navy, I was made caretaker for a friend’s ‘62 Tempest for a month. it had a 2bbl version of the Trophy 4. I really enjoyed driving it around and loved the idea of the half-a-V8 engine. Very cool 😎
Thanks for another great video. International Harvester did the same with their 4 cyl for the Scout. It suffered the same vibration problem.
My Father had one. It was a torque monster! 4 cyl, 4 barrel carb, and 4 speed transaxle. You could climb any hill in 4th gear!
One of my best friends in college had one of these. I'm realizing just how old i am now :)
Yep, pretty old
The Tempast was HEAVILY derived from the Corvair, basically a front engine Corvair. Corporate wanted Pontiac to use the corvairs rear engine for the Tempast but Delorean refused because he knew the Corvairs flaws and didnt want it for Pontiac.
The Tempest body appeared in four GM car lines in 61. Buick had their aluminum 215 inch V8 in their car, but it was a standard front engine and transmission set up. I'm not sure of Oldsmobile's power train or model designation. I find it amazing that GM could design a new small format car that would accommodate three decidedly different power plant installations.
@@cdjhyoung GM was far more daring in those days. The Olds F-85 had an Olds version of the Buick 215 V8, with different heads and 1 additional head bolt per cylinder. And Buick lopped off the two rear cylinders of their V8 to create the V6, which went on to live as the 3800 well into the 2000's.
Really there were no serious flaws. Ask anyone who own a Corvair. The Delorean car had a rear engined six, so I don't think that was the reason, but he wanted a Pontiac engine.
@@danr1920 The flaw in the Corvair rear suspension was that in a high speed maneuver the car could take so much body lean at the rear end that the inner wheel in the turn could actual come under the body and 'jack' the car into a roll over accident when the side force of the turn had ended. The problem was that there was no limit on how far the rear suspension could travel when the body leaned.
@@cdjhyoung yep. But having the engine in the back made it far more likely to happen in the corvair. That being said it was possible to have this happen on a beetle and triumphs which also had swing axle rear ends.
I learned to drive in a 62 tempest, 3 on the floor. A long stretch between 1st and 2nd, very spartan car no extras. We lived in Seattle. My
dad would make me drive up really steep streets, then make me stop in the middle of them, and start back up. You learned how to drive doing that. Warm place for that little brown car, all rubber steel and vinyl in the cab.
Interesting video, Adam, learned some new things, thanks. Years ago, I bought a semi-restored 1963 Oldsmobile F85 that had the famous 215 aluminum V8. Best engine I ever had in any car. The slightest touch of the ignition switch would start the engine in a fraction of a second, and it ran and idled flawlessly, hot or cold. At idle, you could barely tell it was running. Best part: I got it at a great price because it would instantly stall out the moment you touched the throttle, so you had to drive it extremely carefully. A few weeks later, I took off the top of the carburetor and looked into the accelerator pump tube, and noticed that some moron carburetor rebuilder had left out the tiny ball bearing that acted as a check valve. Dropped a random ball bearing into the tube, reassembled the carburetor, and suddenly the car would spin the tires on heavy acceleration. That was a very happy day. Kept the car for a long time until I loaned it to my brother, who took out the side of it, claiming someone sideswiped him on a bridge and then drove off. He later admitted he did it in a parking lot.
Thank you for this great video!
My mom bought a 1963 Tempest wagon. She loved it at first but it started having lots of problems. One time the idler arm broke and fell out of the car. My mom had me go out and pick it up. By 1968 my dad got tired of dealing with the problems and traded it in on a Chevy Nova. According to my parents the vibration from the driveshaft spinning at engine speed was noticeable. I recall the car as being okay and we went all over the place in it but I was only 10 when it was traded in.
Once again I’m enlightened…TY! I like to think I have a pretty high automotive IQ and am pretty knowledgeable about the wide variety of automotive designs, but I had no idea this even existed. I think a nice 166 H.P. Trophy 4 two door with AC would be a very nice daily driver!
😍
This is an interesting and informative video.
Thanks for presenting it!
I had one, a 1963 convertible. A real shaker, but also a sleeper. The shifter was in the lower dash board. The carb was a 600 cfm Carter. Tranny was a power glide. I loved it. A "mechanic" said it had a burnt valve, took it apart. Never ran again
The tempest was a damned great car lot of power comfort gas mileage and not a bad looking vehicle for its time. The two-door tempest can burn rubber in Easley in the first and second gear ⚙️ I believe it was a 289 and I'm talking 2 barrel carburetor
You come up with some of the most interesting stuff...thanks.
I bought a 1963 Tempest LeMans with this 4 cylinder engine as poor college student in 1970. It was my second car purchase. Paid $300 for it if memory serves me right. Thats more money than it seems. Minimum wage was well under a buck and my good paying summer construction job paid a little less than $100 per week. It was wonderfully inexpensive to drive and the motor was great. The wonky drive train; not so much. I had to replace the torque tube that held the 1" diameter drive shaft rigid. (Damn wintertime midwest road salt.) It did have a habit of eating clutches as well, but that might have been the varied girlfriends trying to learn to drive it. Thanks for reviving old memories.
I had NO idea this engine existed. Thank you for educating me! 🙂
In 1969 I bought a white 1962 Tempest convertible. It ran great, but kept pulling the left rear axle shaft out of the trans ... and the automatic trans shops were killing me. I sold it and bought a 1965 Bonneville convertible, red, red gut, white top ... which I wish I still had today.
My mother had a 1963 Pontiac Tempest Le Mans with a 326 cubic inch V8. I got to drive it from time to time. It had the quickest throttle response time, which made it hot off the line. I loved that car in its Burgundy exterior and black bucket seats. I had a 1966 GTO with a 389 and a single 4 barrel carb. I only had the GTO for a year when it was stolen in Euclid, Ohio at a Holiday Inn. Sadly, 6 months later it was found in a junkyard and it had been gutted for ALL its parts and accessories. i would go on to have several Grand Prix's one of which was a 1976 with a 455 cubic inch V8. Good road car. I eventually sold it to a friend who had it for a very long time.
I'm old enough to remember seeing lots of 60s era Template on the road!!! Quite a few Corvairs & VW Bugs and Micro-Busses!!!! I can even remember cars with no seat belts!
That was a good-looking car, very stylish.
What’s terrifying is I heard of this engine only yesterday, read about it before bed and hear a video from my favorite channel pops ups the next day about it. Well done and fascinating i say.
We have invaded your mind. You have entered... the twilight zone.
Yup. I was a kid when my dad bought a new 1962 white tempest station wagon. When I got older I was surprised to learn that it was a four cylinder! It served us well for a number of camping trips.
I'm pretty sure ours was an automatic. Thanks for the memories and interesting facts!
My 2nd car was a 1966 Tempest loved that car!!✌️🇺🇲
This video encouraged me to dig out an archived article I have. Sometimes it pays to keep the old stuff!
I pulled out the January, 1961 issue of "Popular Mechanics". Beginning on page 147, they did a comparison road test of the Dodge Lancer (both 101 hp and 145 hp), Buick Special, Oldsmobile F85 and Pontiac Tempest. This was back in the day when they actually road tested cars.
So, some interesting facts regarding the test Tempest:
Base price (4-cylinder) $2167
4-door sedan
3-speed on the floor
4-cylinder, 110 hp
3.55 rear end
16.7 mpg (lowest in group)
0 to 60 was 15.7mph (second slowest in group)
Good passing punch
Top speed just under 90 mph
Rear slides out under hard cornering
Steering is slow but precise
Ride is firm but not harsh
Brakes good
Fast as molasses
@@samholdsworth420 You'd be surprised how slow most cars were back then and in the 1970s compared to the last 30 years. All anyone really talks about are the muscle cars and sports cars of a given era. The regular cars are often slower than you would think. Some economy cars like the VW Beetle were 18-22 seconds 0-60 MPH.
@@snowrocket yeah... Full-size trucks doin 5 seconds 0 to 60 is pretty crazy lol
@@samholdsworth420 Yeah, I'm 58 and never in the dark days of 1980 did I think we'd see trucks like that. Or, a street-legal 707HP American factory daily driver like the Dodge Hellcat Challenger and Charger. Those top out at 195 and 205 MPH respectively. I remember when any car that could do 150 MPH was a big deal. Now, that's not noteworthy unless it's a lower cost family car.
In the mid 70's I had a 1961 Buick Special with a V-6. I believe it had an aluminum block with the transmission in the rear as the Tempest you speak of here. Pontiac had some great engines. I particularly liked their overhead cam straight 6.
@@Rick-S-6063 Thanx for correcting me. I had it for a while but never laid eyes on the transmission. The body was pretty much rusted out with holes in the floor so I did not have the car for very long.
Great Video, lot's of things I didn't know about this car even though I had been in one and around in that era.
Nice! I just learned about a motor I never knew existed!
The 1963 Tempest had an optional 326 CID V8, a debored 389, available. It was slightly undersquare. The flexible rope drive shaft would keep rotating when in neutral with the automatic, which irritated some people.
When I was a teenager I kept up with automotive improvements and Hot Rod magazine. I never expressed this thought to anyone because I didn't think I knew was interested in cars. One thing I did notice was that I had gotten to the point where I began to think Pontiac was the "experiment" department of GM. My interest in Pontiac was fueled by the 56 Pontiac we had when I was a teenager. It seemed to me that Pontiac was coming out with all these weird new ideas like the 4 cyl. engine, the rear transmission and things like their overhead cam 6 cyl. using a belt drive. That idea vanished as I noticed other GM manufacturers weren't using those ideas. My favorite Pontiac is still the 65 & 66 GTO with the big block.
Wow, when they play the VERlZON commerical before the clip, one of the Actors goes "Ho-HOAH!" Sounds exactly like a good friend who passed recently. Thank you Verizon. Thank you.
Very interesting video. I didn’t know about that engine until today. In 1970, my second car, replacing my leaky ‘62 Impala convertible, was a ‘61 Olds F85, gray 2-door post with bucket seats. That had the 215 V-8 with the Slim Jim automatic. P-N-D-L-R configuration. Where the Chevy was leaking everything, the Olds was smelly. I ultimately sold that shortly before going into the Army.
The Olds F85 was P-N-D-S-L-R... 2nd gear was called "Super" for quick passing use... of course, there was also the factory turbocharged V8 version:
th-cam.com/video/Jzw5W1rRMog/w-d-xo.html
Buick Special and Pontiac Tempest automatics had just D and L... 2 gears...
@@BuzzLOLOL Yes, I forgot about the S tucked in between D and L. I saw that turbocharged version, Jay Leno’s Garage video. 1st to 2nd was practically instantaneous and 3rd came soon after. It was an odd car all around.
DAMN & I thought I was the only one that had one of those. 1963 Pontiac Le Mans 4cyl ,automatic.
In the early 70s, I bought a 1963 tempest with the 326 V8 in it. I loved that it had the stransaxle and swing arm suspension. It ran great.
For some reason though Pontiac put a flexible driveshaft in them. Those were prone to failing, although mine never broke.
However, the shift mechanism was similar to a VW s.
The stick on the floor went down with a tang into a cup on the shaft. The tang had a ball on the end. The shaft had a 90 degree and then went back to the three speed transaxle and worked on cams to shift gears.
That shift rod or shaft was held up with a bracket that had a two-piece neoprene bushing in it.
Mine wore out and fell apart while driving on the highway.
I could not get that bushing or anything close, so I had to junk the car.
Great job on the Pontiac video , true Americana 😎👍 🇺🇲
The manufacturing process was very economical because the the same machine tooling that was manufacturing the 389 was easily modified to manufacture the four-cylinder engine. It didn't take the hot rod community too long to figure out that the 389 bolted right into The Tempest. As a matter of fact they bolted a 421 into two of these and they led the first lap of the 24 hour Daytona by out accelerating every other car in the field including some full race Ferraris, they simply blew their doors off everything on the straight away into the first turn. We had a 389 and the 4 cylinder side by side in our H.S. auto mechanics class.
My dad bought a 63 tempest 4-cylinder four-door hard top with 3 speed manual on the floor and 2 barrel carb, new in 63. His twin brother bought a convertible at the same time. Later my dad sold it to my grandfather. My grandfather eventually parked it and it sat for 10 years. Around 1980, my uncle towed it to my house. I went through the whole thing, pulled the engine apart, the old oil was like roofing shingles. I steam cleaned the inside of the engine, rebuilt the carb, fixed the brakes, etc. In total including the steam cleaner rental I invested about $200. It was 17 years old at that point, so no gasket sets were available, but some smart parts dealer ordered me what I remember as a 326 set, but which must have been a 389 set, and I used the half I needed. He threw in a tube of permatex for free to help construct the cork intake manifold gasket. I drove that from Connecticut to Virginia to college and back several times. It was a fun car, although it had a bit of rust inside and out, common for the era. It had a cool stock white cue-ball shift knob, but smaller. The distance between first and second gear was severe, so you had to rev it up pretty good to make the switch. Going up a very steep hill from a slow speed or stop required a fair bit of skill as a result.
It was awesome in snow, because of the corvair "unsafe at any speed" suspension. When you jacked it up to change a rear tire, the rear wheels would lower and toe in - you had to jack it up pretty high. That combined with a relatively even front/back weight distribution is what made it so good in snow. Also, it had unusually large wheels for the time - most cars tires look too small in stock 60s cars, but not this one. You could literally get past cars stuck in the snow by going off-road!