Pontiac Tempest

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The Pontiac Tempest was a model offered by the US car manufacturer General Motors from 1960 to 1970 under the Pontiac brand .

The name was detailed

  • from 1960 to 1963 for a series of the local compact class (lower middle class) and
  • from autumn 1963 to 1970 for the base model of the intermediate model series (middle class) of the Pontiac Le Mans as well
  • from 1988 to 1991 for a variant of the Chevrolet Corsica only available in Canada .

First generation (model years 1961–1963)

For model year 1961 Pontiac presented as a smaller entry-level model in the range (length 480 cm) among the major full-size -models the Tempest as a four-door sedan, two-door hardtop - Coupe (under the name "Tempest LeMans") and five-door station wagon. The Tempest was a parallel model to the Buick Special and the Oldsmobile F-85 .

Pontiac Tempest model year 1961

From a technical point of view, the Tempest showed some unusual details, above all the design based on the transaxle principle with the gearbox on the rear axle taken over from Corvair and an original, very thin, flexible cardan shaft . The self-supporting Y-body and the independently suspended rear wheels were also unusual for American cars of the time. The Tempest was powered as standard by a 3.2-liter in-line four-cylinder with double or quadruple carburetors (112-157  bhp ), which was half of the in-house V8. On request, there was also the 3.5-liter light-alloy V8 from Buick (according to American standards, 215 in 3 ; 157 bhp) with double carburetors. It was shifted with a three-speed manual transmission or a two-speed automatic. From 1967 this engine was slightly modified in England and built by Rover and initially used in the P5 . The largest serial expansion stage was the 4554 cm³ engine from the Range Rover P38, which was built until 2002.

For the 1962 model year, a basic and LeMans version of the convertible was also released and the V8 received a quadruple carburetor and increased to 193 bhp.

In 1963 the Tempest received an extensive facelift and grew by 5 and 13 cm in width and length. At the same time, the light metal V8 was replaced by a heavy cast iron V8 with a displacement of 5.3 liters (264 bhp).

Of the first generation Tempest, a total of 375,766 pieces were built in three years, of which only 3,663 were with the filigree Buick V8.

Second generation (model years 1964–1967)

Pontiac Tempest 1966

For the 1964 model year, the Tempest (together with its sister models from Buick and Oldsmobile) underwent a thorough makeover and was technically simplified (ladder frame instead of self-supporting body, forward gearbox, rigid rear axle) and enlarged; the wheelbase grew by 7.6 to 292, the length by over 20 to 516 cm.

The new models were part of General Motors ' A-platform , on which Chevrolet Chevelle , Buick Special / Skylark and Oldsmobile F-85 / Cutlass were built.

The program included two-door coupés with and without B-pillars , four-door sedans, five-door station wagons and two-door convertibles in the Tempest, Tempest Custom and Tempest Le Mans trim levels; The Pontiac GTO was officially integrated into the latter series .

Instead of the previous four-cylinder, a 3.5-liter in-line six-cylinder (215 in 3 ; 142 bhp) was used as the base engine, which could be replaced by the 5.3-liter V8 (326 in 3 ; 253-289 bhp) at an extra charge. From 1966, the 3.5-liter was replaced by a 3.8-liter (230 in 3 ; 157 bhp), which was also available in a Sprint version with higher compression, overhead camshaft and four-way carburetor (209 bhp).

The Tempest remained in production in this form until the summer of 1967 and was produced in a total of around 911,000 copies (plus almost 285,000 GTOs).

Third generation (model years 1968–1970)

Pontiac Tempest Le Mans Cabriolet, MY 1969

For the 1968 model year, all models of the GM-A platform were renewed, including the Pontiac Tempest. While the two-door models were from now on based on a wheelbase of 284.5 cm, the four-door and station wagons were given a wheelbase stretched to 294.6 cm. Little changed in technical terms. The basic six-cylinder in-line engine grew to 4.1 liters (250 in 3 ; 177, Sprint 218 bhp), the V8 to 5.7 liters (350 in 3 ; 269-324 bhp). A postless hardtop sedan was added to the regular sedan. The model series Tempest, Tempest Custom and Tempest Le Mans as well as Tempest Safari (luxury version of the station wagon) were offered, as well as a separate series, the GTO derived from Tempest. In 1970 the Tempest Custom, which was replaced in the spring of 1970 by the Pontiac T-37 / GT-37 , with the model year 1971 also the basic Tempest. From this point on, the Tempest Le Mans became the Pontiac Le Mans.

Of this model generation of the Tempest, a total of around 706,000 units (including T-37 / GT-37 MJ 1970/71) and 200,000 GTOs (1968–1970) were built by 1970.

Pontiac Tempest (Canada) 1988-1991

Pontiac Tempest (Canada)

From 1988 to 1991, the Chevrolet Corsica , a four-door front-wheel drive sedan, also known as the Pontiac Tempest, was offered on the Canadian market .

Web links

Commons : Pontiac Tempest  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

swell

John Gunnell: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975 . Krause Publications, Iola 2002, ISBN 0-87349-461-X , here: pp. 714-744.