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The Tempest was the result of a decision by the Pontiac division to enter the compact car market following the success of the Chevrolet Corvair. [4] The division wanted to produce a clone of the Corvair, but instead GM gave Pontiac the lead to develop a new car in an interdivisional program coded named "X-100."
The Tempest's drivetrain features a rear-mounted transaxle connected to the engine via a torque tube, [2] giving the car a near-perfect 50-50 front-rear weight balance. [5] As the driveshaft runs at engine speed, rather than the transmission output speed, it runs at a higher speed and lower torque than a conventional driveshaft for a rear wheel ...
The Corvair used the Powerglide for all 10 years it was produced; from 1961 to 1963, Pontiac used a modified version of Corvair Powerglide it called 'TempesTorque' for its front-engine, rear-transaxle Tempest, LeMans and Tempest LeMans cars. Dash-mounted Powerglide control lever, typically used on 1965–69 Corvairs.
The rear-engined 1960-69 Chevrolet Corvair Z-body up to 1964 used a variation of the rear swing-axle suspension and a transaxle similar to that found on the 1961-63 Pontiac Tempest. The 1961-62 Corvair station wagons even utilized a roofline similar to that on the 1961-63 Y-body wagons.
The design almost eliminated the large floor "hump" common to front-engined, rear-drive cars. Though the Tempest's transaxle was similar to the one in the Corvair, introduced the year before, it shared essentially no common parts. GM had planned to launch a Pontiac version of the Corvair (dubbed "Polaris"), but Bunkie Knudsen—whose niece had ...
This engine, as well as the early Tempest with the transaxle in the rear, were ideas of Pontiac's Chief Engineer John DeLorean, who became Pontiac's general manager at the end of the 1965 model year. This engine was available in a one-barrel carbureted, 165 hp (123 kW) version as standard equipment on all Pontiac intermediates except GTOs.
The first Pontiac Tempests used a modified version of the Powerglide transaxle shared with the Chevrolet Corvair. But unlike the Corvairs, the TempesTorque was connected via a flexible drive shaft to an unconventional slant-4 (half of a 389 V-8) or an aluminum 215 c.i. V-8, which would be later sold to the Rover Group and be renamed the 3500 V-8.
1980 Pontiac Phoenix. X II: FWD: 1979: 1985: 1980 – 1985 Buick Skylark; 1980 – 1985 Chevrolet Citation; 1980 – 1984 Oldsmobile Omega; 1980 – 1984 Pontiac Phoenix; The successor to the X I platform. 1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire. Y I: RWD: 1960: 1964: 1961 – 1963 Buick Special; 1961 – 1963 Oldsmobile F-85; 1961 – 1963 Pontiac Tempest ...