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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 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.
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.
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 Tempest also used an independent rear swing axle suspension similar to the rear-engine Chevy Corvair while the Buick and Olds compacts featured a conventional rear coil spring suspension. For 1963, Pontiac replaced the Buick-sourced 215 aluminum V8 with a Pontiac built 336 cubic-inch V8 as the top power option for the Tempest.
Bloomington woman remembers first car, one of several she received as gifts from boyfriends through the years.
A transaxle is a single mechanical device which combines the functions of an automobile's ... 1961–1963 Pontiac Tempest; 1964–1968 Ferrari 275; 1963–1968 ...
1961–1963 Buick's Dual-Path Turbine Drive; 1961–1964 Roto Hydramatic — Compact Hydramatic-based 3-speed used by Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Holden, Vauxhall and Opel; 1962-1972 TempestTorque — Powerglide-based 2-speed with "Split-Torque". 1964–1969 Super Turbine 300 — 2-speed (aka Buick ST-300, Oldsmobile Jetaway, Pontiac "Automatic")