(first posted 2/6/2013) That so many people curl their nose at the sight of a four-door sedan is, among other things, rather unfortunate.
Here’s one example: Back in the mid-90s, I purchased a 1955 Chevrolet 210 sedan, in its original two-tone green paint, and equipped with the 235 cu in six and a three-speed manual. It was a solid and profoundly original car. Sadly, I recognized my utter inability to care properly for it at the time and attempted to sell it. Despite my advertising it in a well-known international publication as a four-door sedan, numerous people called and asked if it was a two-door. Despite telling (reminding?) them what my ad stated, they were generally turned off by the car. And why? It had twice as many doors as anyone in the United States cared to possess. I eventually sold it to a buyer in Sweden who appreciated it for what it was.
This ’64 Tempest reminds me a lot of that ’55 Chevrolet I had. Why? Had it been born with two fewer doors, it could have been a–well, a Great Tempest Overload: a chariot able to create salivation in even the non-enthusiast. Once past the unfortunate perception of over-endowment among some audiences, how many people truly appreciate this Tempest sedan for what it is?
It’s a tough and fairly subjective call; however, consider this: At a car show, which do you find more captivating and refreshing–a nice original sedan, an example of which you haven’t seen in years, or yet another, well, Great Tempest Overload?
That’s what I suspected. I know this because you are here at curbsideclassic.com, and not over at GTOsGiveMeGooseBumps.com.
When Pontiac introduced the Tempest in 1961, it certainly was different from any Pontiac that came before. Equipped with a four-cylinder engine (a bisected Pontiac 389 cu in V8), it was the first Pontiac powered by anything with fewer than six pistons. It’s rear-mounted transaxle was also much different than what people were accustomed to, as was its nearly 50/50 weight distribution. General Motors was likely at its most creative and adventurous during the early 1960s; nobody else in Detroit cared (or was able) to compete with the company that brought us the Corvair for 1960 and the Tempest for 1961. Such remarkable creativity from General Motors certainly hasn’t happened with such frequency and magnitude since.
An excellent article on the ’63 Tempest can be found here.
Demonstrating such creativity as GM did in the 1960s can be wrought with pitfalls. Sometimes its fruits can fail to resonate with others, or it simply grows stale over time. In the case of sales numbers for the ’61-’63 models, either could have been true. At 100,783, Tempest sales for ’61 were strong for a new model, and climbed to 143,193 for 1962. However, model year 1963 saw sales plunge to 69,832. For whatever the reason, model year 1964 brought a new Tempest that was far more traditional than its predecessor.
Don’t interpret “traditional” as “bad”: That Tempest is what helped propel Pontiac to third place in United States auto sales during much of the 1960s.
For 1964, the Tempest hit a kind of automotive puberty, as all sorts of things suddenly changed, grew or sprouted.
The wheelbase was stretched two inches, to 115″, thus prompting the Tempest to be reclassified by some sources as an “intermediate” and no longer a “compact”. Gone was the unibody; the Tempest body was now bolted to a full-perimeter frame. The Trophy 4 engine was consigned to the dustbin of history and replaced with an inline six-cylinder engine, a 215 cubic inch version of the Chevy six, but assembled by Pontiac. Even the rear-mounted transaxle was retired.
The Tempest generation that started with our ’64 subject car was a revival of the GM A-body that had been dormant since 1958. The ’64 Tempest helped set a sort of General Motors A-body template for many years: a base six-cylinder engine and optional V8 power, all mated to a variety of transmissions, in a mid-sized coupe, sedan or wagon body.
If you are new to CC, there is a lot of discussion around here of the GM A-body in all its various iterations (two of which are presented for your viewing pleasure).
This particular A-body Tempest could be considered unusual, perhaps even an anomaly. However, it can’t be considered as such from a production standpoint–this Tempest Custom sedan is one of 187,276 (non-GTO) Tempests made that year in the third most-popular Tempest body style, of which just under 30,000 were produced.
It’s hard to say if a three-speed manual transmission is unusual among remaining ’64 Tempest sedans. It’s equally hard to say how many of them are left, since even the Pontiac Registry database doesn’t contain any ’64 Tempest sedans. Still, the transmission is not what is being considered here.
So what makes this Tempest an unusual critter?
Look at what’s sticking out beneath the license plate. Yes, you’ve seen these before–but when was the last time you saw one on a Tempest?
The owner of this Pontiac appreciates his Tempest for what it is, and possibly then some.
I became reacquainted with this Tempest last October when I went to check on my house, in Hannibal, Missouri (I also found this most infrequently seen Mopar the next morning). I saw this Tempest periodically during the five years I lived in Hannibal, and it was always hooked up to a trailer. Is there a load of tree branches and yard waste to haul to the dump? No sweat. Need to transport the riding mower to Aunt Betty’s house to cut her grass? That’s no challenge. Actually, this was the first time I’d ever seen this Tempest without a utility trailer behind it.
Why am I skeptical about anyone using their ’64 GTO in such a way at any time during the last quarter-century?
In 1964, Pontiac created a firestorm with its GTO. However, many people seem quick to forget that the GTO wasn’t the only car Pontiac made that year. Were it not for bread-and-butter sedans such as this, there would have been no way to rationalize a GTO. So isn’t it great to know that the true foundation is alive and well–and still working for its owner, just the way Pontiac intended. 
I had a ’66 Tempest four door – Sprint Six, two-speed auto – which had been my grandparent’s car (and last Pontiac/GM product, as my Great Uncle talked them into a Mercury Marquis from the Dealership where he worked in Alabama). (EDIT – the Tempest was their next-to-last Pontiac – a 1971 Catalina 4-door, 400, auto replaced it, and the Catabomb ended up in our family when they went to Mercs)
I remember it being well put-together, and Pontiac easily had the best instrument panel of any GM division at the time – jewel-like…
It’s definitely one of the cars I Wish I Hadn’t Sold.
That’s a handsome color combination!
I didn’t realize that any 1966-67 Pontiac intermediates still used a two-speed automatic. My mom had a new ’67 GTO with column-mounted automatic (no console) and it was definitely a Turbo Hydra-Matic. Was the two-speed still offered in the six-cylinder cars for ’67, perhaps?
I know that the 2 speed auto was the only auto available in a 66 GTO. I was unaware that the 3 speed THM was there the next year, but I suppose it was about time. I would imagine that the 2 speed was still in the lower performance bread and butter Tempest models.
Yes, the THM was only available with the 400 in 1967. Sixes and 326s got the two-speed.
I go to a giant muscle car auction every May and let me tell you, I’ve seen my fill of Camaros, Mustangs, GTOs, etc. I don’t even look at them at the auction anymore. I go specifically to find cars like this — the kind that used to be everywhere on the road but few remain uncrushed. While the GTO may have been the thing of dreams and legends, the Tempest sedan was more like what most people drove, and I want to revel in memories of streets filled with such cars.
+1 Jim. As a child I was distainful of the “not cool” cars like sedans. Then I realized they were much more “reality” than the coupes, convertibles, and muscle cars that everyone lusted after.
I for one would be perfectly happy with this Tempest four door. I suspect this may be a 215 six? If it has a trailer hitch, perhaps a 326 (didn’t see any 326 badges). Most of the ones I remember had the two-speed automatic.
+2. I am all about 4 wheeled time capsules.
+3 Great follow-up response to a great write-up. It’s sad that I’ve never seen a ’64 intermediate Pontiac other than the (fake?) GTOs.
i also think the fake GTO, 442, & SS station wagons are a blasphemy. Thankfully this dumb trend hasn'[t spread to the more-door sedans and hardtops.
I love seeing the original wheelcovers on the pictured car. Cars in this condition are my absolute favorite to see. Very nice and original, but not too nice.
How about if the factory does it?
Or this, also a factory job. The only diff here is that anybody could order one, not just Indy raceway.
And only $41 too!
Even Chevy got into the act.
seen your car on website and was wondering if for sell. Is it a 72 Lemans wagon? I have a 72 lemans sport with same hood. in love with that style
That’s mine, now living in Western Australia.
Of course I’m all over any factory-built hot-rod wagon…it’s just the clones I can’t stand.
A blue, green, or maroon ’73 Chevelle SS wagon with 454 and swivel buckets would be one of my bucket-list cars.
Someone on the Pontiac forums owns a severly-rusted green ’73 LeMans Safari wagon ordered with 400-4bbl, 4-speed, factory tach cluster, etc. I hope he saved it.
That’s “severely”, argh. I knew that…
I hate muscle wagons, unless they are done right (which they almost never are). I just can’t say no to a hardtop wagon…
+4 That’s why we’re here, right?
+5. Righto. I very much enjoy seeing old sedans. I honestly did not know there was so much more demand for 2-door classic cars than 4-door models until I read this 5-year-old post tonight. Learn something new every day.
I hope ’64 Pontiac is still moseying down the highway in 2018 as it was in 2013. Count me as another who would rather ogle an ordinary sedan than a GTOverload. → I really don’t know what possesses so many classic car owners to turn their vehicles into muscle cars or Hot Rods. And then there’s only a handful of un-messed-with utility sedans extant. Like this tidy Tempest.
My favorite kind of old cars to see are the ‘regular’ type of lower-cost 2- and 4- door sedans that used to dot the highways but are now an endangered species.
Wonderful memories. I had 64 Tempest convertible 6 cylinder, three speed, no options other than radio. Dark blue with blue vinyl interior and badly faded white top. Bought from Navy friend in 1971 for $300. Drove for two years maybe 40,000 miles. No troubles to speak of until some sort of bracket that involved the clutch broke off engine and repair was too expensive for what car was worth then. So junked it. Sorry I did. Lots and lots of fun in that car. Miss it.
Correction – Mine was LeMans with bucket seats.
I thought 4 door sedans too vanilla for me as a kid,I don’t much bother buying classic magazines anymore,there’s always another dose of the same old medicine,Mustangs,Camaros,’Cudas,Chargers and Roadrunners.Great car and article Jason thanks
If this was a two door it would have magically become a GTO by now. I like it.
BTW, there is a trailer hitch welded to my 57 chev. If it won’t haul it’s useless.
Good find. Good article.
There’s a hitch on the back of my ’57 Handyman!
First of all it’s a shame you didn’t have that 4-door ’55 today as they’ve finally found some redemption. They’ll never be worth anything like a 2-door Sport Coupe of course but that’s not the point. Driving and enjoying it…is.
An uncle of mine had a ’64 Tempest 2-door sedan w/326 and 3-on-the-tree, back about 1968-69. It was green and looked sharp.
I bought a 1964 Tempest Custom 2dr coupe with a 326 V8 and the 2 speed (powerglide from Chevrolet), new in 1964. In the first 2,000 miles the tranny took almost 2 quarts of transmission fluid, but not a drop after that.
It was so gutless that it wouldn’t spin the tires on loose gravel, but with the rear axle it had (seems to me 2.64:1) floored it would upshift to the high gear at about 110 mph. It would get 22 miles per gallon at speeds between 65 and 80 mph, but the speed limit was 55, and that dropped the mpg to about 14 – 15 mpg. Sold it with 185,000 miles on it.
The fenders in the trunk were left one from the Buick Special, and the right one from the F85 Olds station wagon, this was from the factory here in Fremont, CA. I changed the starter one time, and it had a stack of flat washers instead of the cast spacer, (I think it was like 37 washers all with the factory blue paint).
All in all for $2,745.00 not a bad buy. Could have had a GTO for $2,795.00, but was afraid the spouse would have killed herself in it. Should have bought the GTO anyhow, it could have saved a divorce.
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A delightful car. This looks to be the very same color combo (in and out) as my grandma’s 64 Catalina sedan, a car that I liked a lot as a kid.
Our 64 Cutlass had a big honking trailer hitch on it as well. When my parents got the car, we had a little Apache pop-up camper that we would tow behind the Cutlass. The hitch always looked to me like it could have hauled a gigantic Airstream but for the light weight of the car.
The only saving grace of old 4 door sedans is that their value has always been low enough that they make great classic drivers. Still, some are too nice for that kind of life, and it is nice when folks will preserve them.
I’m sure I would have had to pay much more for a ’64 Impala sport coupe than I did for my sport sedan, and mine is indeed a great driver that I can take out whenever I want. I actually prefer the four-door hardtop styling on most big GM cars in the Sixties. They have very even proportions.
My car usually stands out at a car show. There are plenty of Impalas, but it’s rare to see a four-door hardtop. Lots of people remark that they either had a car like mine or knew someone who did.
Yes, that’s a ’59 Edsel sedan I’m parked next to.
A very nice 4 door hardtop. I find a lot of redeeming qualities in 4 door hardtops, and I agree with you that many big American cars of the 60s looked very good in that body style. In a lot of cases (particularly with Mopars) they are relatively rare, as most buyers of 4 door cars went with the plainer, cheaper sedans. I once owned a 66 Fury III sedan. I saw a matching 4 door hardtop for sale at a car lot that was closed, but it had been left unlocked. There was a LOT more bright trim around the greenhouse on the inside, giving the car a much fancier feel inside. Unfortunately, it was a bit rough otherwise where my sedan was a peach.
What a beauty! Impala’s look great in the sport sedan mode.
And a quick glance registers the lack of a B-pillar, the mind goes “Hardtop” and ramps up the level of excitement/appreciation – before you even begin to count the doors.
Lovely car, Gary.
Riding in such cars was exciting, with all of the windows down. As close to riding in a convertible without being in a convertible.
I remember how excited I was that Uncle Ted bought a Chev in ’66. I imagined going for a ride in that hardtop with all the windows down – but his was a Bel Air 4 door sedan. I’d forgotten they sold them in Australia too; as a young car nut I naturally expected the sportier Impala hardtop.
The first Tempests (61-63) were definately an engineering exercise under the tutelage of none other than John DeLorean himself. Well I have always believed the Tempest switched in `64 for two reasons: 1) They were never as popular as expected Pontiac Buick and Olds each got a version of the new unibody compact and each had very unusual and unique features. 2) The public wanted bigger cars and performance was on the upswing and it was far easier and simpler to build a midsize body and frame car and drop a bigger motor in it than was technical feasible using the compact platform.
Powerglides persisted in cars (mostly Chevrolets and Pontiacs) through the early 70s mostly in smaller engines that did not need the THM400. I occasionally see Powerglides show up in drag cars because they can be set to shift at a point where they essentially remain in 1st gear until the reach the end of the track. Until the THM350 came out in 1969, a `Glide was usually all you got in the smaller cars for Chevrolet and Pontiac.
Either that or a Super Turbine 300 in the BOP cars.
The Powerglide was in Chevys only. The BOP cars got a similar 2 speed automatic that Oldsmobile called the Jetaway (and as Roger points out, was the Super Turbine 300 in Buicks). Pontiac didn’t even give it a name in the 66 GTO brochure. Those 2 speeds were pretty much the default automatic in all of the GM intermediates all through the 60s. I know that my stepmother’s 68 Cutlass was still the 2 speed Jetaway. The 67 GTO was one of the rare mid sizers to get a THM in those years.
As for GM putting it with “smaller engines that did not need the THM400”, this is not accurate. The 389 in a 66 GTO was plenty stout, but no THM was available. GM and those miserable 2 speeds always bothered me. Nobody else but GM could have gotten away with that after maybe 1962, and nobody else tried. They were durable enough, but then so was a Torqueflite.
The first Tempest had a modified Corvair Powerglide, but the A-Body Tempest/LeMans/GTO got the Super Turbine 300 w/o the variable pitch stator of the Buick/Olds versions.
Cutlass Supremes and 4-4-2’s (Remember the Turnpike Cruiser story Paul did a few months ago) also gained access to THM’s in 67 and slowly shifted away from the 2 speed by the end of the decade.
But agreed, I think it must be the worst feature of a number of 1960’s GM cars from the Corvair up into a lot of B-bodies. Not all of the engines in GM’s fleet had the massive torque to conquer being hamstrung by 2 gear ratios….
The ultimate downfall of the rope-drive Tempest was that it was expensive to produce. The shared body shell, the slant four, the Powerglide-based TempesTorque automatic, etc., helped somewhat, but even so, the Tempest was probably more expensive to build, unit for unit, than a Catalina and had to sell for less. Even if it had sold better, I suspect there would have been a strong urge to make it more conventional to reduce costs.
Nice, a beautiful example of grampas last car that sat in grandmas garage until she passed. I had a 64 LeMans. I have the 2 dr bias big time. Mine was a 2dr HT in the dark turqouse shown. It had the small six and three on the tree. I loved it. Had dreams of a fake GTO project that never came about. This was in southern Cal so a perfect clean body. When we moved one car had to go and this was it. Oh well, but it is on my short list of cars I wish I kept. But with us all life and reality seldom cooperate.
Damn! I almost responded to the CC Clue yesterday, then got distracted. I thought I recognized that upper corner of the windshield trim where the drip rail wrapped around, like little horns. If you had included that distinctive curved lower corner of the trim, I would have nailed it. That, and the just visible little quarter round piece of trim where the wing vent handle is attached, which was typical of that design.
Anyway, I’ve written before of my very first car, a ’64 LeMans coupe, all red, with the 326 engine, a hot car for a new college student. I drove that car for eight years, and to this day I still say it was arguably one of the best. Competent, reliable, nice quality, drove like a champ. There were a lot of these Tempest sedans around L.A. back then, of course I always disdained them as too plebeian for my youthful taste. A nice example, though.
Nice condition that Poncho. All we got from the US was 4door cars unless privately imported nobody CKDed 2 doors or hardtops or for that matter ragtops tri5 Chev 4 doors sell for huge bux to losers to copy the American grafitti times that never were. At shows I can spend all day looking at ordinary run of the mill survivors and I ignore the tri 5s and Mustangs etc Ive seen all those before.
Reminds me of my daily driver ’65 F-85. Nice thing with the four doors is that they’re usually better kept and cheaper to buy than the coupes if you’re looking for a vintage ride. Funny seeing the exact same roofline on the Tempest.
And it was the car then Kevin Arnold buyed from his grandfather in the last seasons of “The Wonder Years”. http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_65199-Oldsmobile-F-85-1965.html
Just like mine. Except, mine as a V-6 225 ci and was made in Oshawa,Ontario. It has the 2 speed Jetaway transmission. It is a joy to drive.
In the picture, my Olds is standing in front of the Fenway Park during a trip to Boston last summer.
By the way, Hi Sean !
Is “Chong’s Chinese” painted on the other side of your car, by any chance?
Hey there Luc! I remember the guy I bought it from mentioning that about the Wonder Years! I have to check that episode out. The thing I liked about this car when I bought it is that it is so “run of the mill”. It was repainted in a single stage and after driving it a while it just looks like an every day car you’d see parked on a street in the 60s. I like the four doors for just that reason, they’re so average and in a way, just take you back in time. As a daily driver you’re not doing anything different than what the original owner used it for so that makes it even more enjoyable and interesting.
For example, I found this pic somewhere on the internet (no idea where it is)and the setting is just how I’d picture a sedan in it’s day.
Here is the link to watch the episode of THE WONDER YEARS with the 1965 OLDS F-85 in it. It is exactly like ours. What a delight to watch !
http://gorillavid.in/vid/fusalv61zxhj
press continue and the video should start.
I for one love four door cars and always have. I have always been interested in social history and it the real world, the great majority of cars being sold in these baby-boom era days were four doors, either sedans or wagons. My dad, for example, hated hardtops because he thought they became rattly soon and the doors would not align, etc.
Were I to buy a 1960’s car for a weekend toy, it would for sure be a four door post. The Tempest here is just perfect because at the time, GM was still willing to do something different. The three on the tree is perfect as it will have lower service costs. I also loved the interiors of GM cars of this era, really well designed with good materials. When I was a little kids, Canadians worshipped GM cars and this led to very good market penetration here. Cheapening them out was not, in my opinion, a good business decision on GM’s part.
I’ll admit to largely ignoring four door sedans, but only because I like four door hardtops so much better. Give me a choice between a two door hardtop and a four door hardtop, and almost every time I’ll choose the four door. Not only will it be more practical, more unique, and melt the brains of the average musclehead when I pull up in a four door hardtop Chevelle, but they tend to be cheaper too. Not as cheap as a four door sedan, mind you, but close and much more stylish. When it comes to utilitarian sedans, I still tend to like them more than two-door (pillared) sedans, because for most cars the four door sedan just means that the original owner couldn’t afford or didn’t need a top of the line four door hardtop, while the two door sedan means the original owner went for the barebones base model (hardtop coupes were usually pretty close to the bottom of the price range, so you can bet any Oldsmobile Cutlass or Ford Galaxie two door sedans you find will be the six cylinder three-on-the-tree with vinyl seats and no carpet. I still might like one of those, but only as a secondary classic. First I want a top of the line luxury hardtop). Apart from some obvious models where the two door’s profile is clearly more luxurious or sportier than the four door’s, I can’t figure out why four doors get so much hate.
I had a 2dr sedan version of that car in light blue that I bought from a friend’s father around 1967. My friend helped his father pick the options when new: 326HO, 4 speed, Posi, HD suspension and transistor ignition. Without PS or PB it drove like a truck. Managed to total it after a year or so.
Sweet! I never appreciated 4 doors until I had an SHO Taurus. Now I’d LOVE a 64 Galaxie 500 XL 4 door HT. Or a 66 Corvair I thought they looked slick as a 4 door HT. Any 61-69 Continental, any 4 door suicide Thunderbird……….lots of ’em.
Remember that wagons didn’t become popular until a few years ago. Now a 67 Country Squire is worth $$$$. As these cars disappear they will become more valued. A lot of them (wagons and 4 door) were “donor” cars to their 2 door kin. Try and find a 66 Fairlane 500 with a 390 now.
BTW I even love the green shades on the Impala and the Edsel. GREEN = originality, RED= resale.
How appropriate after yesterday morning’s grim discovery. I got a ton off the Camaro but the real loss is quite obvious. The Ford was black with red interior: how sharp that must have been. The ’69 LeMans was a four-door hardtop and I just remembered as I’m typing this that I FORGOT to grab the 350 rocker emblems off of it.
Where was this at?
“… many people seem quick to forget that the GTO wasn’t the only car Pontiac made that year. Were it not for bread-and-butter sedans such as this, there would have been no way to rationalize a GTO. ”
Hear hear!
So many ‘know it alls’ go on and on about how Ponitac made “all muscle cars”. Or, when they see a an old 64-69 Tempest, Custom S, or LeMans say “This is some kind of weird GTO”. [Jalopnik]
A neighbor in the 60’s had a ’64 Tempest 2 door, and I loved it. So, to me, the ’64 GTO is my favorite ‘Goat’ since it was a ‘hot rodded Tempest’!
I always like the early A-body intermediate sedans. The ’68-’72 models, not so much; Those cars were styled to be coupes and the look did not translate well to the longer-wheelbase sedans.
Something like this would be a great way to affordably get into a ’60s GM product. The A hardtops are usually way overpriced because they’ve been made into yet another GTO/SS/442 clone.
I’ll partially agree with you, as some of the sportier models (like some of the Chevelle/Malibus) did look a bit awkward as four-door sedans, but with a vinyl roof and some extra trim the four-door hardtops could look pretty snazzy.
I agree. That’s a very nice example and has the right colors and options to make it look quite classy. Olds only built a little over 10K of that flavor Supreme in ’70 according to my ‘cyclopedia.
I always thought this was a very classy roofline on these cars too. The angular c-pillar perfectly counteracts the curves on the rest of the car. If I found one of these for sale I’d snap it up; in my book it’s in the same category as the coupe. Not a hot rod but just a really nice car. It’s more airy with the windows down as well. The 68-72 pillared four doors do look a little funky but they’re still nice, solid cars.
I agree with you on the 68-72 sedans, although the 4 door hardtops were not too bad.
I’ve always liked seeing 4 doors at cruise nights/car shows. It’s a nice way to break up all the Chevelles, GTOs, Firebirds, Mustangs, etc. A local guy owns a beautiful 64 Impala 4 door with an inline 6 and three on the tree. I swear I’ve heard a few people ask why he didn’t swap a 350 into his original condition Impala……
Of the few Tempests sold in México in 1964-65, more than 50 percent were equipped with 3-speed manual transmission. I saw one many years ago. It belonged to a well known collector in Chihuahua who told me about it and he even said that he wanted to install an automatic tranny on it, but he was advised not to do so, to leave them as original as possible. Anyway, he said that getting the automatic transmission would have been hard. I don’t understand how such an expert intented to undermine the car’s value and appearance.
One of my all-time dream cars is a 1966 Oldsmobile F-85 Deluxe Holiday Sedan. Why an F-85? Because I think the Cutlass name was dulled considerably by the wide variety sold under that name in the 1980s and 1990s and “F-85” just sounds so cool.
It was from the first year of the A-body four-door hardtops, and it’s the only year the F-85 was available in that body style, the very next year you couldn’t even get one as a hardtop coupe. It was right around the time when GM was transferring all of their deluxe names to the base models, right before the F-85 became a barebones trim level on the Cutlass.
I didn’t find out about this beautiful and probably extremely rare car by seeing one in person, or even seeing a picture of one online (I’ve only ever found one example online that I’m positive wasn’t a mislabeled Cutlass), it was from this page in the back of a 1966 Oldsmobile brochure. I don’t know how many are left, I doubt that many were even sold in the first place since the Cutlass offered much more prestige at minimal extra cost, but one day I hope to find one. Preferably in green, blue, or dark metallic red with air conditioning and an automatic transmission, but I’ll take what I can get…
By the way, any of you sedan-o-philes who haven’t seen it yet should rent “A Serious Man,” or just go ahead and buy it on Blu-Ray. It takes place in a hyperrealistic 1967, complete with period-correct sedans a plenty. The protagonist drives a 1966 Coronet, his evil neighbor a brown Rambler wagon, and the “villain’s” father drives a 1962 Mercury Monterey. About the only sporty car in the entire film is the red Mustang owned by the divorcée next door. The DVD and Blu-Ray also have a wonderful documentary on the cars used in the film (apparently the only people the filmmakers trusted to treat the background cars correctly were the cars’ actual owners).
The plot’s not bad either, its definitely my favorite Coen brothers film (their magnum opus in my opinion), but it is a bit postmodern and Barton Fink-ey so your opinion of the somewhat rambling, open-ended, darkly comic story may vary.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes set picture, found online:
I’ll take the Cougar, Riv, Comet and T-Bird.
I’ll do with the Valiant and the Riviera
Wow that’s exactly the same as mine. Mine is also a 1964 Tempest custom 326 in beautiful desert beige with the 3 speed auto transmission! It was sold by McKissick Pontiac in San Leondro California in Sept 1964 and has had 5 owners since. 3 in the US and two in the UK not including me (one of which was the film Co) I’ve attached a picture of it. It would be great to know if anyone else owns one. I have never seen another, doubt there are any others in the UK.
A nice find. I like the styling of the Tempest 4-door much more than the Chevelle of that era. The interiors were well made, and I also like the styling of the Pontiac dashes through the Sixties. We had a ’67 Beaumont 2-door sedan (straight 6/Powerglide) with the evolved version of that dash. It also had a trailer hitch, and it would tow a small boat or a light tent trailer without any fuss. My dad always referred to it as a Chevelle, though it didn’t have any badges identifying the make. The Beaumont was a Canada-only model with a unique grille and tail-lights, and it was actually a Pontiac. In fact, it would have been the two-door Canadian version of Ed Stembridge’s ’66 Tempest, with the identical dash.
I love the 4 door hardtops and own one shown below. In the middle of restoring it.
Floors, inner and outer rockers, trunk, inner wheel wells, quarter panels, body bushings, window frame repair, doors repaired, door jambs replaced, new radiator support and bushings for it. All new wiring harnesses {engine, dash, and foward lamp} New weatherstripping.
Etc., etc. Almost ready to put back together. Never had car running myself, and can’t wait to cruise it!
Deeply impressed! Don’t worry, restorations always look worse before they look better. Really hope you have mucho fun with the finished result.
I bought a 64 Tempest four door, special ordered bucket seats in front, a 4 speed hurst stick on the floor, and a 326 V8. Neatest car I ever owned, except after 13 years the body just about fell off from rusting. I sure wish I still had it.
That is amazing! After decades studying Tempests, this is the first report I have seen that a 1964 four door sedan came from the factory with bucket seats. It would be too much to hope, that you have documentation like a build sheet, or maybe the VIN number to give PHS.
My dad handed me down a 1964 Tempest after he bought an AMC Matador. I loved that Tempest. I came home late from work one night and when I woke up in the morning my car had been stolen. I think I would have still had that car today if not for that.
It was interesting that Jason took notice of the trailer hitch. It’s funny how nowadays people think you can’t pull a trailer with anything less than a diesel 3/4 ton truck.
A car that eventually became mine for a short while was my parents’ ‘68 AMC Rebel 4 door sedan., They bought it in 1978 for $400 for commuter duty to replace the ‘72 Vega, which had served them well. The Rebel was powered with a 232 six with a 3 on the tree. We no longer had the ‘73 Satellite wagon, so my stepdad welded on a hitch to tow his fishing boat. Looking at the rear of the Tempest and Jason’s remark about the car always pulling a trailer made me think of that old Rebel, a car very similar in most every respect.
This is almost a ringer for our old Rebel; it even has a hitch, too! This pic is of a V8 powered Austailian RHD model with full wheel covers. Note the V8 callouts on the rear quarters. Ours was the same color, but a six with poverty caps, and ours didn’t have the chrome wheel lip or rocker panel moldings, but did have those beltline moldings; and I don’t know what that emblem is on the C-pillar?
My 6 cylinder automatic 71 Plymouth Scamp had a fairly stout hitch welded onto the back when I bought it.
“It’s funny how nowadays people think you can’t pull a trailer with anything less than a diesel 3/4 ton truck.”
That reminds me, a few months ago I saw an Olds Vista Cruiser towing a trailer that contained a Model A based hot rod.
A friend had one of these, 2 door with 326 and the two-speed trans. Medium metallic blue. I remember going with him and his mom when they bought it. The salesman was touting the fact that it was bigger than the competition (Valiant or Falcon, mainly.)
Fair size engine, but not a great performer, did have killer A/C however.
The car had a hitch which could carry a kinda Rube Goldberg device to load an aluminum boat which swiveled around to rest on a roof rack. (Advertised as a “one-man boat loader” but required two lazy teenage guys to accomplish.)
Someone in another post on CC commented how Pontiacs seemed to get rattier-looking quicker than similar Buicks or Olds. Here in Phoenix I saw this many times and my friend’s car was no exception. Can’t say why but old Ponchos in this town went downhill fast.
Two door sedan or coupe fans can only come from a country where it is possible to swing open a six foot long door without fear of clouting something. The standard parking space in the UK, ludicrously unchanged for decades despite the advent of much porkier cars for safety reasons, is 7ft 10in wide and 15ft 9in long. (2.4m x 4.8m). Picture the scenario: arrive in supermarket car park early when it is fairly empty, park your De Ville Coupe, do your shopping, return to find cars parked either side leaving, if they’ve been parked neatly in the middle of their respective spaces (ho,ho), a maximum 20in gap into which to open your 6ft long door. Game over. Confession: I did once get a ’73 Mk1V Continental stuck in a multi storey.car park. It took three trolley jacks and about half a day to get the bloody thing out again. Over forty years later and I still break into a sweat whenever I see one. Which is about once every ten years.
I don’t “get” 4dr pillarless hardtops either on the grounds that I’ve never, ever in fifty years seen one, not that there are more than about five of these things in the entire country, being driven with all the windows rolled down! The wind buffeting at speed would be horrendous. Driving with all the windows up wouldn’t be much of a laugh either, what with all those rattly, unsupported frameless windows in a body shell with the torsional rigidity of a banana courtesy of the missing central pillar.
Have you ever driven one much? There is no horrendous wind buffeting at 65 mph. Actually both are pretty much fine in my opinion.
This one is my favorite. With the big V8 this car was made for the highway in the 60’s. Quieter than you may think.
My first car ever, upon arrival back in CONUS in ’68, was a Tempest Custom 4 dr 6/AT like this. I only had the car @ 11 months, but racked up 47,00+ miles! Running from MCB 29 Palms, CA down to LA area really rolled on the miles.
It seemed that no matter what that lil 215ci 6 got 17mpg! Considering the car cost me $600 to buy and then another $433+ to rebuild the engine; it was most likely the least expensive car I’ve ever owned…:) Teach me not to recognize the sound of “solid” oil filled lifters!! Her interior was like the one in picture with exterior to match. No handling, NO performance, but reliable. DFO
It is always refreshing to see “everyday” cars that you haven’t seen on the road in a long time at car shows, especially if it’s a model you or someone you knew well owned or drove many years ago. This Tempest is in good shape; given the age of this article, I wonder if it is still running now, and whether anyone converted any of these sedans to GTO spec.
+1 “Everyday” cars are my favorite kind of old cars to check out. I have little interest in checking out older cars that were once low-optioned, sedate vehicles that were later altered every which-a-way and modded up to be faux muscle cars. Yuck. Aren’t there enough of those around already?
There have been so many times over the past 28+ years I’ve been asked if I would sell my ’64 Falcon 2-door sedan because the inquisitor wants to build hisself a Falcon Muscle Car his own way. You can guess my answer every single time I’ve been asked. Cheapo Falcon is going nowhere. (Except to the paint and body shop).
I hope that Tempest is still roadworthy in 2018; motoring around making the highway look better.
I took drivers’ education in a Tempest just like this one. The teacher had an auxiliary brake pedal mounted on the passenger side floor. He used it once or twice for the other student while doing some parallel parking. My recollection was that it was a 6-cylinder with 2-speed (Powerglide?) automatic. Oh yes, I recall it had manual steering. It taught me that the steering wheel was much easier to turn if the car was allowed to move a little bit.
‘Casual car guys’ think Pontiac solely built muscle cars in the 60’s, and never heard of Tempests or seen a 4 door LeMans.