(first posted 12/12/2011) How could I resist stopping for this? It called out so compellingly, like a bright red Christmas ornament on a steely gray winter’s afternoon. I generally stay clear of the restoration shops, in hopes finding a battered original relic on the street. Good luck with a Tempest or Le Mans of this vintage, never mind a GTO. Anyway, contrary to what I may perpetuate about my love for patina, I can appreciate a shiny paint job as well as the next owner of this Tempest coupe. Which there will be, probably sooner than later. The tunnel back GM A-body coupes of 1966 -1967 are exceptionally handsome for the genre, and none more so than the Pontiac. And just how did it come by its good looks?
OK, I’m not going to get totally wobbly-kneed over a mass produced Detroit coupe, but let’s face it, this one isn’t a exactly the typical gruel, or a Dodge Royal Monaco. So where did the inspiration come from? A little deconstruction is in order. The Bill Mitchell era was certainly a high point for American design, but we all know that he cast his eyes broadly, particularly to Europe. Fair enough.
Pininfarina’s seminal 1961 Ferrari 250 GTO, not uncommonly called the greatest car ever – at least post war – was undoubtedly an influence with more than its name. Were its swollen rear hips and fastback the origin and inspiration for the whole GM Coke-bottle look that revolutionized GM styling for 1965?
The Series I GTO had a smooth fastback,
not completely unlike the 1965 GM full-sized cars four years later.
But the very rare Series II GTO, of which only some seven were built, appeared in 1964 with a rather unusual tunnel-back roof line. Like so many things Pininfarina, that would soon spill over into other models,
most dramatically in the Dino Berlinetta Especiale of 1965, which was the genesis of the long line of Pininfarina mid-engined Ferrari cars all the way to today’s Italia.
We’ll have to pay homage once again to Pininfarina’s 1955 Florida coupe, which as we detailed here, had a profound affect on all sorts of cars. And most particularly so on the new coupe rooflines in the US starting with the 1958 T-Bird, and the 1963 Grand Prix. It already sports the vestigial version of the tunnel back.
You can be the judge, and for all I know, I may be out to lunch. Maybe I missed something that the GM designers were working on earlier.
Or maybe there’s a reason Bill calls him the ‘Maestro’ in this signed photograph. Back to red cars…
It’s not like I’m trying to take anything away from the superb job the Pontiac Design Studio was doing at the time. It was absolutely the envy of the rest of the industry. And the very peak years were from 1963 (full-size cars) through perhaps the 1969 Grand Prix. This 1966 Tempest coupe falls very nicely in the middle of that era, and I’m sure it has its fans that think it’s the best of the bunch.
Undoubtedly, the big Pontiacs for 1965 were dramatic, especially compared to the still-rectilinear ’64-’65 A-Bodies, but their heft was a bit intimidating. The center of gravity was shifting quickly to the intermediate sized cars anyway, thanks to the muscle-car versions like the GTO, as well as just because they were more youthful and reasonably-sized. The full-sized Pontiacs quickly morphed into true bulge-mobiles.
, The ’66-’67 Tempest/Le Mans/GTO carried itself with considerable more levity, tightness, and clarity of line. That’s not to say it was exactly tidy; at 206″ overall length, it’s decidedly full-size in today’s parameters. But a base Tempest Coupe was quoted as weighing 3,110 lbs, almost a featherweight. Of course, these cars were lightly equipped, and that base model also included the OHC six.
How I wish this one had one, the 215 hp four-barrel Sprint backed up by a four speed. GeeTO Jr.! I would have walked in and asked to pop the hood for sure. For a 326, it wasn’t worth disturbing them from their labors.
The 165 hp base version was advertised in terms that might be a bit of a stretch. Especially when teamed up with the two-speed automatic. Maybe a late-seventies 262 cubic inch Chevy V8 or such.
Anyway, there’s nothing wrong with a 326 that a 389 or 421 can’t fix.On the other hand, that gets one dangerously close to a GTO clone, as so many Tempest and Le Mans coupes have already given up their badges for. Nice just to see one unmolested.
That goes for the interior. Straightforward, in the fashion of the times. Not much Pininfarina influence here.
So just for curiosity’s sake, what’s the asking price? Hmmm. Compared to a Ferrari GTO, that’s well less than 1%. Does that help? Just put a Pininfarina badge on it; maybe that’ll help a bit more.
Nice but 25 big ones is crack pipe in this economy.
Yep… good luck getting more than $5,000 for any of the lesser-known 60’s US cars… my son’s Galaxie got one offer, before he gave it to his younger brother- driven another 4 years until it was totaled in an accident- and even then, we hired a negotiator to pay us the “classic” value- a value we never could have received from a private sale.
I’d rather have this than any GTO. No disrespect to the GTO, of course, but I have a lot of respect for a restored car of common heritage.
Bingo. GTO’s are dime-a-dozen anymore. 326 Tempests, Tempest Sprints, those are the rare ones. All due to lots of people living out the adolescence they never had in the first place.
my 67 Custom ordered it rom the factory metallic sky blue 326 2 dr hdtp paid $2885 cash for it. I preferred it over LeMans and GTO the clean lines were it for me Had it for 10 yrs 267K miles changed eng in 1969 (66 421 totally rebuilt (YJ) letter code. Sold it for 1500.00, Wish I still had it,
What a way to start my vacation! Wife at work for half-a-day, dog next to me on the sofa sleeping, Bailey’s in my coffee and I open up “CC” to this! It’s even red!
Paul, this will be a good vacation.
Man, would I love to own this if I were a Pontiac fan. If I had my druthers, and if I can’t have my avatar back, the old car I’d really like is my dad’s red 1966 Impala sports sedan – that’s the car out of all the cars dad owned – maybe except for the 1950 Plymouth – I’d like to have.
The Tempest? Drop-dead beautiful and it is certainly a sight for sore eyes. It appears to be a nice restoration. As for horsepower, I’ve stated many times that I don’t give a care about HP. I just want a nice car to cruise around in, and as I can’t afford anything classic, my Impala and MX5 will have to suffice. Sigh…
Did I say the car is beautiful? I thought so…
When I check that tunnel design, I wonder if Chrysler had got their inspiration from GM A-body coupes for the 1968-70 Dodge Charger to use the tunnel design?
Definitely. Back then, we called Chrysler’s styling department, “GM – two years later.”
That was on purpose. After the final years of Virgil Exner, Chrysler boss Lynn Townsend wanted Plymouths, Dodges, Chryslers and Imperials to feature “mainstream” styling. In those days, “mainstream” basically meant whatever GM was doing.
You are correct. After Chrysler had been burned so badly on Exner’s “out front” styling concepts (and on the disastrous 1962 downsizing that was a reaction to rumors about what GM was doing), Townsend specifically decreed that Chrysler would not take a leadership role in styling in the future. Instead, Chrysler would remain conservative and follow the trails that others would blaze. You can see it in the cars – from the mid 60s on through the mid 70s, Chrysler was routinely about 2 to 4 years behind GM in styling.
This also applied to new models, and again, Chrysler would not start development of a new niche until one of the leaders (usually Ford) had already proven it to be a winner.
Yep, the 68 Mopar intermediates are very close to the 1966 GM intermediates in styling cues, go foward to 1971. when the Mopar intermediates got the Coke-bottle styling cues that the GM intermediates got in 1968.
On my side, I think the Mopar intermediates sedans also got some styling cues from the 1968-71 Fairlane/Torino/Montego 4-door sedans with a little bit of the full-size Mopar C-body fuselage.
I spotted this vintage clip of the tv show “Car & Truck” mentionned on Jalopnik where Bud Lindemann said about the ’71 Charger then “somebody finally had enough originality to build a car that doesn’t look like it came off a GM drawing board”. http://jalopnik.com/5832806/climb-in-the-1971-dodge-charger-and-crank-it-up-with-car-and-track I guess the Charger was the only exception for that year.
Yikes! That’s not a Ferrari GTO in the first photo, it’s a Datsun based clone!
Not exactly the greatest car ever…
Ha! That’s what happens when you start writing a CC at bed time! Thanks for the call-out. Fixed.
Somewhere along the line, I ended up with my grandparents ’66 Tempest four-door. The OHC 6 had eaten the lifters, so it and the two-speed Powerglide got replaced with a four-bolt-mains mildly-built 350 and a THM350 behind it. My grandmother worked the engine hoist for me the evening I dropped the engine in. (c:
From what I remember as a younger fellow on the occasional road trip to visit my great-grandparents in Central Georgia, the OHC 6 and two speed would actually wind out quite nicely – a bit slow getting there, but once moving, would easily cruise at 70+ all day long.
Wish I still had the car, but the NPV just wasn’t there at the time…
Actually, the Pontiac didn’t have Powerglide; it had a variant of the Buick Twin Turbine used in low suds mid-size “A”‘s and some of the ’65 “B” low line cars (i.e. Jetstar, base LeSabre). . .
I suspect that is the same tranny that Oldsmobile called the Jetaway in the 64 and after Cutlass. The 2 speed Jetaway, that is – Not the 4 speed Jetaway HydraMatic that lasted up through the 63 Caddy, IIRC.
I believe the Olds variant of the mid-60’s two-speed auto was called “JETway” – not to be confused with the mid-50’s “JET-A-way.”.
Yeah, buddy – gets confusing. Mele Kalikimaka from the Aloha State!
This 2-speed automatic was called Jetaway by Olds and Super Turbine 300 by Buick. Pontiac did not have a trade name for this transmission and listed it as Automatic or 2-speed automatic. The Buick and Olds versions had a switch-pitch torque converter that Pontiac did not – making those versions 2.5 speed autos much like the Turbo-Hydramatics with that converter were 3.5 speeds. It is not a rebadged Powerglide – in fact the only similarity was the fact both had 2-speeds.
Yup, they’re the same two-speed transmission, although through 1967, the Olds and Buick versions used a variable-pitch stator that the Pontiac iteration didn’t have.
The four-speed dual-coupling Hydra-Matic survived through 1964 on the big Pontiacs (Star Chief and Bonneville) and Cadillac Series 62 and 75. The last GM user was the 1965 Cadillac Series 75 formal models. (Rolls-Royce still made a few of the early single-coupling four-speed Hydra-Matics under license into the late seventies.)
Nice car but $25k? Not very likely. In the car business, there are two assigned values for any car:
1. What is worth.
2. What the customer THINKS it’s worth.
Often there is a considerable distance between these two figures.
If this Tempest were a frame-off restoration and all the numbers matched, the highest I could imagine is $15,000. More than likely, $25,000 is what the owner has into it. And you never, ever get back what you have into a project like this.
Ultimately, the value of anything is determined by the amount of cash that crosses the counter. If somebody pays 25k for it–then it’s worth that amount.
If someone pays $25,000 for it, then they are just as crazy as the people asking $25K for it.
Over the Cascades, the Klamath Kruise is the highpoint for motorheads. We see a fair number of “90%” complete (yeah, right) project cars in the local trading paper, occasionally for breathtaking prices. My wife attributes it to “we need money. Put the @#$%^ car on the market to get some.” With the high price, it gives either enough cash for the emergency and another project or (more likely) a readymade excuse for it not selling. I see the same pricing for boats at the end of the season.
You should see our prices for old american iron 25k is cheap.
Ditto for American cars in Aus. It would make the 25 K here no worries.
My friends and I refer to that as the “Barrett Jackson” effect where watching auctions on tv causes them to ask “stupid money ” for anything, even a rusted hulk. I’ve seen “project cars” asking tens of thousands where I’ve taken better cars to the wrecking yard…yah, that was a damn mistake and there is a COAL story in there when I get around to writing it.
As has been said,they have no idea what the car is worth or are trying to get their money out of it or don’t really want to sell it but must appear to appease their S.O. in the end for me it means I will never likely acquire another 1967 Chevelle Malibu sport coupe to relive my misspent youth.
Stunning, Both the car and the price. Happy Holidays all!
Nice car. As a very young boy in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I was fascinated by the different taillight arrangements – in particular, the “slit” taillights of the GTO – that Pontiac intermediates used from 1965-67.
The price, though, is unrealistic, unless the economy of the Pacific Northwest is better than it is around here.
These are stunning cars, I’ve had a love of A bodies since as far back as I can remember. She looks fine done up in red there too and I’m not a red car type of guy!
There’s nothing proving that the 326 is still under that hood other than the badges. I’d be surprised if it was as most of these cars didn’t make it past the 80s with their original drivetrain.. It could even have been changed over to *GASP* Chevy power!
For $25k there has to be something special about it. You could pick up a GTO in the same shape for $20k-$25k.
A wonderful writeup as usual, Paul.
Still, I’d really rather have a Buick.
My brother had the ’67 Skylark coupe. OK car; 300 2bbl with two-speed twin turbine. He junked it when the timing chain went “tango uniform.” Too bad as the car was clean and straight.
Oh man, I must have missed this when I was scanning the replies. A buddy of mine in HS had a 66? 67? GS 340. By the time he had it in 1978, it was a beat up old car. It was pretty ragged out, and the trans slipped a lot and there were some other issues with it too. He called it the Blow-ick. To have that back today, oh man.
He finally sold it and bought one of my all time faves, a 1972 Mercury Cougar with a 351 C and C6. A trashed 351 Cleveland however. We learned the hard way to get ALL of the clips and nuts and bolts when removing the engine from the donor car at the junkyard…
Very nice. I’m a Mopar guy, but hands down, the ’66-’67 GM A-Bodies were the best-styled intermediates of the 60s, followed by the ’68-’70 Mopar B-Bodies, of course. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Too many casual or younger car fans don’t even know what a Tempest/LeMans is.
They think Pontiac only made GTOs, Grand Prixs and Firebirds in the 60’s. “They were performance division” is quoted, but they have no clue about what Pontiacs actaully sold well, i.e. Catalinas, LeManses, Tempests, and Bonnevilles. Even Pontiac station wagons!
Funniest thing I’ve seen on an ‘expert’ car website was quote ‘This is some kind of funny looking GTO’ in a post about a 1969 Custom S.
Hey! This is the same car lot that had the infamous fiberglass kit-car used as a CC clue.
In the 60’s and 70’s it was a Ritchfield station, always got our oil changed there–pre-Jiffy Lube.
Ah….”restoration” shops…..throw some questionable taste rims on it, paint it Corvette re-sale red, slap some sort of original looking vinyl/tijuana taxi vinyl in the interior and slap a crazy price tag on it…..$25k..sigh……alright there Chip Foose…….
“Anyway, there’s nothing wrong with a 326 that a 389 or 421 can’t fix.On the other hand, that gets one dangerously close to a GTO clone,”
The 421 was full size only, by the way. Also, the 326 was fairly common in LeManses. The OHC 6 was the rare one, but average car fans only go for Goats
$25K asking price is ridiculous, however, nice car. Like my comments over on the ’57 Chevy 210 page, I for one would be perfectly conent with this set up; 326 and two-speed automatic, although I’d upgrade my 326 to period “HO” specs.
Sedan; two or four door, wagon or coupe, a lower suds Tempest or LeMans of this vintage would be welcome in my driveway. Turquoise or blue most definitely. I remember most of these of this vintage were 326 2bbl w/two speed automatics.
Side note: San Rafael High School auto shop (with “Blame Burnt Burger” Mr. Moore as the teacher) had a ’66 Tempest as a “donor” work car; that one had the 4bbl OHC six and two-speed automatic).
$25K sounds high, but what will it buy you new? A small FWD 4 door sedan. A base Mazda 3 with auto and cruise control would cost that much buy the time you bought it from a dealer, for cash. Over $2500 of it in taxes and fees.
If that car were a 4 door, it would be worth about 30% of what the 2 door is worth in the same condition. People don’t collect 4 doors, at least not from that generation. You’d have to go back to the ’30s to find a collectible 4 door. 4 door wagons are worth somewhat more than sedans, likely because wagons no longer exist.
Because of the huge difference in value, you can find good deals on 4 doors, if all you want is an old car.
Anybody who pays $25k for this car has more money than brains, as my late daddy so aptly put it.
Obviously, he is not in a hurry.
. . . the time the Tempest resided in the San Rafael High auto shop (shared with the Marin County vocational program) would’ve been 1976. Two of the other “practice” cars at that time sharing floor space with the OHC Tempest was a ’59 Ford Skyliner(!) and a white roof, red bodied ’57 Belvedere. I recall the Plymouth still ran; the retractable roof Ford did not. The Plymouth would’ve made a great restoral car; the Skyliner was hammered on all four corners. And being NorCal inland by the bay, these cars had not one bubble of rust. Makes me cringe that these cars were play toys for us high schoolers to practice on, but, in 1976, these were just “old worn out cars.”.
Most of todays collectable cars were worn out old bombs at one stage that were bought cheap and thrashed into the ground……guilty as charged yer honour.
This car (not this particular car) was my dad’s car before I was born–’67 326 Tempest (or maybe LeMans), with four on the floor–traded for a ’68 Impala SS with automatic, because my mom couldn’t drive a stick. His original “wish I’d kept it” car.
Best definintion of “patina” I ever heard: other people’s dirt. This car is way to detailed.
I really like the fact that from the roof, through the c-pillars and on to the rear fenders it was all one piece of sheet metal.
When I was a kid, the next door neighbors were Pontiac people. In 1967, the Mrs. was driving a tan 66 GTO (with the 4 speed, no less) when her husband brought home a light green 67 Tempest Sprint with the OHC 6 (and a 4 speed, I believe). That 6 must have come with a fairly open muffler, because it was a full-throated sound that came out of that tailpipe.
Like most others, I am bored with red restos with fancy wheels. But it is still a Tempest. It is hard to think of a better looking car in the 60s. There is not a bad or awkward line anywhere on this vehicle. I still marvel at the lines on this car. An almost perfect balance between emotion and restraint.
One of these Tempests was out and about in routine service near me, but it appears to have moved on. A pretty fair amount of rust, but as of early last summer, it was still someone’s daily driver. A really dingy black 2 door hardtop with regular wheelcovers. I have been hoping to spot it again, but no luck.
My folks were Pontiac people in the ’60’s anyway. We moved to San Rafael from the Sunset District in San Francisco in July, 1960. Two Pontiacs crossed the Golden Gate in that move; my Grandfather’s ’54 Chieftain and my Dad’s ’55 Chieftain 870. We had the ’55 through my sixth birthday; I remember that car. I was an infant when we moved to San Rafael and barely two when my Grandfather traded the ’54 on a ’61 Catalina Safari. We had that car through to my 12th birthday. What does this stumble down memory lane have to do with this article? Because in January ’66, my Dad brought home a four door leftover ’65 Tempest for my Mom to look at. She didn’t like it; we ended up with a blue over blue leftover ’65 Dodge Custom 880 six window sedan; poor man’s New Yorker.
I bought a new 66 Pontiac Tempest Lemans Sprint New in Fayettville N.C. I think it cost $2,600 with a 3 speed and no Air. 207 HP OHC with a Quadra Jet. I had the exhaust split and
dual pipes coming out each side(no’H’pipes back in those days). I also replaced the Quadra jet with a Sig Erickson 3-2 barrel intake with Rochester Carbs 2C-97Gs,,had the Head Ported & relived, Bored out .60 Thousand with new High performance Pistons. Kep the stock Cam. Dont have the slightest Idea about the HP or Torque but due to the light weight( don’t forget the sprint has GTO Suspension and handling Package) almost 50-50 weight distrubation It would easily out Run a GTO in the Twisties. Also put on GTO red line Tires on Mag Rims, and ordered the Red fiberglass fender well liners.The sound with 2 Glasspacks was deep and throats. It was fast off the line and I wish I had ordered a ‘”4 on the Floor) but I was an E-$ in the USAF at Pope AFB . I had guys follow Me into Drive In’s because they could not believe it was a Six Cylinder. Traded it For a New 68 Firebird with the OHC 2 Barrel and
Automatic Tranny when I got Orders For Japan. The speed linit is about 45 MPH and it was a bit to Big For Japanese Traffic. What a Great Car!
A bit off-topic, I read the text about the Ventura and I wondered what if Pontiac had called it Tempest instead of Ventura if things could had been different? (Or even let the OHC-6 soldiering under the Pontiac X-body for a couple of additionnal years)
And I think in Canada, the Tempest/LeMans came a bit later. Canadian Pontiac dealers got some “Chevelle-ized” Beaumont until the late 1960s. Here some scans from the 1966 Beaumont brochures http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/Canada/1966%20Beaumont%20Brochure/dirindex.html
Beaumonts were wild rides. The 68 may be my favorite with the 4 narrow slits for tail lights, I think 69 got regular Chevelle tails.
You seem to pass this way a lot may as well profile the old Chevy as well, what sort of silly money is on that one?
Oh baby. That’s the nicest Christmas present I’ve gotten for a while. One of the other immigrant families (from Austria) that we were friends with, their oldest son had a teal green & black vinyl roofed 326 Tempest. It had the deep dish aluminum mags, headers, aluminum intake, shift kit, traction bars, all the early 70’s toys on it.
Eric, the owner of the car, was one of those tall, blond haired, blue eyed mildly athletic guys the chicks would swoon for. He was one of those real talented folks who could play guitar, sing well, dance even better.
He was definitely one of the guys where all the guys wanted to be like him, and all the young ladies just wanted him. I was maybe eight or nine years old or so, but I was jealous of him. I didn’t even really know why.
Regardless of my ignorance, I thought (foolishly) that when I got older, a teal green with black vinyl roofed Tempest would be the ticket to be like Eric. Even though subsequent events proved me wrong, I still like this era of Tempest. I don’t know if you can still find one of these to make a resto mod out of, but it would be great to find a teal green one…
Although, if I really had my druthers, I’d like to find one of these. Except for the Super Stock wheels, it’s a lot like the ones the nuns used to drive us around in during my elementary school years.
I might be the dolt that shells 25k for this car (if I could raise the $$, that is), 🙂
Love the Tempest …… especially w/ all the Gtos now in possession of the monied A Holes. A close second would be a ’68 Executive coupe- either in a deep black or a nice royal blue. *Heaven*
Question: did n’t Wooderson drive a GTO clone?
Wooderson drived a 1970 Chevelle SS-454, it was Prickford who drived a 1970 GTO Judge at the beginning of “Dazed and Confused”. http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_26097-Pontiac-GTO-1970.html
Sad story- a while back one of these, a black one, was totaled at a car show when an older lady of far east descent went flying across the parking lot in her big Lexus sedan at warp speed and creamed it in the passenger side door. She was unhurt and her car relatively unscathed, but the Poncho was totaled. The door was pushed in about two feet. Anyone sitting in the passenger sea surely would have been killed.
My boss’ boss was there and saw the whole thing, and took pictures. The woman driving the Lexus looked dazed and confused. The story was circulated in the blogosphere and the car’s mangled remains are up for sale from an insurance auction company.
my dads boss gave me a ’67 in 1974 for free , a 2 door post ,vinyl floor 2 speed trans. and the o h c six .the corners of the rear window had rust holes and the floors were rusted out i fixed the holes and did some bodywork had it painted at earl shibe for $39.95 the cam shaft made alot of noise due to lack of regular oil changes i didnt care it was my first car and i loved it .drove it about a year and the trans. went. sold it to lee miles for $150.00
Had the chance to buy one of these back in 96, a 66 2 door OHC with 4 speed for $500…sigh…
My first decent car was a ’67 Buick Special – metallic beige/white top (not vinyl) hardtop, with the 300 V8. Drove it through high school, and I don’t think I ever needed to do anything to it other than routine service. A few years later when I bought a ’72 2002, my Dad began to drive it now and then, and he kept it around for a long time. I’d love to have another Buick like my old one – or a convertible ’67 model. I had one chance – 1982 or so, guy a couple of towns over had a ’67 GS 400 convertible, a red one, complete, just sitting around. “How much would you sell it for?” I asked. “$1700.00”. He replied. Dad wouldn’t let me buy it. All I could find that was wrong with it was that the power window switches for the rear quarter windows didn’t work. Years went by, and one day, Dad called me – he’d seen another ‘vert just like it in Hemmings for 45 thousand dollars. We don’t talk too much about the one he would not let me buy anymore . . .
I like the Pontiacs of that era, and the LeMans/Tempest is a classic. My dad had a ’67 Beaumont (Canada only) with the straight six and two-speed automatic. It had the exact same dash, though it was blue. When we got rid of it in 1978 it was rusting out and the engine used a fair share of oil, and the exhaust nearly matched the paint color.
Just off a body on resto of a 66′ Tempest custom barn find, like the fact that i have only seen a handful of very nice ones in the last 20 years. I have parked next to dozens of GTO’s and clones at shows but never been sitting next to another Nice Tempest. And as you can tell by my plates i am proud it’s a Tempest
Brian
I bought a 68 Tempest in the early 80’s in Southern California. It paid 350 for it. It had a 350 engine. They styling had changed from 67 to 68 but it was still a nice ride for my first car. These cars were so cheap and easy to pick up back in the 80’s. When I turned 18 I traded it in for a 1984 Nissan Pulsar! Talk about stupid. All my friends thought my Pulsar was cool but I knew I had made a mistake the first time I tried to leave So Cal and scoot up the grapevine(mountainous road on I 5). My old Tempest had climbed the steep mountains effortlessly. The little, brand new Pulsar barely made it up! Back then everybody was dumping these beautiful old cars dirt cheap. Many of the Tempest survivors as mentioned were turned into GTO clones . It’s nice to see an original Tempest still out there and looking good. 25,000 is an interesting price but you never know there might be some rich dude out there who wants to relive his youth in this shiny red Tempest.
It’s ugly with those wheels. It needs either its original wheel covers or Rally II’s. Aftermarket wheels are a farce. And they are, 99% of the time, ugly.
I liked this much better than what came out in 1968.
Does anyone know if this is still available, the number is out of service?
No; This was shot some two years ago.
The final scene in My Cousin Vinny when they confuse a Skylark with a Tempest and Marissa Tomei using her GM mastery to discern the difference between a Skylark and a Tempest.
I thought 1966-67 were the best years of the GM immediate’s, especially the 2 door hardtop’s, GM was definitely at the top of their game during this period, I always thought the Pontiac’s were the best looking of the GM immediate’s
By far my favorite all around GM cars of the 60s. Right sized, perfect proportions, great styling, great interiors, great engines and great details. I really never was a big fan of the other 60s stacked headlight cars from Pontiac, Cadillac, Ford, ect. but the 66/67 Tempest/LeMans/GTOs were just stunners.
Beautiful car, and I would not turn it down, but IMO, Mopar had it all over GM with the 1970 style Charger and Roadrunner body styles. Those two cars, along with the ’70 Challenger were Chrysler’s best work ever. They look just as good (and that means REAL good) now as they did back then. That Tempest, as nice as it is, looks dated today. And I don’t mean that in a bad way. But Mopar ruled in body styling back in those days
The 70 was IMO the worst year of the 68-70 B bodies with Dodge’s goofy loop bumpers, 68 and 69 were the best, Plymouths I more or less agree though. Also I don’t know how this is more “dated” more than a Charger, Both are swoopy coke bottle bodied tunnel roofed hardtops, only real differences (yes, the body is practically the same design) were the nose and tail treatments, and there’s not many modern cars with hidden headlights so that automatically makes it too a period piece. Mopar was clearly making “homages” to these A-bodies when the 68 Bs were penned, same for the Challenger/Cuda for that matter – Combine a 68 Camaro and a 69 Cougar and you get? Yes, a Challenger.
Mopar had awesome styling yes, and I too prefer the 68-69 Charger to the 66-67 Tempest/GTO, but lets face it, they were essentially homages to GM designs one cycle before hand.
There were rare birds around here, as mentioned upthread we just go the Beaumont, a re-grilled Chevelle. The way the cut for the hoodline sits above the grille on the Tempest is just beautiful. Bill Mitchell and Pontiac were indeed at the top of their game here.
Wasn’t the Tempest the base model of this body style? Weren’t the base models a all posts? This looks like a hardtop. The add in this article shows a post car. Educate me.
I’ll educate you, but first, read the title: “Tempest Custom”. That’s one trim level up from just a base Tempest. And the hardtop was available in the Tempest Custom series.
Beauty, best wishes selling it.
Sadly our generation seem to be falling fast and the thumb talking generation has little interest in our old toys.
Sure Hope I am wrong……
I’m of that generation and these cars interest me the most. Just not at their current inflated price point.