1961-’63 Tempest History

Dept X: The Second Life of XP-798

The Transaxle Era

Two 1969 Trans AmsTwo Ways:

Stock

Pro Touring

Volume 3, Number 1 January 2017$9.99 US $11.99 Canada

Volume 3, Number 1January 2017

Poncho Perfection is a monthly publication of Car Life Publishing, a Division of Keefe Media International. Articles, letters and editorial comments represent the views and opinions of the individual authors and are not necessarily those of Car LifePublishing, Keefe Media International or any of its officers. All Pontiac/General Motors Trademark(s) are used purely for illustrative purposes and no claim of ownership is expressed or implied. All information provided herein is intended only forgeneral knowledge and is not a substitute for professional advice for specific situations or specific conditions of your vehicle. Poncho Perfection, Car Life Publishing and Keefe Media International do not give mechanical advice. The authors and staffcan answer your general questions about Pontiac vehicles. You should seek professional mechanical advice for any specific mechanical condition(s) of your vehicle. The information contained herein is presented in summary form only and is intendedto provide only a broad consumer understanding of each particular set of facts. The information provided should not be considered complete and should not be used in place of consultation with a professional mechanic.

IN THIS ISSUE

DEPARTMENTS

Page 20

The release of the Y-body 1961 Tempest was a daring move on thepart of Pontiac, as it featured a radically different driveline designand construction techniques. Jim Luikens provides an in-depth lookat this first-generation of small Pontiacs, starting on page 20.

We ventured up to Fernandina Beach, Florida, for the POCI DixieChapter’s annual Fall Classic. We met up with old friends, made newones and saw over 100 beautiful Pontiacs. It was a fantastic way tospend a November afternoon. Coverage starts on page 40.

On the Cover: This month, we kick off Volume 3 of Poncho Perfection with twovery different 1969 Trans Ams. One is an exquisite original Ram Air III poweredmachine with an automatic and a non-original clone- an all-out, high-tech ProTouring machine with a supercharged LS3, 6-speed and fully-adjustable suspen-sion. Compare and contrast these beauties to see which inspires you more. Thestories start on pages 24 and 50.

Page 50

The story of the XP-798 Banshee being pulled from the 1966 NewYork Auto Show and the epic battle between PMD General ManagerJohn DeLorean and GM President James Roche is the stuff of leg-ends. Don Keefe uncovers what happened to the four-seat Bansheecoupe after that fateful clash. His story and newly discovered photosfrom GM Media Archive begins on page 44.

Page 44

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1961-’63 Tempest History•

Absolute Perfection•

2016 Dixie Chapter Fall Classic•

Dept. X: XP-798’s Second Life•

Track Time Trans Am•

Off the Reservation•

Stan Rarden•

Tony Webster•

Pint-Sized Ponchos•

What If?•

New Product Spotlight•

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04

06

08

16

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20

24

40

44

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January2017

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When Pontiac’s AssistantChief Engineer, John Z.DeLorean, addressed

the Detroit Section of the Societyof Automotive Engineers on No-vember 11, 1960, he told themabout a radical new small car thatPontiac was introducing. The nameof the car was Tempest and it fea-tured quite a number of revolu-tionary technical breakthroughswhich he then detailed for his au-dience. The title of his speech was“Pontiac Tempest, A Car Without aCounterpart.”

Planning for the Tempest hadactually begun several years earlierwhen General Motors had decreedthat its Buick, Oldsmobile, andPontiac divisions were going to de-

Pontiac General Manager Eliot M. “Pete” Estes stands proudly next to atrainload of Tempests being shipped from the factory to dealers. Tempestproduction totaled 100,783 units for its debut year.

1961-’63 Tempest: A Car Without a Counterpart

Photos Courtesy of GM Media Archive and the National Automobile History Collection

By Jim Luikens

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velop a line of Senior Compact carsfor the 1961 model year. WhileBuick and Olds took a relativelysafe path and broke no newground beyond a small-displace-ment V-8 engine that was con-structed of aluminum by Buick,Pontiac chose to throw conven-tionality out the window and de-sign a radical new small car thatstretched the boundaries of origi-nality and technology in nearlyevery direction.

The design brief for the newsmall Pontiac was that the car hadto carry six people comfortablyand their luggage, provide the rideand handling of a large car, deliveroutstanding fuel economy withlively performance, and provideexceptional value with cleanstyling. While some of these attrib-utes seem to be at odds with eachother, the Pontiac team, led byGeneral Manager S.E. “Bunkie”Knudsen, Chief Engineer E.M.“Pete” Estes, and Assistant ChiefEngineer DeLorean, set to work. Itwould be hard to imagine anothertime in the history of General Mo-tors when this much creativity andleadership was massed in oneplace at one time on one project.

Eventually Pontiac settled on afront-engine car with a rear-wheeldrive transaxle that would be tiedtogether by a unique, curved driveshaft. For their engine they choseto “cut” their highly-proven PontiacV-8 engine in half, using the rightbank of their V-8 to create a new,194.5ci four-cylinder engine thatutilized many V-8 components. Itis important to remember that GMhad not manufactured a four cylin-

The first 1961 Tempest off the production line was made into a show dis-play showing the compact’s unique drivetrain. Nicknamed the “AlligatorJaw,” this car was a big hit that season.

1961 Tempest four-door sedan.

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der-equipped car since 1928. Thelast volume American car to use afour-cylinder engine prior to theTempest was the 1931 Ford ModelA and the last American car with afour-cylinder engine period wasthe 1954 Henry J. It was againstthis backdrop that the Pontiacgroup strode confidently forwardwith their plans.

In addition to having the advan-tage of using a proven engine de-sign, the new Pontiac four-cylinder

engine offered many cost-savingadvantages as well. Of the 44major components that made upthe new four-cylinder engine, 28items were able to be carried overfrom the V-8 unmodified, five weremodified only slightly, and just 11were totally different. Pontiacwould offer the four-cylinder pow-erplant in five different guises from110 to 155 horsepower, dependingon transmission and carburetionselected. Interestingly, the 155-

horse version had more horse-power and greater torque than anyproduction four-cylinder in theworld. In fact, it even had morehorsepower than any Americansix-cylinder engine available at thetime.

Equally unusual was the rear-mounted transaxle. Although othercars, including the Corvair, had arear-mounted transaxle they wererear-engined cars. No one had everpaired a front engine location witha rear transaxle prior to this time.The transaxle was available in man-ual or automatic versions. The au-tomatic was the most unusual,employing a split-torque principle.In low gear all power went to theair-cooled torque converter thatwas positioned behind the differ-ential and then on to the transmis-sion. In high gear, 55 percent of thepower went to the torque con-verter and 45 percent went directlyto the pinion itself.

The split-torque principle of-fered greater efficiency while cut-ting power loss and gas-eatingslippage. The overall result was im-proved downhill braking, a moresolid feel at highway speeds, and aslight increase in mileage. Addi-tionally, the varying ratio of thetorque converter was still availablefor passing.

As unique as the engine andtransmission were, neither couldhold a candle to the Tempest’s un-usual, curved drive shaft. The“Rope Drive Shaft” was so namedbecause it sagged 10 3/4 degrees,or 3 inches, over its 7-foot length.The 3-inch curve of the shaft elim-inated the natural tendency of a

Sporty LeMans interior included Morrokide vinyl-covered bucket seatsand checkered flag callout above the glovebox. Note the dash-mountedshifter for the two-speed automatic transmission.

Tempest wagon was a practical and economical choice for young familiesand businesses looking for an all-weather delivery vehicle. Rear-mountedtransaxle offered additional traction in wet and snowy weather.

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long rod to whip and thus createvibrations. The shaft rode in twoball bearings, that were placed atthe 1/3rd and 2/3rds positions ofthe shaft, and it was bolted to theengine with six bolts while asplined flange was used at the rear.In order to accommodate thisshaft, the engine had a downwardtilt of five degrees to the rear andthe nose of the differential had asimilar downward forward tilt.Thanks to this arrangement no u-joints were needed anywhere.

The shaft was placed in tensionby arching it slightly. Thus, it wasable to absorb the torsional vibra-tions of the four-cylinder engine.The amazing shaft also twisted upto 30 degrees, much like a torsionbar would. This feature aided indamping the four-cylinder engine’svibrations. In fact, during proto-type testing the driveshafts wereordered in pairs and identified astorsion bars. Pontiac’s hope wasthat this subterfuge would dis-guise what they were really creat-ing. The ruse worked and severalnews outlets leaked that Pontiac’snew small car would have a torsion

bar suspension.The curved shaft raised the nat-

ural vibration frequency above the

highest speed at which the shaftturned. Most amazing was its size.

Tempest two-door coupe bodystyle was not a true hardtop, as the doors used thin pillars.

1961 Tempest Wagon.

See-through illustration shows the Tempest’s V-8-derived slant-four en-gine, curved torque tube drivetrain and rear-mounted transaxle.

Continued on page 32

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Automatic transmission cars got a5/8-inch driveshaft while manual-transmission cars received a 3/4-inch version. Both sizes werereferred to as “thumb-sized” andwere much smaller than the typical2.25-inch driveshafts of the day.Because the Tempest’s shafts wereonly turning at engine RPM, theydid not have to be larger in size toaccept a multiplied engine torquethat had gone through gear multi-

plication in a transmission.Forged from 8660 triple-alloy

steel, the curved drive shaft wasthen heat-treated and shot-peened as well as coated to pro-vide protection from flying stonesand debris. In all, 22 different stepswere performed after forging theshaft and before its installation.The shaft rode in a hollow, upside-down u-shaped channel thatjoined the front and rear ends. Aflat, pressed steel strip was spot

welded to the tube to encase thedrive shaft.

It was this unique channel thatallowed the Tempest to ride downthe same assembly line as the bigPontiacs did and not have to resortto a custom assembly line like theCorvair required. Taken as a whole,the revolutionary driveline deliv-ered a number of benefits. It pro-vided nearly 50/50 weightdistribution, depending on engineand transmission choice, and re-duced the traditional transmissiontunnel to a mere hump that wasonly 2-inches high in the front seatand 3.5-inches high in the rearseat.

After creating such a unique dri-veline all that was left to do wastest it. Some of the testing wasdone in full-size Pontiacs with thisdriveline tucked underneath. Addi-tionally, Pontiac was the most fre-quent user of the GM ProvingGrounds during this period. By thetime the Tempest was ready formarket, Pontiac engineers hadamassed more than 2.6 million testmiles to verify the dependability oftheir revolutionary driveline.

In one last test, a new Tempestsedan and wagon were turnedover to six teenagers who drovethem around the clock in a 107-day final marathon that covered all48 contiguous U.S. States andseven Canadian provinces fromJuly 1 to October 15th, 1960. Theresults were very encouraging witheach car only needing minor serv-ices and no service or repairs to itsunique driveline.

F.F. Kimpner, another GM execu-tive, was very forthright in his ad-

Continued from page 23

1962 Tempest four-door sedan.

Colorful LeMans convertible interior featured Morrokide vinyl bucketseats. Rear-mounted transaxle made for a much smaller center hump.

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dress to the S.A.E. on the Tempestdriveline. He said, “When a newdevice is offered in competitionversus a well-tried and proven one,the burden of proof is on the new-comer. The newcomer must startat, or above, the level its competi-tion has reached.” No less thanMercedes-Benz was so dubiousthat such a driveshaft would workthat they built their own version.Much to their disbelief, theirsworked just as well as Pontiac’s did.

To familiarize the public withtheir radical new driveline Pontiactook a very unusual tact. They re-leased full information, includingphotos and drawings, of the drive-line three weeks before they evershowed the whole vehicle. This, ineffect, gave them a chance to telltheir technical story on its ownmerits. Many magazines gavethem extensive coverage, includingone front cover that showed onlya Tempest chassis.

The car magazines were quick toweigh-in with their opinions. Noless than John R. Bond, the leg-endary publisher of Road & Track,said, “while the approach is unique,the thinking behind it is sound.”Other magazines were equally asenthusiastic with Motor Trend nam-ing the new Tempest as its 1961“Car of the Year.” Motor Trendsummed up their coverage by say-ing the Tempest was one of themost intriguing cars ever built inthe USA.

It was against this back dropthat the new Tempest hit theground running on November 3,1960. Two body styles, a four-doorsedan and a four-door station

wagon, were available from thestart of production with both shar-ing the same 112-inch wheelbase.A variety of trim and decor op-tions, along with 15 single colorsand 57 two-tone paint combina-tions, were available to differenti-ate the cars. Five differentfour-cylinder Pontiac engines wereavailable depending on the carbu-retion and transmission chosen.The new aluminum V-8 from theBuick Special was also offered withthe same 155-horsepower ratingas the top four-cylinder Pontiacengine, but few buyers chose it. Infact, a whopping 98% of the Tem-pest buyers chose one of the rev-olutionary four-cylinder enginesfor their new car.

Since so much was going onmechanically, Pontiac chose a sim-ple, but classy, look for their newbaby. Sculptured body panels, a v-contour hood, and bodysidecreases all backed up a traditionalPontiac split grille. The modellaunch went well and the ground-breaking driveline was really a

non-issue for most buyers. TheTempest was priced $217 dollarsless than the Buick and Olds ver-sions of GM’s Senior Compacts and$193 dollars more than the Corvair.It was also $535 dollars cheaperthan the cheapest full-size Pontiac.

Pontiac went all out for the NewYork Auto Show in the spring of1961. They prepared a special, flip-top Tempest four-door sedan,whose body tilted upwards fromthe rear to clearly show the newdriveline. They also debuted theTempest Coupe and announcedthat it would be available in Stan-dard or Custom versions, unlikethe sedan and wagon, which hadonly been offered in one versionup to that point.

Pontiac’s creative Public Rela-tions head Bob Emerick was in fullflight as well. He suggested to TomMcCahill, the top autoreviewer/tester of the day, “Whydon’t you take a new Tempest andrace the New York Central’s 20thCentury Limited (generally re-garded as the fastest passenger

The 1962 model year saw the introduction of the convertible bodystylein both Tempest and LeMans trim levels. The vehicle pictured here is theupscale LeMans.

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train in the east) from Chicago toNew York City?” Since that type ofschtick was right up Uncle Tom’salley, the race was on. After kissinghis wife goodbye and putting heron the train, Tom set sail for NewYork. Despite encountering severefog throughout most of Ohio dur-ing the night, Tom arrived morethan two hours before the trainand had time for a leisurely break-fast while he waited for the trainand his wife to arrive.

By the end of the 1961 modelyear, 100,783 Tempests had beensold in their debut year. More than62,000 of these were four-doorsedans, which was by far the mostpopular model. Overall, Pontiacheld 6.3% of the U.S. car market.

After all the activity of 1961,1962 was a relatively quiet, butsuccessful, year for Pontiac. Salessoared as April, 1962 became Pon-tiac’s biggest sales month ever. Itsurpassed March of 1955, the pre-

vious record-holder, and sales forthe year were up 36% compared to1961. On the Tempest front, an-other new body style was added asa two-door convertible joined theline in both Tempest and LeMansversions. A bucket-seat-equippedLeMans two-door coupe wasadded as well.

Styling changes for the 1962Tempest included a new, widersplit grille with a third, bright-metalgrille section placed between thetwo existing grilles. Keeping in thePontiac tradition, it incorporated aV-shaped theme. Bolt-on brightmetal fins gave a little more visualheft to the rear of the vehicle. Salesgrew to 110,690, with the coupethe new volume leader. In fact, theLeMans two-door coupe led allTempest models with sales of39,662. Pontiac, thanks in part toTempest, took over the number-three sales position in U.S. carsales, displacing Plymouth.

Suspension changes for 1962led to slight modifications of thesuspension bushings but basicallythe radical driveline carried overunchanged from the previous year.Some horsepower ratings rose asa new cam-and-lifter set raised theoutput of the lower-rated engineswhile a new intake manifold raisedthe top four-cylinder version’shorsepower output from 155 to166 horses. The four-cylinder’shorsepower ratings were now 110,115, 120, 140, and 166 respectively.Although few buyers chose it, theBuick aluminum V-8 carried over,now with 185 horsepower to betterdifferentiate from the top-ratedfour-cylinder Pontiac engine. 1963 LeMans convertible.

The “Alligator Jaw” Tempest showcar was updated with 1962 front sheet-metal and send out for another year of show duty. Its ultimate fate is un-known but it was likely destroyed after its tour duties were completed.

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Also in 1962, “Bunkie” Knudsenmoved to the Chevrolet divisionwith E.M. “Pete” Estes being pro-moted to Pontiac’s General Man-ager and John Z. DeLoreanreplacing Estes as Pontiac’s Chief

Engineer.The 1963 model year saw the

first big overhaul of the little Tem-pest since its introduction. The newmodels were 2-inches wider and 5-inches longer with three of those

inches added in the trunk. Stylingchanges included a slight “Cokebottle” shape, a more angularroofline, shaper-creased side pan-els, wider wheel openings, and, onsome models, dual verticallystacked tail lamps. Tempest salesfell from the record levels of 1962but Pontiac overall continued tohold onto the Number Three posi-tion in the sale race.

The big news for 1963 wasunder the hood where an all-newPontiac 326ci V-8 engine- basedon the 389ci V-8 engine found infull-size Pontiacs- could be or-dered in a Tempest. Rated at 260horsepower, it replaced the 215ciBuick aluminum V-8 that had beenused during Tempest’s first twoyears of production. All of the four-cylinder versions continued basi-cally unchanged from 1962 withthe lowest-rated version now clas-sified at 115 horsepower. The otherfour-cylinder horsepower ratingsremained the same as 1962.

The 1963 LeMans two doors included a closed coupe and convertible.Both four-cylinders and V-8s were available in the top-level versions.

The 1963 LeMans convertible shows off its crisp, attractive design and sensible proportions. Production forthis bodystyle totaled 15,957 units.

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To handle the increased horse-power and torque of the 326 V-8 anew drive shaft featured a diame-ter increase of 12 percent. Thenumber of splines also increasedby 12 percent. The spline-end ofthe shaft was induction hardenedand all Tempests, not just thosewith a V-8, got the new shaft. For1963, the rear differential was alsostrengthened with larger bearingsand bigger axles. Finally, a newcase and cover were designed toprovide additional stiffness for therear differential.

Two different transmissions, one

for the four-cylinder and one forthe 326 V-8, were also new for1963. The difference was the num-ber of clutch plates and the size ofthe torque converter. The new au-tomatic transmission featured fullhydraulic operation in all gears,had a Park position, and providedquieter operation. Other 1963 im-provements included a bigger gastank, a new dash-gauge layout, anew rear suspension that providedsmoother handling, and the intro-duction of the Delcotron generatorthat featured higher current outputand no periodic maintenance.

By 1964 all of this was gone. Itwas replaced by a new, larger mid-size Tempest that was thoroughlyconventional in every way. Whilethe new car did spawn the GTO itnever had the variety of thoughtfuland creative engineering solutionsthat first-generation Tempests did.The 1961, 1962 and 1963 PontiacTempests shall always stand as atribute to what a dedicated and in-spired group of individuals can ac-complish when they have theresources of the world’s largest au-tomobile manufacturer behindthem. PP

The 1963 Tempest four-door sedan featured a familiar “six-window” roofline. Its 1964 replacement would nothave that design feature and would be much more traditional in a mechanical sense.