Beautiful Cars & Trucks

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1933 Ford Model 40!

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Mercury

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[Eric]

Pontiac produced just six of these 421-powered Tempest wagons to compete in NHRA Super Stock racing. Along with the Super Duty 421, the wagons were equipped with an experimental semi-automatic "Powershift" transmission. A near 50/50 weight distribution was helped by an aluminum front end and a rear mounted transaxle. Like most other factory race cars of the era, radio and heater delete were standard while factory-equipped headers and rear slicks were proof this wagon wasn't just for getting groceries.

 

 

 

 

 

[Schmidt Meister]

1958 Chevrolet Yeoman Custom Street Rod

 

[Schmidt Meister]

1967 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible

[railfancwb]

16 hours ago, Eric said:

Pontiac produced just six of these 421-powered Tempest wagons to compete in NHRA Super Stock racing. Along with the Super Duty 421, the wagons were equipped with an experimental semi-automatic "Powershift" transmission. A near 50/50 weight distribution was helped by an aluminum front end and a rear mounted transaxle. Like most other factory race cars of the era, radio and heater delete were standard while factory-equipped headers and rear slicks were proof this wagon wasn't just for getting groceries.

 

 

 

 

 

So… How did they do on the strips? Inquiring minds want to know. 

[Eric]

13 minutes ago, railfancwb said:

So… How did they do on the strips? Inquiring minds want to know. 

No idea. That independent rear suspension probably wasn’t an asset in a drag race though. 

[Borg warner]

19 minutes ago, Eric said:

No idea. That independent rear suspension probably wasn’t an asset in a drag race though. 

I'm surprised that independent rear suspension could stand up to all that horsepower of the 421 when it was originally designed to be used with the 4 banger and the 326. I remember when those Tempests first came out with the trans axle the big selling point was a much smaller center hump on the floor.

But as far as independent rear suspensions at the drag strip, the Corvettes did pretty good with them.

[Eric]

10 minutes ago, Borg warner said:

I'm surprised that independent rear suspension could stand up to all that horsepower of the 421 when it was originally designed to be used with the 4 banger and the 326. I remember when those Tempests first came out with the trans axle the big selling point was a much smaller center hump on the floor.

But as far as independent rear suspensions at the drag strip, the Corvettes did pretty good with them.

It takes some work to set up IRS for drag racing and there are still some liabilities inherent in the design, when used for that purpose. A fixed rear diff will always perform better for drag racing, if the rules in whatever class someone runs allows the swap.

[Eric]

15 minutes ago, Borg warner said:

I'm surprised that independent rear suspension could stand up to all that horsepower of the 421 when it was originally designed to be used with the 4 banger and the 326. I remember when those Tempests first came out with the trans axle the big selling point was a much smaller center hump on the floor.

But as far as independent rear suspensions at the drag strip, the Corvettes did pretty good with them.

FWIW, I am a fan of the early sixties Tempest. It was ahead of its time. 

[Borg warner]

7 minutes ago, Eric said:

It takes some work to set up IRS for drag racing and there are still some liabilities inherent in the design, when used for that purpose. A fixed rear diff will always perform better for drag racing, if the rules in whatever class someone runs allows the swap.

Agree.

[tous]

1 hour ago, Borg warner said:

I'm surprised that independent rear suspension could stand up to all that horsepower of the 421 when it was originally designed to be used with the 4 banger and the 326. I remember when those Tempests first came out with the trans axle the big selling point was a much smaller center hump on the floor.

But as far as independent rear suspensions at the drag strip, the Corvettes did pretty good with them.

My mother's car was a 1963 Tempest, 2-door and it was the automobile I learned to drive in and got to use after I got my license.

Hers had the 194 CI inline four cylinder -- basically, half of a 283.

It was an automatic and the shifter was a small lever hanging from under the dash.

Forget not the flexible drive line in place of the traditional propeller shaft .  basically, a really thick speedometer cable.

It was white and had a red, plaid vinyl interior.

Heater, but no air conditioning and an AM, push-button radio.  The vinyl seats got a bit sticky in the summer.

A lot of innovations in that series from Pontiac.

It was a decent automobile for the times.

[Borg warner]

2 hours ago, tous said:

My mother's car was a 1963 Tempest, 2-door and it was the automobile I learned to drive in and got to use after I got my license.

Hers had the 194 CI inline four cylinder -- basically, half of a 283.

It was an automatic and the shifter was a small lever hanging from under the dash.

Forget not the flexible drive line in place of the traditional propeller shaft .  basically, a really thick speedometer cable.

It was white and had a red, plaid vinyl interior.

Heater, but no air conditioning and an AM, push-button radio.  The vinyl seats got a bit sticky in the summer.

A lot of innovations in that series from Pontiac.

It was a decent automobile for the times.

"Hers had the 194 CI inline four cylinder -- basically, half of a 283."

Actually it was a 194.5  cubic inch "Slant 4" which was half a 389. (194,5 + 194.5= 389) Being slanted at a 45 degree angle gave it low hood clearance and sharing 120 components with the already in production 389 V8 saved greatly on development costs and the engineering of this new engine was driven mainly by the Tempest program’s tiny development budget, and it was inspired by an earlier experiment led by Pontiac engine wizard Malcom McKellar and crew. They had deactivated four of the cylinders in a standard Pontiac 389 cubic-inch V8, and to their mild surprise it could push a full-size Catalina sedan to better than 90 mph while still delivering reasonable fuel economy. With a new cylinder block and crankshaft, this same basic setup became the production Trophy 4.

The Trophy 4 was offered in five different horsepower ratings for 1961, from 110 hp (one-barrel carburetor, 8.6:1 compression ratio, regular fuel) to 155 hp four-barrel carb, 10.25:1 CR, premium fuel,  and for 1962-63, there was a four-barrel, high-compression package with 166 hp at 4800 rpm. Mickey Thompson used the "Trophy 4" in several streamliners and production cars to set several world records in it's displacement class at the Bonneville salt flats.

[railfancwb]

3 hours ago, Eric said:

FWIW, I am a fan of the early sixties Tempest. It was ahead of its time. 

Still don’t completely understand GM’s decision to drop Pontiac during its bankruptcy. 

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1947 Mercury Panel Truck

[Eric]