Does anybody know much about the Pontiac Tempest? I saw one the other day and immediately fell in love with the looks.
What year? Early models (1960-1963) were compact cars featuring a 4-cylinder engine made from 1/2 a 389 V8, a transaxle in the back, and a thin, solid driveshaft with no U-joints ("rope drive") in between. Later models were more traditional GM mid-sizers with conventional drivetrains.
The 60-63 model really catch my eye. I heard some of them had 6 cylinder motors and some other had 4 doors. The 4 door ones are what I'm interested in having. Are they inexpensive to maintain?
As I recall the engines available in the early Tempest were the "Trophy" 4-cylinder engine and a version of the Buick 215 cubic inch aluminum V8. There were a few different versions of the 4-banger with varying compression and carburetion for more or less power.
Given the unusual nature of the engine and drivetrain coupled with the age of these vehicles I doubt it would be inexpensive to keep one on the road. MIght not be too bad if you get one that's already been gone through and it's an occasional-use vehicle. The rule of thumb with old cars is buy the nicest example you can afford - it will be a lot more expensive to bring a basket case back to life.
nice!