This Pontiac Tempest has been stored in a container for many years. It’s beat-up and rusty but the price is right and there’s even a little surprise lurking under the hood. It’s located in Rowley, Massachusetts, and is listed here on Facebook for $400.
This Tempest was originally powered by an overhead cam inline-six. This was a big deal back then. It also used a belt instead of a chain like most Americans were used to. I’m sure many of these engines were destroyed when the unserviced eventually belt broke. That could be the reason someone swapped the original engine for this Chevy straight six…
The interior looks kind of crusty but there’s probably a few good parts here worth saving in there. I’m starting to think this Pontiac would make a better parts car than a restoration project. The fact that it has four doors isn’t helping either.
You can’t expect much at this price though. This Pontiac probably isn’t worth restoring and it would only be good as a parts car if you have a Tempest you are trying to restore. It could be a cheap way to teach a kid how to get an engine running or you might even be able to make a few bucks off the trim.
That is NOT an OHC 6.
That could be the reason someone swapped the original engine for this Chevy straight six…
Too bad the OHC six is gone. Hopping up the 4 door Tempest would be a fun drive for sure! Adding a 5 spd would be even better!
this is the least expensive car I have seen on BF.
My friend Willie, had a lemon-yellow 2 door with white buckets & plenty of chrome. Beautiful. A week or so after a valve job, on New Years morning at 3AM (1974?) it threw a rod while we on I-90 Cleveland,OH. Went from 65MPH to 15 and shaking in a few seconds after the biggest bang I’d heard. Luckily – no traffic. We coasted to the emergency lane. It was about 10 degrees outside. What a night. Back then, somebody told us, “Americans don’t know how to build or service Overhead cams.”
I had a ’66 LeMans w/ the DOHC 6 in it. 3 speed on the floor w/ buckets. Great little car, until that belt went on it. I sold it to a kid at a gas station and he slapped a 389 in it and cloned it. Bam… another GTO on the road. He did do a nice job on it though.
sohc ?
sohc. It’s remarkable enough that Pontiac invested in an sohc 6 cylinder when a V8 was cheaper. A dohc six would have been insane.
Oh man, sorry the OHC-6 is missing or I would be on this. Don’t care about the condition. One of my first cars was a 67 tempest 4 door with the 6 and a powerglide. Spotted it on a less traveled side street and bought it it as a non runnerfrom an old lady for $100 in 1987. Got it running in her driveway and drove it home. Drove it for a couple of months, but it needed a cam. In 1987 you didn’t just google 67 Pontiac OHC-6 cam. As I picked at the car and scoured junkyards, we had to attend a funeral for a long lost relative in upstate pa. Dad and I stopped at a junkyard on a whim and they had one from a 68. The guy let us borrow tools, but we didn’t have any clothes. With mom watching, dad and I stripped out of our suits to underwear and pulled the valve cover (cam was in the valve cover) and top end off. Fifty bucks and I had a clean cam plus a better air cleaner setup.
The one barrel was another issue. You could buy a rebuild at pep boys, but they all were junk. The metal parts were worn, so rebuilding didn’t help. We bought about four of them at once and built a decent carb out of the parts, then returned the spares. They were probably only 20 bucks each at the time.
I dyed the carpets myself, did the body work and resealed the windshield and back window, plus rebuilt just about everything that had moving parts. Always buy the best car you can afford. After hundreds of hours, I had a nice running, driving $600 car, and I could have bought a decent one for 500.
Powerglide, sweet 6 cylinder, FM converter under the dash, the car took me to the jersey shore every weekend. My brother worked in a machine shop at the time and he cleaned up the head and put oversized valves in. Cruised nicely at 65 all day.
When I bought it, it was in a weird grey color that looked like housepaint. For my birthday in 1988, dad had his body shop guy cherry it out and paint it. Probably put a $4000 paint job on a $1500 car. But man it was beautiful.
Sadly, when I graduated college, I bought a convertible with ac and sold it. The guy gave it to his daughter and let me present her the keys at the tavern where she worked. Over wings, I gave her the ins and outs of the car.
So, if I could do it over again, I would. It would be for dad. He’s been gone for 12 years. I miss him terrible, but the tempest is a great memory of time well spent with him. I’ve been doing a lazy look for a 4 door OHC tempest for years. Love you dad.
yep, dads who can put up w/a kid learnin car are great. I’m there for my da but at 23 y/o she aint interested like a generation ago. Mom just pays for Uber rather then supportin anything else. No boys here but here’s nother flavor (same as mine):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvqMV7o3Akw
I stumbled on this as I have the bronk (38 yrs now).
A $400 dollar car on barn find??? I think I better get back in the Delorean and get out of 1985 Dr.Brown!!!
I like the piece of wood that is holding the rear bumper up
Nice to see a cheap car on here.
I love it! It’s a four door, and contrary to the writers thoughts, it looks like there are plenty of other BF readers that also have no aversion to four door cars. IMO 2 door cars suck as getting in and out of them, apart from the driver who doesn’t have to move his butt, for the rest of the family is a nightmare.
It isn’t just having to let the rear seat passenger out, two door cars require more real estate to swing the doors. Really thick doors have to open several inches before there is a slot to crawl through. The smaller a four door car, the easier to swing doors wide. My beloved ’71 VW bus had a big door, but I could walk between the front seats and slip out the sliding door. It had Mustang seats, fit perfect and sure were comfy.
The nostalgia here is in the price tag. More like late seventies well into the eighties.,, but….
everybody knows a Pontiac with a Chevy motor ain’t worth a dime.
I’m just kidding, stay safe out there.
My mom owned a white 1966 Tempest 4dr with a red interior. It was used…bought from her insurance agent. I was very young but it was a memorable car; very nicely styled!
Interestingly she traded it in for a new car at Pingrey Ford in Selah Washington in 1970; a 69 Ford Fairlane Cobra fastback with a 428CJ. I guess she didn’t like the passing power of the OHC6 Pontiac?
Kaiser Jeep Corporation also produced an OHC 6 cylinder in the sixties (hurricane?). A friend in High school had an old 65 Jeep J2000 pickup with one.
Man!! Brought 66 Tempest 2dr OHC6 with 3 speed in Germany, traded with guy returning to states for my cold weather gear(O$ purchase). Drove it to Holland, Spain, France, Austria, and by Boat to GB. Racked up many a mile, great MPG, only problem linkage kept unhooking from tranny. Was a Blue 2dr.
Delorean said that the OHC6 came from an idea that Mercedes at the time had the best combination of power and fuel ecomony, so that’s why Pontiac developed it.