The Pontiac Tempest shifted from “senior” compact to intermediate in 1964. And gave birth to the GTO muscle car that same year. This 1966 Tempest is a beautiful restoration that resembles a GTO in many ways but makes no claim to trying to be one. Sporting a built 400 cubic inch V8 and a TH-400 transmission, this machine looks every bit the award winner. Located near Olympia, Washington, this former father-and-son project is available here on craigslist for $35,000.
The seller has owned this beautiful ’66 Tempest Sport Coupe for 17 years. It was purchased as a father/son restoration job that was largely completed about a year ago. We suspect the father is no longer involved, as the son wants to sell the vehicle to finance a relocation. The beautiful 400 motor has only 150 miles on it, so it may have been one of the last items on the to-do list.
GTO sales hit the 96,000-unit mark in 1966, its first year as a separate series. By contrast, Tempest sales in the same body styles numbered half that many. Since most collectors have focused on preserving GTOs, these Tempests are likely much harder to locate 60 years later. We’re told this is a “very respectable restoration” with lots of new parts, though this was not a rotisserie undertaking.
The seller indicates that $25,000 was put into this project, and quite a few receipts have survived. It’s already been to a few car shows and looks like it can hold its own. There is no mention of any further work that is needed, so perhaps this Tempest will be a turn-key acquisition that you could be proud of right away. A “bravo” goes to Curvette for another great find!
It looks so similar a lot of people will say, “Nice GTO”. Who cares? These were really nice cars and it appears to have been made even nicer, I’d rather have this than a Goat anyway…