Normally when we hear the word sprint we think of fast or quick but when you know that this 1966 Pontiac LeMans Sprint has a six-cylinder you may not think that it’s either fast or quick. You’d be wrong. This rare 1966 Pontiac LeMans Sprint can be found in Dorchester, Wisconsin with an asking price of $4,000 and it’s posted on Craigslist, or here on the CL archive. Thanks to Levi A. for sending in this Sprint!
The Sprint was a four-year car for Pontiac and it evolved in an unusual way. John DeLorean, then head of Pontiac, had an idea to “inject a sophisticated European feel” into their Tempest/LeMans line and the Sprint was their answer. The overhead-cam six eventually found its way into the Firebird and other Pontiacs. That’s quite a boiled-down version but basically that’s how the Sprint was born.
The mid-late-60s in the U.S. was a world of tire-burning V8 engines so the Sprint never caught on and the Sprint’s last year would be 1969. This 1966 model was in storage since 1979 according to the seller. They say that it has “rust in some of the usual places but is a really solid car as far as these go.frame is solid,glass is good,i would say its 95% complete anything missing is minor stuff.” There are a lot of detail photos which is nice, but there’s a fair amount of rust to be repaired. A Sprint will most likely never be as valuable as a V8-powered LeMans would be so I don’t know how much money would be appropriate to put into a restoration, unless a person had to have one.
Gaaaaa.. those floors are scary. Luckily replacement panels are available and parts, in general, for this car are fairly easy to get. And the next owner will need a lot of replacement parts. The door panels are still on the doors but I’m guessing that since this car needs a full restoration the next owner won’t be reusing any of them anyway even though they appear to be in good condition. The same with the seats, or at least the seat covers.
Here’s the famous 230 cubic-inch OHC inline-six which for the Sprint in 1966 would have had 207 hp with a four-barrel carburetor. That’s a good amount of power but in 1967 there was a slight bump to 215 hp. Yes, that cast aluminum valve cover and timing belt cover are original, very cool. What isn’t cool is that the “engine does not turn at this time we have been soaking cylinders.” I love unique versions of cars that create an eye-pop when the hood is opened like this Sprint. This is much too project for me but I know that a good portion of the Barn Finds family of readers have restored cars in similar condition to this car. Have any of you seen a Pontiac Sprint? Can this one be saved?
This is one of those “labor of love” deals if you were going to try to restore it. Otherwise, buy just for parts or hotrodding but pay accordingly.
Hit the nail on the head. Way too much rust BUT this car in my opinion is very cool and should not go the way of the crusher.
With that said, this car falls on my list of “store it somewhere properly, collect all of the parts needed for the resto and wait until the day comes where there are no better ones available” and it will be a much more attractive candidate. That would be my approach to hand it down to my kids and decades from now it makes sense. Right now I am sure you could find a much cleaner version to restore.
The massive amount of money to make this car right and restore it will cause it to become a GTO Clone where there IS more value than restoring it as born. I still think once restored and cloned you will still be upside down by A LOT. Cool car though !!
Interesting car. The Sprint had a 4-barrel, high-compression version of the standard OHC-6. The engine traced its roots (and displacement) back to the Chevy OHV-6 of the same era, but shared very little with it. The Sprint version was a tough sell, as it cost more than a LeMans with a 326.
Back in 1969, a friend of mine had one of those engines in a Firebird. I don’t remember a lot about the car, other than it was well optioned and performed surprisingly well.
It was the only one of this type of engine that I saw at the time, all the other Firebirds were V8s.
Bob
I owned one of these back in the mid 70’s. White with a black vinyl top and black interior. Not the fastest thing out there but for a 6 banger it did alright! Got decent mileage too. This one is up here in Wisconsin where I’m living now. Just might have to reach out to this guy and see if he’s flexible with the asking price. Bit much for what it is. (imo)
6 banger would be kinda nice to get running again, but if all else fails, I do have a fresh 427 BBC on a engine stand, along with a Muncie 4 speed that are both looking for a good home! LOL
That’ll get her moving.
It sure will get her moving and moving into 2 pieces if you don’t fix all that rust !! LOL !! :)
Wisconsin is a great place. Known for its lakes, cheese and rusty old cars!!
What about beer?
It really needs at least a four-speed to make use of the OHC six.
Ikey’s comments are spot on.
If Herb Adams is still around the motorsports scene, I’m sure he could make a few timely suggestions or 20. Add the aforementioned manual ‘box, tune the suspension (pretty easy to do on these beasties), add some modern rubber/brakes and then go out and piss off a few so-called Pro-Touring owners. You’ll be glad you did.
Man, I miss seeing these Ponchos all over the road like I did when I was a kid.
The Sprint version was cheap to insure compared to a V8, no small thing for a young man back then. Being a slushbox made it even cheaper to insure. I knew a couple of guys with Tempest Sprints and I had a Firebird Sprint. Usually able to shame small V8s they still delivered good gas mileage, that’s why I traded my 396 Chevy in for the Firebird Sprint. Unfortunately the 2 speed slushbox would take all the sportiness out of this Sprint. Like most projects this must be a labor of love.
I’ve told this story here before but it’s worth repeating. In 1967 my grandfather (66 at the time, now younger than me) traded his 6 cylinder Mercury Comet (109 HP) on a 2 door Tempest sedan with the standard 165 HP OHC 6 and three on the tree. First time pulling thru a bad intersection near home he gunned that Tempest like he had that dog of a Comet and smoked the tires thru the intersection with my screaming her head off. He loved to tell that story, it was his favorite car.
d
My Cuz and his friend both had this model car when new. My Cuz had the 326, his friend the 6. Cuz said it was all his 326 could do to beat the 6 banger street racing. “Those WERE the days”.. Cuz was red as well–Pretty car!
This is a nice car in many ways. No doubt there is cost to restore it in any incarnation. Too bad no manual shift, but that 6 with a 4 barrel is really interesting. I’ll need to do some more study on them. In 2006 I tried hard to Pry away a 66 tempest 4 speed v8 , with 10k cash in my hand. Light blue in and out. Thought it was a fair enough deal at the time. Anyway. I don’t own it. These models and the 65-67 galaxies with manual v8’s are cars I would like to have.
Needs a manual transmission to justify the cost! Neat cars though, with good color combo..
I’ve got a full 66 GTO black interior for this old girl. Also have a 400 engine that needs work along with a m21 trans if anyone wants to clone.
still have the interior? let me know
A friend in HS had a ’67 Sprint, 4 speed. It was a fast little car(not V8 fast, but for a 6, it went).Sadly, it was only fun at full throttle and power shifts, and this guys began using oil,,,a lot of oil. Cool cars, parts could be iffy, it wasn’t the most popular motor. Plenty of GTO’s out there,this should be kept original.
Yep GTO’s are cool, but restore it as a sprint
$4,000?? LOL! Try $400. And you’d still be upside down just getting it roadworthy.
Scotty,
What you called a valve cover is actually the cam carrier. There are no bearings, the cam rides in the aluminum, and IIRC, that was the downfall of these engines. Once there was some wear in the carrier, oil pressure would go down and just accelerated the wear. Not sure you can get carriers anymore, maybe there’s someone out there that can install bearing inserts, but that would be the first thing I’d check. Engine eventually went to 250 cubic inches, and with the Quadrajet and split exhaust and four speed, power went to 230hp.
I know. This is a big number to restore. But if you intend to keep it or give it to someone in the family upon your demise, do it anyway. You’ll love the car. Parts are available using Hemmings Motor News and join the Owner’s Club. You won’t have any trouble.
Friend still has original O H C R 4brl that came with a 3 spd manual. 96-101 with 373 gears , .mph mid to high 14 sec and ran it Seattle when new.
Luckily he purchased 4brl version of cam which had a different profile. as they had a tendency to flat spot, and original spec now are extremely rare
A factory spare motor hi pro d by some Poncho guru in South put the car into 13s..
Just an s side for any one concerned: the good cased 2 spd powerglide could be beefed and manual shifted faster in quarter than any stick.
If that true original high rever 4brl cam innards are good , motor worth more than body it is in by far.
Mindset of v8 is a seller, owner c0ould pick up running/ rebuilt 8 throw it and 4 spd junk yard and still this rig overpriced.
Bet he gets at least asking price, oldies only come when they. come.
A stock GM 6 is out of league compared to Poncho upgrades to it
I had one of these in 1976. It burnt a quart of oil a day. Cam carriers were gone.
my buddy had one tempest it was in exclent condition red this car brings back fun times that is most likely to buy this car or anyone that wants to restore this cool ride anyways good luck selling I have a 67 rambler and i love owning a classic getter done ill race ya
71 Dodge truck, short bed, step side. 318, factory case iron Elderbrock intake, Elderbrock carb, headers, 355 gears. Truck was a DOT truck from Moore County, N.C. Has normal rust to be younger than me, LOL. Asking 3,000.00.
Hi Russ,
If you decided you’d like to list your truck for sale, you can get more info about list it on Barn Finds here: https://barnfinds.com/sell/
Thanks!
The success of the GTO gave Pontiac—and John DeLorean—lots of sway within the halls of General Motors. DeLorean got a lot of what he wanted in the wake of the GTO’s impressive launch, but not everything. DeLorean’s wish list included a 2+2 fiberglass sports car codenamed Banshee. Pontiac designed the Banshee to be powered by a 230ci overhead-cam six. Pontiac’s engine group was way ahead of the curve and had completed work on this engine in 1965. But with no Banshee to put it in and the Firebird not ready for production until 1967, the OHC six was made available for the A-Body Tempest.
Pontiac based its OHC six on Chevrolet’s 230-inch six of that era, but the cast-iron block and head castings were unique to Pontiac’s application. A single overhead cam was driven by a fiberglass-reinforced timing belt. The front timing belt cover and valve cover were cast aluminum. The base version for the ’66 LeMans, with a single-barrel carburetor, produced 165 hp. The Sprint version featured a hotter cam, higher compression (10.5:1), larger valves, a split exhaust manifold, and a Rochester Quadrajet four-barrel carburetor. These improvements allowed the Sprint engine to produce 207 hp in the ’66 LeMans and, after the addition of 20 cubic inches, 215 hp in the ’67. In addition, the overhead cam allowed this unique six to easily rev to 5,500 rpm. Transmission choices included a three-speed manual (standard), a four-speed manual, and a two-speed automatic. The Sprint option could be added to any Tempest or LeMans model except a station wagon.
One could get the 4bbl engine in a Tempest wagon during the 67 model year. It was not called a Sprint package, but an HO 6. I have one in my garage.
I bought this car a few years ago, you’d be surprised how little rust it really has. If you look inside the doors of back window wells still original paint no rust, no rust in the wheel wells. The floor is solid by the back seats. This is a complete car everything is here except the wheel well trim front passenger side and the air conditioner. The engine is locked up tight, I’ll have it restored one day but for now it’s getting an LS swap. Should be fun when I’m done with it. I didn’t pay asking about half but I didn’t buy it to make money off it I bought it to turn heads and to see how folks that really appreciate a beautiful car give you that look.