This, along with a four-wheel independent suspension, helped make the Tempest a nimble-handling car for the era. The combination of a rear-mounted transaxle and front-mounted engine very nearly gave the car an ideal 50/50 front/rear weight distribution. The design, known as "rope drive," had only been seen previously on General Motors' 1951 Le Sabre concept car. This joined the forward engine and the rear transaxle (therefore no transmission hump) into a single unit, helping to reduce vibration. For automatic cars, the shaft was 0.65 in (17 mm) in diameter and 87.25 in (2.216 m) long, while the manual-box shaft was 0.75 in (19 mm) by 82 in (2.1 m). To combine flexibility with strength in the proper proportion, the shaft was forged of SAE 8660 steel (high nickel, chrome and molybdenum alloying percentages) for torsion bar specifications. Use of the torque shaft was the result of being forced to use the Corvair floorpan which, being a rear engine platform, had no drive shaft. The Tempest featured a drivetrain with a rear-mounted transaxle that was coupled to a torque shaft arcing in a 3 in (76 mm) downward bow within a curved, longitudinal tunnel. The engine was a 195 cubic inch (3.2 L) straight-4 marketed as the " Trophy 4," derived from the right cylinder bank of Pontiac's 389 cubic inch "Trophy 8" V8 engine. It shared sheet metal with the Oldsmobile F-85, the first-generation Tempest had several features that differentiated it from the other compact GM cars. Road & Track praised the Tempest as "exceptionally roomy" and "one of the very best utility cars since the Ford Model A." In hindsight, DeLorean admitted that the Tempest was "less than successful," adding, "there was no mechanical problem, but the car rattled so loudly that it sounded like it was carrying half-a-trunkful of rolling rocks." 1961 Pontiac Tempest sedan 1962 Pontiac Tempest Custom wagon The Tempest was Motor Trend magazine's 1961 Car of the Year. His objective was for the new model to be more than just an ordinary compact car. DeLorean, Pontiac's chief engineer and general manager, went to work on a car that would meld components GM already produced. The division wanted to produce a clone of the Corvair, but instead GM gave Pontiac the lead to develop a new car in an interdivisional program coded named "X-100." John Z. The Tempest was the result of a decision by the Pontiac division to enter the compact car market following the success of the Chevrolet Corvair. The name " tempest" is from Old French tempeste (French tempête), from Latin tempestas (“storm”), from tempus (“time, weather”). In Canada, Pontiac also marketed a rebadged version of the compact L-body Chevrolet Corsica under the name Tempest from 1987 to 1991. The GTO was offered as a separate model line beginning in 1966. By 1964 the Tempest, Tempest Custom and Lemans are separate trim packages on the updated GM A-body platform, and the GTO was a performance option upgrade to the LeMans for 19. The line offered the optional LeMans trim upgrade, beginning with a few 1961 LeMans coupes and adding a performance aspect in 1962. An innovative design, it shared the new unibody Y platform, GM's first, with the Buick Special/ Skylark and Oldsmobile F-85/ Cutlass, and featured the "Trophy-4" four-cylinder engine with a flexible drive shaft to a two-speed rear-mounted transaxle automatic transmission. The Tempest was introduced as an entry-level compact in October 1960 at the Paris Auto Show for the 1961 model year. The Pontiac Tempest is an automobile that was produced by Pontiac from 1960 to 1970, and again from 1987 to 1991.
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