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PONTIAC
TEMPEST SPRINT
_______________________________ Can the wild-eyed Tiger-
mongers find fun and profit
with a simple 6-cylinder?
Keep reading, Old Friend... _______________________________ |
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with pride
and prestige. But over here, it's safe to say that Henry Ford really
screwed up for everybody when he convinced the car- consuming -public and
the rest of the automotive industry that the V-8 was the only way to
go.
When that bit of domestic automotive dogma became firmly established, the
six-cylinder engine was arbitrarily relegated to second-class citizenship,
and only this year has someone finally come along to challenge old Henry's
premise. Chevrolet made some points for sixes when, to the
amazement of everybody - particularly the Chevrolet sales department - the
air-cooled, six-cylinder Corvair became more acceptable to hot rodders and
sports cars people than it ever was or would be with the traditional
economy-car buyer. But the Corvair was a divergent breed altogether. Its
success was regarded somewhat suspiciously as an irrational phenomenon.
There were too many imponderables connected with the Corvair. Be- sides
being a unique power plant, it was rear-mounted. The car had swing-axles,
then independent rear suspension. And finally, it was so little!
Obviously, there were no lessons to be learned from the Corvair, because
it violated the old Henry Ford dogma – it only reflected a temporary
lapse in the judgment of the consumer, and the industry was willing to
forgive us, provided we’d trade up to a real honest-to-goodness car with
a V-8 engine when we made our next purchase. If this demonstration of
industry-apathy wasn’t enough to discourage anybody from ever trying to
produce a six for the performance market again, the booming success of the
Mustang in all its V-8 variations should have convinced them for once and
for all. But no. Pontiac never got the message. A couple of years ago,
they developed an overhead cam version of the 280 cu. in. six that was
going into the Chevy II, and amazed themselves with the power that they
were able to get for re- markably low cost. ”Terrific! Get The
Corporation on the phone! We’ll stuff our lovely new over- head cam six
into the Tempest and it’ll be the fastest six in a domestic car and
it’ll sell like mad!” Forget it. Gloom descended when The Corporation
said no. They told Pontiac to use the same engine that Chevrolet was using
because who wants a high performance six anyway ?
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All right, you guys, is it a
six-cylinder GTO, a bargain basement 220-SE Mercedes coupe, or some kind
of economy car? Pontiac's answer to such a question would probably be that
the new Tempest Sprint option is all of these, and none of them. Paradox!
Enigma! Everybody knows that six-cylinder engines in American cars mean
economy-low purchase price and low operating costs that sixes are sold
primarily to those poor, underprivileged souls who can't afford a V-8.
Sixes are for taxicab fleets and traveling salesmen. Sixes are not for the
performance oriented youth market. Ask anybody in Detroit who knows
anything about selling cars, and he'll reel off these axioms like a small
boy reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
In Europe, it's different. The V-8 engine is an expensive rarity. The
six-cylinder engine is the smooth, swift power plant for upper-class
transportation. Countless Opels, Jaguars, Aston Martins, Rolls-Royces,
Bentleys and Mercedes Benz carry the faithful in-line six, and carry it |
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| DECEMBER 1965 |
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CONTINUED
86 |
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