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bill dedman · 02-01-2010, 10:00 AM

Ken,

To the best of my recollection, at that point in time...

The most fascinating examples were the ones that were built with the 421, 405 HP dual-quad "AFX" motor. They built just a few of these, both coupes and wagons, before the front office dropped the hammer on racing, and stopped building the Z-11 Chevys and these Tempeats (along with the Swiss Cheese Catalinas.

Those few Tempests that were campagned by Arnie Beswick, Hayden Proffitt, et al, had 4-speed automativc transaxles that were, from all reports, available with either a torque converter OR a clutch and flywheel, both in the rear. They were fashioned from TWO Corvair Powerglide transaxles, and had great, close ratios, and were fully automatic.

They were blindingly fast, but proved to be disappointingly unreliable.

Eventually, a lot of them were replaced by a conventional, Dual-Range Hydramatic, bolted to the engine, a conventional driveshaft, and a complete Pontiac live axle.

It was a great idea, but doomed from the start because of the inherent weakness of the Corvair-based components.

Too bad; hardly any of these 4-speed transaxle cars remain; I have heard of only one, complete, original car, left.

02-01-2010, 10:00 AM	#5
bill dedman VIP Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Conway, AR Posts: 1,739 Likes: 0 Liked 6 Times in 4 Posts	Re: Pontiac SOHC 6 Stockers ? Ken, To the best of my recollection, at that point in time... The most fascinating examples were the ones that were built with the 421, 405 HP dual-quad "AFX" motor. They built just a few of these, both coupes and wagons, before the front office dropped the hammer on racing, and stopped building the Z-11 Chevys and these Tempeats (along with the Swiss Cheese Catalinas. Those few Tempests that were campagned by Arnie Beswick, Hayden Proffitt, et al, had 4-speed automativc transaxles that were, from all reports, available with either a torque converter OR a clutch and flywheel, both in the rear. They were fashioned from TWO Corvair Powerglide transaxles, and had great, close ratios, and were fully automatic. They were blindingly fast, but proved to be disappointingly unreliable. Eventually, a lot of them were replaced by a conventional, Dual-Range Hydramatic, bolted to the engine, a conventional driveshaft, and a complete Pontiac live axle. It was a great idea, but doomed from the start because of the inherent weakness of the Corvair-based components. Too bad; hardly any of these 4-speed transaxle cars remain; I have heard of only one, complete, original car, left. __________________ Bill Last edited by bill dedman; 02-01-2010 at 10:25 PM.