This Ad is NOT fake - '63 Pontiac Tempest sells for $226.5k

[Topless]

Nice piece of Detroit history. Definitely for the more money than brains crowd.

My dad owned a 63 Pontiac Tempest for a while. A beater car that he bought in the 70's for my brother to drive to school. It was a V8 block with only 1 cyl head and a plate bolted across the other side. 4 working cylinders and a 2 speed push button slush-o-matic trans. What a pile. It was really slow and it was hit and totaled within 1 year.

Something tells me I should have hung onto this:

[Lil bastard]

It was the fastest drag car in 1963; not one of the fastest, THE fastest.

There was a good deal of documentation, and you could watch the facts start on either side of the river and be built into a connected bridge, over a couple of days watching the auction happen. If you have a copy of HotRod from 2/1963, the car is there.

Was it worth that much? To me no, but to the winning bidder, it was a deal.

Maybe the most unbelievable thing was that this auction started with a 'Buy it Now' price of $4,000 ! The economy just turned very sweet for the Seller!

It appears that the current owner (Bro-in-Law of the Seller) acquired the car to satisfy a delinquent bill for the car's storage. I wonder if any heirs, assuming there were some, will challenge the ownership? He may have to split his winnings in some way with them, especially if the old man who owned it suffered from dementia or Alzheimer's which impaired his ability to manage his affairs... I can smell the lawyers gathering now.

There is all sorts of documentation on this car and the original alloy front clip has been located in FL (the owner of the clip can also virtually name his price for that too).

Maybe another $200k to get the clip and a total restoration and the buyer will still probably come out ahead - it's 1-of-6 (1-of-3 known to still exist) which makes a lot of Shelby's, Yenko's and such, seem mass-produced in comparison.

[Jaxonalden]

That is one bad ass story! Barn finds are still out there. For those interested in a great story, go to the link and read the discription. Then page down and read the 34 questions from interested buyers (you'll need to log on). You can read as the seller discovers what he had. That is truly a one of a kind, original, restored diamond.

[FTD]

I haven't figured out what the alloy front clip is.

[Lil bastard]

Originally Posted by FTD

I haven't figured out what the alloy front clip is.

The front clip is the front sheet metal of the car, the whole front and grill, possibly the front fenders and hood. It is made of aluminum instead of the usual steel and so is much lighter allowing the car to go faster.

Supposedly, this was removed to allow the car to compete in a different class (probably stock) which would require thew car to have all factory parts so they didn't have an advantage over other cars in that class.

But, it's necessary to reunite this alloy clip with this car to make it 'correct'.

[fatmike]

Can't you guys hear Marisa Tomie (aka Ms. Mona Lisa Vito) saying:

"Now, in the '60's, there were only two other cars made in America that had positraction, and independent rear suspension, and enough power to make these marks. One was the Corvette, which could never be confused with the Buick Skylark. The other had the same body length, height, weight, wheel base, and wheel track as the '64 Skylark, and that was the 1963 Pontiac Tempest."



If she says so, umm, I want one.