1962 Pontiac Tempest Wagon $7,500

http://winstonsalem.craigslist.org/cto/3980775760.html

1962 Pontiac Tempest Wagon, all original clean North Carolina car with 47K miles

 

Nice! You sue don't see these everyday!

 

I like these first Buick-Olds-Pontiac compacts, especially since my first car was one of them. While they did have a lot of parts in common (roof and glass, mostly) there were a lot of differences among them as well. 4-cylinder power in the Pontiac, 6 and V-8 power in the Buick and Olds; rear transaxle in the Pontiac; turbocharging available in the Olds; 13" wheels standard on the Olds and Buick, 15" on the Pontiac.

 

Pontiac is my least favorite GM division, despite having owned a reliable OHC six Tempest (I simply don't like the styling). But, despite that, these are my favorite Pontiacs ever and I would certainly set out the cash to get this one, if I had it dispensable.
That sawed-off Pontiac v-8 looks like it could make way for an 8, if it had to (I'd keep it original, though).
This one has the best chassis from the 3 GM compacts, being that the weight is divided 50:50 and the supension is fully independent on all wheels:

http://www.hemmings.com/hcc/stories/2005/11/01/hmn_feature1.html

There are plenty of things you could do between those Buick, Pontiac and Olds compacts to create your own, depending on available parts. I'm not sure, but it seems to me the Corvairs share parts also. For instance, replacing the dash with one from a Skylark:



Or the bucket seats from a Cutlass:



Unfortunately, a Monza dash is influenced by the curved windshield and A-pillars which would require meticulous modifications to fit:

 

This one has been listed forever, the price hasn't changed yet. I don't think the owner intends to budge either. It's one that I always end up clicking, by accident, and then realizing it's this car and out of my price range.

 

Just found these:

http://nunzipontiac.com/photos.html

 

The Pontiac also had 13" wheels, at least in 1962, as this is what my '62 Tempest LeMans ragtop had. It had a 4" bolt pattern wheel with left and right threads, just like a Mopar of the day.

 

I found a video of a '62 custom wagon running and driving with the Trophy 4. Naughty narrator calls it either a 63 or 64 but I believe its a 62. That engine really looks weird but then so did the Chrysler slant 6 they sold billions of.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rygy5wyb4I4

 

Thanks to having sawed a 389 in half, this was the first crossflow inliner GM had ever made. In fact, this was the first European car GM had ever conceived, given that they were designing it to fit as many people in it using the least amount of material. That drivetrain set-up was also daring for an entity like GM and nothing was seen since then, until the appearance of the Toronado