1963 LeMans Tempest on Ebay $226,000

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The quote fastest car in town, I know we have all heard it at one time or another hearing it in this add reminds me of one I discovered in town around here when I was writing a book (never did finish it) about bench racing stories. One of the guys I interviewed was talking about how fast his 64 Dodge Dart four door was,not taking it too seriously I listened none the less well it turned out all these cars he was talking about he used to race...he still has and the Dart is sitting in his shop with the old panel paint from the seventies,big in little slot mags hood scoop 427 Chevy with a four speed and four Mustang bucket seats he didnt want to sell it at the time but I am keeping tabs.....someday maybe along with his straight axle Austin Healey and 427 powered 63 Econoline 8)
 
But there is NO ENGINE. And it's not going to be a restoration without the engine and it's matching #. And it's not going to be that engine without it being modified in the same way it was with the same parts that were on it. The only "allowable" exception would be hardened valve seats, new forged pistons, and new rings, and obviously new seals and bearings. Someone better get doin' some research.

This is why I hope Leno gets it, he's anal about that stuff.

By the time this car is done it's either going to be the million dollar Tempest, or just an overpriced imposter.
 
this was a factory built race car it wont be required to have a matching number engine just a 63 421 Superduty
as it would have been built originally with a 326 then converted by the engineers
If you notice on the picture of the exhaust it even has the stainless factory headers like in the Hemmings article
"To prep the Tempests for race duty, Pontiac's engineers first replaced the 326 with the notoriously underrated 405hp Super Duty version of the 421, complete with forged internals, 980 cylinder heads, an 859 medium-riser dual-quad intake manifold (many, if not all of the Tempests later ran the over-the-counter "bathtub" tunnel-ram dual-quad intake), a McKellar No. 10 camshaft (again, many later received the Isky 505 camshaft) and a 12.0:1 compression ratio, though with a few modifications. While the Catalina Super Duty 421s used cast-aluminum long-branch exhaust manifolds, the Tempest Super Duty 421s used unique stainless steel headers with three-inch diameter outlets, fabricated like conventional headers for the driver side, but stamped into two halves and then welded together on the passenger side. The downpipes then dumped out just behind the front tires, but not before a crossover pipe connected each side and provided a 1¾-inch stub to attach the stock exhaust, should a track or sanctioning body ever require a stock exhaust system."

parts like that are impossible to find as people constantly swapped parts on race cars
factory built race cars are a whole different breed than standard muscle cars... they were built to be destroyed
 
SkidMark said:
But there is NO ENGINE. And it's not going to be a restoration without the engine and it's matching #. And it's not going to be that engine without it being modified in the same way it was with the same parts that were on it. The only "allowable" exception would be hardened valve seats, new forged pistons, and new rings, and obviously new seals and bearings. Someone better get doin' some research.

This is why I hope Leno gets it, he's anal about that stuff.

By the time this car is done it's either going to be the million dollar Tempest, or just an overpriced imposter.
Click to expand...
There are hundreds of people maybe even thousands that do what Jay Leno does,and have been doing it long before he got into it. He is only known because he is famous, Restoring vintage race cars is not something new.
 
I never said it was something new. He's a fellow Bostonian, that's why I root for him. He also likes weirdness, i.e. his obsession with Stanley Steamers. Also I'm no stranger to restoration, I've restored quite a few Vespas (and other scooter and motorcycles) for myself and with a shop called T.J. Scoots. I know how picky restorations can be from direct experience. Think about how picky Schwinn guys and bicycle guys can be. Do you think cars guys are any different? Not the ones I've known.

I guess it depends how picky you want to be. You could use any 421 Super-Duty, but with $226,000 already invested wouldn't you hunt down what engine numbers were used in the factory race cars and get one of those specific engines? Seems like the proper engine would be the most important thing in a drag car, and the most important thing for an authentic restoration.
 
Winnie-the-Pooh.jpg
 
wow amazing story. so the way i read it the guy put what he thought was just another old ratty pontiac on ebay then collectors started asking him all these crazy questions and it turns out it is one of just 6 super duti cars? wow that is awsome i say good for him for getting lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. i mean think of what a collector who knew what it was went and looked at it and say he was asking 2000 for it. the guy would look around it kick the tires and offer him less knowing that it is super rare and very valuable. then restore the car and either sell it at barret jackson for a mill or end up on ebay once again.
 

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