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Engineering the New Pontiacs
by John Z. DeLorean, Chief Engineer

T
HE 1965 PONTIAC is probably one of the most improved cars in the history of our division. We've also changed this year's Tempest in a number of ways, but the changes are fewer, because the Tempest was an all-new car last year. I'd like to tell you how we set about improving these cars.
      Our philosophy at Pontiac is this. Each year, our cars have to be significantly better in all important respects — smoothness, quietness, convenience, durability, fuel economy, performance, and braking.
      After a person buys a car, he judges it largely by how it feels to him. Engineering of the body and chassis is the most important element in building a well structured automobile - one that gives the proper feel as it moves down the road. Now, very few owners can evaluate the technical features of a car that produce a good feel. He can't very often isolate these individual features. But after he's driven his new car a few miles, he can give an amazingly complete reaction report about comfort, ease of driving, soundness of construction, absence of squeaks and rattles, and the performance and noise level of the engine. This overall reaction is the biggest single factor leading to an owner's loyalty to a car.
      Among the improvements we've made this year are two new Pontiac exclusives — the articulated windshield wiper and the new 2.41 rear axle, the lowest ratio, we believe, ever offered in an American production car. We've incorporated many other advances in the '65 Pontiac, including a smoother, more economical automatic transmission, an improved frame, automatic air conditioning, cross-flow radiator, curved side glass, tempered glass in the convertible rear window, adhesive-bonded windshields and back windows, improved front suspension, better brakes, low-profile tires, new fuel gauge, louder turn signals, new steering post, contemporary horn bars, stronger starter, and even ball-bearing-mounted ashtrays.
      New on the 1965 Tempest are a two-stage door stop, a self-cleaning crankcase ventilation valve, air-foil radio antenna, and optional rally cluster.
      When we started work on the all-new 1965 Pontiac back in 1962, we posed a special challenge for ourselves. Because we knew that the 1964 Tempest was going to be a bigger, better car, we decided that the '65 Pontiac would also have to be larger and smoother — to make up the traditional difference between the two cars.

 

CHIEF ENGINEER JOHN DELOREAN (LEFT) GOES OVER BLUEPRINTS WITH PETE ESTES AND ASSISTANT CHIEF ENGINEER HERM KAISER (RIGHT).

 

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February, 1965

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