The percentage of V8 buyers, 32.2, is way up over the two percent who optioned the $216-extra aluminum V8 engine in 1961 and '62
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It looks like the Corvair Monza gold rush all over again. In fact, Corvairs were considered by 26.3 percent of all Tempest buyers |
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Boldface and marginal comments by Jim Whipple, PM's Auto Editor

UYERS OF THE 1963 PONTIAC TEMPEST seem to be a bunch of individualists who have discovered a common car that they all like, but for different reasons.
Some are buying Tempest because of the compact size; in fact, 55.5 percent gave that as a primary reason for choosing the car.
With others, some 46.3 percent, economy was a first consideration. For these thrifty-minded folk the four-cylinder engine proved a strong lure, with two thirds of all buyers choosing it over the optional ($155) 264-horsepower V8. One thing that the Tempest does not seem to be this year is the first choice of those in search of a bread-and-butter family sedan. Only 20.6 percent of all buyers selected sedans while a whopping 45.1 percent chose the coupe, and the majority of these selected the sporty, bucket-seated LeMans series.
The remaining 34.3 percent of the owners reporting were split roughly two-thirds to one-third in favor of the convertible over the station wagon, with bucket seat LeMans trim in the lead once again.
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