The LeMans coupe with low-power version of the four-cylinder engine seems to have become the schoolmarm's hot rod
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If you could draw a picture of the average Tempest owner you might find that he (or she) is a person in search of a smallish coupe or convertible with a sporty flavor, reasonable first cost and good potential operating economy.
Now that the Tempest owners have had several months, and several thousand miles (3,384 apiece on the average) of driving in their new cars, how do they like them? Generally, the owners are pretty well satisfied as no major areas of complaint showed up.
Poor fuel mileage was the number one complaint with 11.7 percent reporting it, while the next largest group, 10.4 percent listed transmission noise as the major problem.
To provide an area of comparison, PM ran constant speed mileages on a Tempest sedan with four-cylinder engine, four-barrel carburetor and automatic transmission. Over 300 miles of general driving, we averaged 16.9 miles per gallon. Here are the fuel consumption figures at steady speeds:
| | 23.7
24.7
24.73
22.57
17.65 | miles per gallon at 30 m.p.h.
miles per gallon at 40 m.p.h.
miles per gallon at 50 m.p.h.
miles per gallon at 60 m.p.h.
miles per gallon at 70 m.p.h. |
In the order of frequency with which owners mentioned them, here are the five things they liked best about the '63 Tempest:
"I can drive it easily in traffic." —Ohio drug salesman.
"Ease of handling makes it a fun car to drive." —Washington tugboat captain.
"Like the ease of handling when carrying a lot of excess weight in the trunk." —New York metalsmith.
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Almost flat curve between 40 and 60 m.p.h. is somewhat unusual but undeniable after averaging several runs with and against wind
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Excess weight in the trunk provides negative camber (that splayed-out took) to independently suspended rear wheels like Tempest's, adds stability
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TRANSMISSION RANGE SELECTOR down on the dash led the list of owners' complaints about the interior. With transmission in rear, front foot room is good
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TEMPEST'S FLOOR, like so many others, is recessed to provide adequate interior height combined with the fashionably low roofline buyers seem to want
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| POPULAR MECHANICS |
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APRIL 1963 |
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