"Jim Spanfeller" (awesomeaustinv)
12/04/2019 at 17:23 • Filed to: None
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"Jim Spanfeller" (awesomeaustinv)
12/04/2019 at 17:23 • Filed to: None | 1
| 4 |
One of my favorite things when it comes to cars is weird parts compatibility. Especially when the weird parts compatibility has to do with body panels. My favorite example of this has to do with Pontiac Tempests and GTOs, as well as El Caminos. First of all, the front fenders of an El Camino are not the same as the ones on a Chevelle, and the front fenders of a Pontiac Tempest Safari w agon are not the same as the front fenders of a regular Tempest. However, the shape of the side of the front fenders of an El Camino does match up with the shape of the front fenders of a Pontiac Tempest Safari wagon. And from what I understand, they’ll bolt right up to the other car as well. And people have done just that:
This particular one was built by a Pontiac dealership because they were upset about Pontiac not having an El Camino equivalent. They built the car to show to Pontiac in an attempt to convince them it would be a good idea. They may not have succeeded in convincing Pontiac to make utes, but it seems that their effort did eventually result in the production of the GMC Sprint. Of course, if it’s possible to make a Tempest ute, you might wonder if you could make a GTO ute as well? Well you can, and someone did:
I suppose you could also do the swap the other way and put an El Camino nose on a Tempest wagon, but I’m not sure why you’d want to, since Chevy did make Chevelle wagons. Or you could do something a bit less complicated and just stick GTO noses on different body styles of Tempest, which quite a few people have done. I’d personally love a four-door GTO Judge. But anyways, I hope you found this interesting!
WilliamsSW
> Jim Spanfeller
12/04/2019 at 17:37 |
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Pontiac should have done this from the start
Also, a couple of years ago at a Mecum auction, I saw a 1962 “ bubble top” Catalina - which was not a real thing, but I loved it.
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Jim Spanfeller
> WilliamsSW
12/04/2019 at 17:41 |
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OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH. That’s good. I like that.
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WilliamsSW
> Jim Spanfeller
12/04/2019 at 17:47 |
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It’s actually a Pontiac built prototype, 1 of 1.
Kiltedpadre
> Jim Spanfeller
12/04/2019 at 18:30 |
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I never really understood why GM chose GMC to sell the El Camino twin instead of Pontiac.