Welcome to summer, readers! The long, hot days of the year are upon us and I, for one, am so grateful they are here. I love the warm temperatures. I love the long evenings. And above all else, I love driving during the long evenings, from mid-afternoon until well after the sun has set and the stars have come out. There is nothing finer than cruising along as the sun dips towards the horizon, I don’t care if you’re in the city or country, surrounded by flat farmland and rows of corn or are heading to the nearest beach in the west to soak in the end of another day against the water. Happiness is a good cruise…and so is ice cream. You often hear about folks who take their pretty ride out with the kids or grandkids to go get some ice cream from a nearby shop, and I love the idea. What better way to spend time both with family and with the car culture than to just take a ride for some sweets?
A car like this 1965 Pontiac Tempest is perfect for the job. Yes, the ice cream reference came after seeing the cool white paint job over every last surface…it’s not a GTO, it doesn’t need to be dolled up like one. The Pontiac lines look great and the painted steelies and caps are spot-freaking on. Inside you’ll find an interior with color, turquoise all around, and an add-on air conditioning setup under the dash. Under the hood might hang some people up, but from where I sit, the move to an LS engine works here because if all you want to do is drive and enjoy the trip, why not enjoy fuel injection and the availability of parts anywhere you go? Nothing against a 389, but good luck if something happens on your drive.
It’s not a concours car. It’s not perfect, and at least half of you are going to point to the LS underhood while screaming, “Blasphemy!” But to us, that’s missing the point. This car is a driver, a cruiser, a car you can roll anywhere. Go to the beach. Go drive down a backroad until stars reflect off of the paint. Pile the young ones inside and go hit that ice cream spot. Nobody is going to care that there’s an LS under the hood. The kids don’t care. They just know they were riding around in a cool classic machine.
To the great mctaggart you finally posted a car worth writing about and reading thanks
You could make some money selling the LS hunka shit and use some of it to fit a proper classic Pontiac motor running three carbs…