D/shaft was like a "steel cable" & as said above was flexable. Theres one not far from me, that was for sale last summer. Southern car in very good shape, his wifes car, she was in a very BAD car accident, can hardly walk now & can't drive anymore, so car was for sale????

Yes, the GM "senior compacts" as they were known back when new shared a surprising amount of early Corvair engineering. Pontiac used the transaxle that I suspect was shared with the Corvair. That includes the dubious swing axle that could tuck under when simultaneously braking and cornering. Following that maneuver the rear tires would go through a camber change that could set the car up for a slow rollover.

 

 

At 194.5 c.i.d. the slant 4 was a very large displacement for an inline 4. Given the natural vibration period of an inline 4, combined with the large displacement made for a relatively rough running engine. The hot version had 4 1-barrel carbs. The 326 V8 (actually a 336 initially) gave the early Tempest some decent performance by 1963.

GM back in the 1960s, with all of its resources and different divisions, was very daring and experimental for such an otherwise conservative company. I mean, Corvair, aluminum Olds / Buick 215 V8, the FWD Toronado with 425 & later 455 power, the unique subframes on the early Camaros & Firebirds which brought road isolation to a unibody design, Pontiac's OHC-6, Pontiacs with the exposed aluminum brake drums & 8-lug detachable rims, the racing stuff developed for the Z/28 program (they used some revolutionary technology to study & refine the car & parts). Plus the 1967 L/88 Corvettes that exceeded 175 mph on the Mulsanne Straight at Lemans in France (surprising for a company that officially was out of racing). That, plus arguably some of the best ever styling (they had some awkward stuff as well, but not much). GM still focused on production stuff that sold well and had them in an unasailable position at the time. It is a bloody shame what GM has been reduced to after letting business school people have too much say in products while the "car guy" engineers took a backseat. Hopefully they have learned from their mistakes and show some real passion in the future. Of course it is a much different climate to develop cars today. There are way too many agencies dictating car design now.

 

BTW, take a close look at a 1963 Tempest wheelcover, then a 1969 Chevrolet Impala full wheelcover. They are the same except for the lettering & emblem in the center. I think the Tempest version was 15" while the Chevy design was 14" (I have seen 15" Chevy versions as well).