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Topic starter
19/12/2004 7:31 pm
1963 Tempest 421 SD "Mule" car by H-61
Plagued by soaring fuel costs at the end of the fifties, Detroit answered with smaller car options. At the beginning of the Sixties, factory racing, NASCAR and NHRA, was still the domain of large block engines in full-sized sedans. Pontiac was running their 421 Super Duty Catalinas through their factory sponsored racing teams but were starting to face competition from lighter weight cars with similar horsepower.
Facing a GM ban on racing due to be implemented on 23 January 1963. Pontiac developed the 421 Super Duty LeMans as a drag only factory cars over the Christmas holiday of 1962. Six 326 badged LeMans coupes and 6 Tempest Station Wagons were built and for the brief time Pontiac stayed in the game, these cars made legends out of the likes of Arnie Beswick, Jess Tyree and Arlen Vanke.
This diecast is of the first "Mule" car shot in Silvermist Metallic with Blue interior. These was the test bed for the program. Later cars were to have aluminum front sheet metal and front bumper and hood scoop lifted from a competitor's medium duty truck line and given a Pontiac part number for the SD project. This "Mule" was just stripped of trim, badged for a "326" V8 and even retained a stock single exhaust although the exhaust was now routed to twin dumps. The look was clean (sans hood scoop) and nondescript but, with the tires and suspension upgrades, somewhat muscular in appearance. It was arguably the ultimate sleeper and the forerunner of the classic muscle car.
Highway-61 has nailed that badboy look in their latest offering in their '63 Tempest series.
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The paint is even and the clearcoat is slick. As on the real car, the window trim has been removed and the rubbergasket is visible. The Tempest script and deck "326" are tampo'd the grill badge and quarter panel Pontiac logo are 3-D.
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Open the hood which operates on a really intricate springloaded sliding scissor hinges, the SD 421 is all there with 2 4bbl carbs, special sealed radiator, heater delete plate, firewall mounted coil and bare bones manual braking cylinder.
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To see how all that power gets to the rear wheels, head to the rear. The stock gas filler cover remains on this variant and is operational.
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Opening the trunk and you'll find it stripped of liner, spare and jack. However, it no contains a Heavy Duty Delco 12V battery. A special access cover can be lifted to expose the transaxle which was retained for weight distribution.
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Flipping the car over is a better way to see the transaxle along with the heavy duty suspension.
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The mystery lies in just what type of transmission this particular car has. The final products had a clutch operated 4spd that was set up for clutchless shifting during runs. But the floor mounted shifter is a straight gate automatic type marked with the classic "PRND21". Adding to the confusion is the clutch pedal.
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The interior is nicely done. All I can see missing are the interior doorlocks. Even the roof is nicely modeled with acoustic liner, dome light and working visors. There's some nice touches like the Fisher logo on the sill, carpeted floor and all chromed hardware, horn assembly and dash plate
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When all is said and done, the old SD may look meaner, but the new kid means business.
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This is another fine addition to the H-61 stable. As always, their choice of subject matter is outside the box, but very desirable.
19/12/2004 8:37 pm
Mystery Trans
Rich, I wrote the review on the white H-61 version of the same car in "Lists and Reviews". During the research phase, I got the chance to talk to Jess Tyree who got one of the original 6 coupes and still has his, but has substantially modified it with a conventional drive train.
The way the transmission works is really neat. As Jess explained it, the set-up was basically an automatic transaxle attached to the engine-mounted clutch by a long torque tube.
You launched with the clutch and once rolling could shift the automatic without using the clutch pedal..... just as you would shift a regular automatic transmission.
Jess was bemoaning the fact that when he removed this transaxle, he gave it to a local junk yard. If he'd kept it, it would be worth a lot because it was the key piece that was unique to this wonderful car.
20/12/2004 5:08 am
Viewing your great photos revealed.....................
a detail that I had not previously spotted. I have the Arnie Beswick "Lil Runabout" and the "daily driver", BOTH are LeMans's. The "mule" is a Tempest, therefore the rear trim has been omitted and the taillights are entirely different. A small detail but again Highway 61 goes for accuracy. Thanks for the review and photos Rich, keep 'em coming.
Topic starter
20/12/2004 12:06 pm
Then it all makes perfect sense....LOL
Thanx for the explanation, Bill. The way you describe the system matches with the way it was supposed to work.
21/12/2004 4:38 pm
Is this a stock out of the box car from H-61 or did you do some fancy upgrading???
Topic starter
21/12/2004 6:53 pm
This guy is OOB....
I didn't touch it....yet. What you see is what you'll get. I have to be careful with the cars I'm reviewing. I have a tendency to start monkeying around with them 2min after I unpack them.
22/12/2004 4:29 am
Ya ,but when you monkey around with them, they sure come out better
22/12/2004 5:00 am
Just ordered the Mule.
22/12/2004 4:36 pm
I believe( I could have misunderstood) that the trans-axle was actually two two-speed
Tempest transmissions in front of & behind the rear axle carrier with concentric drive shafts, as was described in an old magazine about Beswick's car.