1962 · Pontiac · United States
1962 Pontiac Tempest: LeMans becomes the sporty Custom
LeMans becomes the sporty Tempest Custom; 1,658 Tempests got the aluminum V8.
United States · researched through 2026-09-23
This record's own dek describes 1962 as the year LeMans becomes the sporty Tempest Custom, with 1,658 Tempests receiving the aluminum V8. This record's own overview states that a secondary production summary lists the Tempest LeMans, itself the Tempest Custom trim, as a two-door hardtop at 39,662 and a convertible at 15,559, and reports 141,535 four-cylinder Tempests against 1,658 V8 cars, of which 86 had synchromesh and 1,572 the Tempest-Torque automatic.1
This record's own production rows document the Tempest Custom LeMans trim at 55,261 across its two bodies, and a separate Standard/Custom non-LeMans trim at 94,476 across six body rows: a 4-door sedan at 37,430, a 2-door coupe at 15,473, a sport coupe at 12,319, a convertible at 5,076, and two identical 4-door Safari rows at 6,504 and 17,674. This record's own note on those two Safari rows states that the table lists them with the same body number, price, and weight without explaining the difference, presumed to be Standard and Custom trim.2
This record's own production notes state that the Over-Drive table's two trim totals, 94,476 and 55,261, sum to 149,737, which does not agree with the oldride source's own engine split of 141,535 four-cylinder plus 1,658 V8, totaling 143,193, and that the two sources are not reconciled here nor summed into a new total. Those same notes document an extensive 2026-09-25 search for a single combined Pontiac Tempest total: the Over-Drive PDF's own page-bottom Production TOTAL of 527,981 covers the whole 1962 Pontiac line, and the Standard Catalog of Pontiac has no Tempest Total phrase for any model year, including 1962.1
That same production-notes search found that automobile-catalog.com's production page has no combined total either, and that its own 4-door-sedan figure of 16,057 conflicts with the primary PDF's 37,430 for what appears to be the same body style, a discrepancy this record's own notes judge too low-provenance to record as a formal conflict. This record's own conflicts section separately documents a genuine dispute over LeMans convertible production, 15,559 against 15,599, with its own treatment noting both compilations share Standard Catalog lineage and differ by one transposed digit, slightly favoring 15,599 on arithmetic grounds but marking the row disputed since neither is a factory document.2
This record's own unpublished leads document a Wikipedia figure of 15,599 for the LeMans convertible, flagged as uncited and differing by 40 from the 15,559 figure used in this record. This record's own prices section documents seven body-and-trim price points, from $2,186 for the 2-door coupe to $2,742 for the LeMans convertible, with the LeMans hardtop at $2,418, the sedan at $2,240, and the Safari at $2,511.1
This record's own specifications section documents a 112-inch wheelbase and shipping weights of 2,820 lb for the LeMans sport coupe and 2,975 lb for the LeMans convertible, the convertible 155 lb heavier. This record's own identification section documents Tempest series 21, with body 2119 the 4-door sedan, 2127 the 2-door coupe, 2117 the sport coupe including LeMans, 2167 the convertible including LeMans, and 2135 the Safari, five body codes in all for the year.2
Fact sheet · 1962 · United States
The numbers
1962 Pontiac Tempest — LeMans becomes the sporty Tempest Custom; 1,658 Tempests got the aluminum V8.
Coverage: Partial — researched sections are shown; missing ones are not yet sourced. Researched through 2026-09-23.
Every figure is labeled with how sure we are. Reported means a manufacturer, registry, or reference figure we cite but have not reconciled against factory records ourselves. Disputed means credible sources disagree and both are shown. Rows are separately scoped; don't add them together unless the note says they make up a total.
Key facts
- Reported 1962 V8 Tempest production was 1,658.1
Production
| What was counted | Count | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| LeMans two-door hardtop1 Tempest Custom (LeMans) · 2-door hardtop · not stated by source | 39,662 | built, model-year | Reported |
| LeMans convertible1 Tempest Custom (LeMans) · convertible · not stated by source | 15,559 | built, model-year | Disputed |
| Tempest 4-door sedan2 Tempest Standard/Custom · 4-door sedan (2119) · not stated by source | 37,430 | built, model-year | Reported |
| Tempest 2-door coupe2 Tempest Standard/Custom · 2-door coupe (2127) · not stated by source | 15,473 | built, model-year | Reported |
| Tempest sport coupe (non-LeMans)2 Tempest Standard/Custom · sport coupe (2117) · not stated by source | 12,319 | built, model-year | Reported |
| Tempest convertible (non-LeMans)2 Tempest Standard/Custom · convertible (2167) · not stated by source | 5,076 | built, model-year | Reported |
| Tempest 4-door Safari (first 2135 row)2 Tempest Standard/Custom · 4-door Safari wagon (2135) · not stated by source The table lists two identical Safari rows (same body number, price and weight) without saying how they differ; presumably Standard and Custom trim. | 6,504 | built, model-year | Reported |
| Tempest 4-door Safari (second 2135 row)2 Tempest Standard/Custom · 4-door Safari wagon (2135) · not stated by source See the note on the first Safari row. | 17,674 | built, model-year | Reported |
| What was counted | Count | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four-cylinder Tempests1 Tempest, all · 4-cylinder · not stated by source | 141,535 | built, model-year | Reported |
| V8 Tempests1 Tempest, all · V8 · not stated by source | 1,658 | built, model-year | Reported |
| What was counted | Count | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four-cylinder, synchromesh1 Tempest, all · 4-cylinder · manual · not stated by source | 28,867 | built, model-year | Reported |
| Four-cylinder, Tempest-Torque automatic1 Tempest, all · 4-cylinder · automatic · not stated by source | 112,668 | built, model-year | Reported |
| V8, synchromesh1 Tempest, all · V8 · manual · not stated by source | 86 | built, model-year | Reported |
| V8, Tempest-Torque automatic1 Tempest, all · V8 · automatic · not stated by source | 1,572 | built, model-year | Reported |
| What was counted | Count | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tempest Custom LeMans, all bodies2 Tempest Custom LeMans · not stated by source Equals 39,662 hardtops plus 15,599 convertibles as this table prints them. | 55,261 | built, model-year | Reported |
| Tempest Standard/Custom trim (non-LeMans), all bodies2 Tempest Standard/Custom · not stated by source The table presents its six body rows as partitioning this total. | 94,476 | built, model-year | Reported |
Engine rows partition the line; transmission rows partition each engine. Unattributed secondary source (Standard Catalog lineage).
The Over-Drive table's Tempest totals (94,476 + 55,261 = 149,737) do not agree with the oldride engine split (141,535 four-cylinder + 1,658 V8 = 143,193); the two sources are not reconciled here and neither is summed into a new total.
A single combined 'Pontiac Tempest' total (both trims together) was searched for on 2026-09-25 and not found. The Over-Drive PDF was re-fetched and visually reviewed in full: it prints only the two trim-level TOTAL lines already captured here (94,476 and 55,261), with no combined line before the table moves on to Catalina, and its page-bottom 'Production TOTAL' (527,981) is the whole 1962 Pontiac line, not Tempest alone. The Standard Catalog of Pontiac 1926-2002 (Gunnell, 2nd ed.; archive.org item standardcatalogo0002gunn, searched inside) has no 'Tempest Total' phrase anywhere in the book and prints only per-body-style rows for every model year, including 1962. automobile-catalog.com's Tempest 1st-generation production page (same-lineage secondary compilation, not registered as a source here) likewise has no combined total, and its 4-door-sedan figure (16,057) conflicts with the primary PDF's 37,430 for a row that appears to be the same body style -- too low-provenance to record as a conflict against a directly re-verified primary scan. Unresolved; best remaining sources are a Pontiac Historic Services production-report request or a period trade digest (Ward's Automotive Yearbook / Automotive News Almanac model-year production tables).
Searched again 2026-09-29 for a source that states one whole-year 1962 Tempest total; none was found. Figures seen only in web-search excerpts were unverified or were sums of the two trim rows already recorded here, which are derived and not a stated total, so none is entered. A Pontiac Historic Services production report or a period trade table (Ward's Automotive Yearbook) that prints the Tempest total would close it.
Prices when new
| Model | Price | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| LeMans two-door hardtop1 | $2,418 | factory price as compiled, 1962 model year |
| LeMans convertible1 | $2,742 | factory price as compiled, 1962 model year |
| Tempest 4-door sedan2 | $2,240 | factory price as compiled, 1962 model year |
| Tempest 2-door coupe2 | $2,186 | factory price as compiled, 1962 model year |
| Tempest sport coupe2 | $2,294 | factory price as compiled, 1962 model year |
| Tempest convertible2 | $2,564 | factory price as compiled, 1962 model year |
| Tempest 4-door Safari2 | $2,511 | factory price as compiled, 1962 model year |
Prices are the nominal dollars of the day, not adjusted for inflation.
Specifications
| Measure | Value | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Shipping weight, LeMans sport coupe2 | 2,820 lb | Tempest Custom LeMans 2117 |
| Shipping weight, LeMans convertible2 | 2,975 lb | Tempest Custom LeMans 2167 |
| Wheelbase2 | 112 in | all 1962 Tempests |
Identification
- Series and bodies
- Tempest series 21; bodies 2119 (4-door sedan), 2127 (2-door coupe), 2117 (sport coupe, including LeMans), 2167 (convertible, including LeMans), 2135 (Safari).2
Where the sources disagree
1962 LeMans convertible production
Both compilations are Standard Catalog lineage and differ by one transposed digit. The Over-Drive block total (55,261) is arithmetically consistent with 15,599, which slightly favors it, but neither is a factory document; the row is marked disputed.
Identification
Read a 1962 Pontiac VIN
The VIN decoder runs in your browser and never sends the VIN anywhere. How the factory numbered this year's cars:
Same model year
Also in 1962
- Buick Wildcat A bucket-seat, vinyl-roofed Invicta sport coupe with the 325-hp Wildcat 445 V-8 and a 3.42 axle; 2,000 built.
- Chevrolet Chevy II and Nova First Chevy II model year; the source engine table lists only the 153 four and 194 six. Enthusiast-compiled production: 326,607 cars.
- Chevrolet Impala SS 99,311 Super Sports, bucket seats and all-vinyl interiors; 15,019 409 engines across the full-size line.
- Chrysler 300 letter series Moved to the shorter 122-inch Newport-based platform without fins and overshadowed by a new non-letter 300 Sport series, the 300H had the letter cars' best power-to-weight ratio and one of their smallest runs.
- Dodge Dart 330/440, Polara and Max Wedge Dodge's downsized 116-inch-wheelbase line gained the 'Ramcharger 413', a dual-four-barrel short-ram wedge rated at 410 or 420 hp; no sourced count of Ramcharger-equipped cars was found.
- Ford Fairlane The first intermediate Fairlane: 79,606 Fairlanes and 217,510 Fairlane 500s by reference-site counts, 19,628 of them bucket-seat Sport Coupes.
- Ford Galaxie The top performance engine rose from 390 to 406 cubic inches, 385 hp with a four-barrel and 405 hp with three two-barrels, and the bucket-seat Galaxie 500 XL arrived as the sport series.
- Ford Thunderbird The Sports Roadster package arrived, 1,427 were built, and about 120 of them had the 340-hp M-code tri-carb 390.
- Mercury Marauder and S-55 Mercury's first S-55 was a bucket-seat Monterey Custom hardtop and convertible, with 390 and 406 big-block options.
- Oldsmobile Starfire A hardtop coupe joined the convertible, output rose to 345 hp, and the Starfire had its best year: 42,762.
- Plymouth Savoy, Fury and Max Wedge On the downsized 116-inch Plymouth, the 'Super Stock 413' short-ram wedge was a $375 option rated at 410 or 420 hp; body-style production is known, Super Stock production is not.
- Pontiac Catalina 2+2 and Super Duty The 421 Super Duty became a catalogued $2,250 option for Catalina two-doors and the Grand Prix.
- Pontiac Grand Prix An all-new performance-luxury hardtop on the Catalina body: 303 hp, buckets, console and tachometer, and 30,195 sold.
- Studebaker Hawk Brooks Stevens's restyle of the six-year-old Hawk body cost $400 more than the 1961 car, and production more than doubled: 9,335 in all, 8,388 of them domestic.