Solved - NEH 1041: 1959 Pontiac Ventura, Corvair-based prototype for Tempest

[Carnut]

What is this car's name, what was it actually for and when does it date from, for 1 point?:

[Otto Puzzell]

Not a re-post (technically)

[Carnut]

Not a re-post (technically)

Has it featured as part of a group?  I couldn't find any mention of it...
Could you PM me the link?

[bleyland]

That's the Corvair-based Pontiac design study...I think this one is called the Ventura

[Carnut]

That's the Corvair-based Pontiac design study...I think this one is called the Ventura

Welcome to AutoPuzzles.
You're right so far, but there's still the middle bit of the question to answer in order to earn your first point.
What was it a design study for?  In other words, what was it going to be had it gone into production, a Pontiac "what"?
This puzzle is locked for your reply!

[bleyland]

oh, I think you wanted Pontiac Polaris (1959)

[Carnut]

oh, I think you wanted Pontiac Polaris (1959)

No, the Pontiac Polaris was another of the Corvair-based prototypes; don't think there ever was a production Pontiac Polaris (that was a Dodge so don't know how they got to use the name!)

There was a production car shortly afterwards that these cars were prototypes for, although of course it was a completely different car in the end.

The date is right though.

[bleyland]

Oops sorry, I didn't realize that all you wanted was that it was the forerunner for the Tempist.  I was using complicated thinking for the easy part of the question.

There was no production Pontiac Polaris, but Dodge's production car was the Polara.

[Carnut]

Oops sorry, I didn't realize that all you wanted was that it was the forerunner for the Tempist.  I was using complicated thinking for the easy part of the question.

There was no production Pontiac Polaris, but Dodge's production car was the Polara.

Polara - of course it was!  Polaris was the missile defence system we use!
These cars were of course portotypes for the Pontiac Tempest so I'm pleased to award you your first point.
Well done.

[Otto Puzzell]

Well, taught this Corvair buff a new thing! 

I've sent you some additional Corvair/Polaris pics. Enjoy!

[Otto Puzzell]

....although of course it was a completely different car in the end.

And the front, and the middle, too! 

[Aaron65]

Apparently, Knudsen and DeLorean made a case to GM Management to let Pontiac design its own compact...they were leery of the Corvair's safety, according to DeLorean's book On a Clear Day you can see General Motors.  Unfortunately, the early Tempests had the same swing axle rear end as the early Corvair...by the time the Corvair got a good, safe rear suspension design, the Mustang had been introduced and that was the end of that!

[fyreline]

This has always been a fascinating sidelight to the Corvair story. Not all that many folks know how close all the other GM car divisions (except Cadillac) were to getting their own version of the Corvair. I'm sure it made some sense to help amortize the tooling costs for the many unique assemblies, but in the end Pontiac, Buick and Oldsmobile all opted out for their own compacts (Tempest, Special and F-85 respectively). Although those three compacts did share more of the Corvair's engineering than you would think, they were of course very different animals. I've seen photos of the Oldsmobile version of the Corvair, and of course quite a few shots of the Polaris exist.  Don't know if I've ever seen any pictures of the proposed Buick version, though. Does anyone have any?

A great topic.

[bleyland]

Thanks for guiding me through Carnut, and hopefully it will be first of many.