The

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada *Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

Custom S was a one-year only Pontiac nameplate offered during the 1969 model year car as a replacement for the "Tempest Custom" trim level in the Division's line-up. Originally to be called the "Pontiac TC", it was slotted between the

Tempest Tempest is a synonym for a storm. '' The Tempest'' is a play by William Shakespeare. Tempest or The Tempest may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''The Tempest'' (1908 film), a British silent film * ''The Tempest'' (1911 film), a ...

and LeMans in price and features.

Overview

The Custom S was available in six different body designs: two-door

convertible A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...

, hardtop coupe, sports coupe, a 4-door sedan, a 4-door hardtop, and a station wagon.Information about Custom S models, VIN numbers, and production numbers
Retrieved on: July 19, 2007 The sports coupe can be differentiated from the hardtop by the presence of a vent window in the front door. Interior and exterior appointments fell between the Tempest and the LeMans and GTO. The Custom S came standard with Pontiac's unique

overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...

OHC-6 175 hp 250 in³ engine. Also available was a TQ OHC inline 6-cylinder with the "Sprint" package, a overhead valve pushrod V8 350 in³, and a version of the same engine with higher compression and a 4-barrel carburetor. Originally planned for 1969 was a lower-priced "econo" muscle car to be based on the Custom S series intended as a competitor to the fast-selling sub-$3,000

Plymouth Road Runner The Plymouth Road Runner is a mid-size car with a focus on performance built by Plymouth in the United States between 1968 and 1980. By 1968, some of the original muscle cars were moving away from their roots as relatively cheap, fast cars as t ...

, well below the base $3,500 to $4,500-$5,000 optioned-out GTO and similar upscale muscle cars. This car was to be built on the two-door pillared coupe body style and be powered by the 330-horsepower 350 HO V8 with other equipment including the Custom S's bench-seat interior and exterior with Carousel Red paint, Rally II wheels sans trim rings and sporty striping. This car, which was said to have been named the "Pontiac ET" (for elapsed time), was presented to division officials but rejected as presented. Instead of the lower-priced muscle car concept, Pontiac decided to retain the flamboyant paint job and striping ... and offer it as the expensive "The Judge" option on the GTO. The Custom S nameplate was dropped after the 1969 model year. For 1970, that series was replaced by a new base LeMans line with the same bodystyles, while the previous up-level LeMans became the LeMans Sport. The entry level Tempest continued for one more year with a new T-37 hardtop coupe added at mid-year, that included a GT-37 option package as lower-priced junior musclecar available with 350 and 400 V8s somewhat similar to the abortive '69 ET series. The T-37 nameplate replaced Tempest entirely for the entry-level Pontiac intermediate series in 1971.

References

{{Pontiac Early Timeline Custom S Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Convertibles Coupés Sedans 1960s cars