The original Y bodies were: •
Buick Special (1961–1963) •
Buick Skylark (1962–1963) •
Oldsmobile F-85 (1961–1963) •
Oldsmobile Cutlass (1961–1963) •
Oldsmobile Jetfire (1962–1963) •
Pontiac Tempest (1961–1963) •
Pontiac Tempest LeMans (1961–1962) •
Pontiac LeMans (1963) Initially, each of the Y-body compacts from Buick, Olds and Pontiac were only offered as four-door sedans and station wagons when introduced in the fall of 1960 as 1961 models. In mid-1961, each of three divisions introduced pillared two-door models to the line with sportier versions of the Buick and Olds models added including the Special Skylark and F-85 Cutlass, both of which featured bucket seats, custom interior and exterior trim, and more powerful engines. For 1962, convertibles were added to the lineup by each of the divisions, with Pontiac also adding the sportier Tempest LeMans coupe and convertible to its compact lineup. This all-new platform replaced vehicles GM was importing from Europe, selling the
Vauxhall Victor that was made in England. The rear-engined 1960-69
Chevrolet Corvair Z-body up to 1964 used a variation of the rear swing-axle suspension and a transaxle similar to that found on the 1961-63 Pontiac Tempest. The 1961-62 Corvair station wagons even utilized a roofline similar to that on the 1961-63 Y-body wagons. Chevrolet's front-engine compact, introduced as the
Chevy II for 1962 had some dimensions similar to the Y-body cars, but had a two-inch shorter wheelbase, was smaller in length and width and utilized a distinct
X-body platform which featured semi-unibody construction, single-leaf spring rear suspension and conventional in-line four-, six-cylinder and later small-block V-8 engines.
First Y platform innovations The Y-body family of cars contained more innovative features than all other American products of that decade. Each model contained at least one notable advance: • Buick Special and Oldsmobile F-85 for all three years shared an aluminum-block 215-cubic-inch V8 engine featuring cast-iron liners to prevent overheating and block warpage problems common with aluminum-block engines. Although Buick and Olds shared the same basic engine design, both divisions used different cylinder heads, camshafts, carburetors and compression ratios. The 215 V8 was also available on the Pontiac Tempest for 1961 and 1962 and used the Buick version, but very few Tempests were so equipped. • For 1962, Buick introduced a new 198-cubic-inch V6 engine for the lower-line Special models in order to allow for a lower base price. That V6 shared many parts and dimensions with the aluminum V8 engine but featured a cast iron block. • Oldsmobile introduced a turbocharged version of the 215 V8 in mid-1962 for a special performance version of the
F-85/Cutlass called the Jetfire. This engine was among the first production turbocharged engines ever offered in a passenger car, the other being the
Chevrolet Corvair's
turbocharged flat-six engine introduced simultaneously for the Monza Spyder. The Olds Jetfire turbocharged V8 featured a four-barrel, 10.25:1 compression and was rated at 215 horsepower – one horsepower per cubic inch. • The Pontiac Tempest came standard with a 195-cubic-inch slant four-cylinder engine – then the only U.S.-built passenger car with such an engine. The Tempest four was really created from half a 389-cubic-inch V8 block used in the standard Pontiacs. This engine, available with one- and four-barrel carburetion, offered horsepower ratings ranging from 110 to 166. • The Tempest also used a rear transmission, or
transaxle to permit four-wheel independent suspension, a flat floor, eliminating the driveshaft hump, for improved interior space, while the Buick Special and Olds F-85 used a conventional front engine/front transmission drivetrain, albeit, with a two-piece driveshaft. • The Tempest also used an independent rear swing-axle suspension similar to the rear-engine Chevy Corvair, while the Buick and Olds compacts featured a conventional rear coil-spring suspension. • For 1963, Pontiac replaced the Buick-sourced 215 aluminum V8 with a Pontiac-built 336-cubic-inch V8 as the top power option for the Tempest. No one seems to know why the 326 of 1963 was called a 326, because the true displacement was 336. This 326 was based on the big Pontiac's 389 V8 and shared many of the larger engine's dimensions and components with horsepower ratings of 260 and 280. The 1963 326 Tempest/LeMans served as a testbed for the 389-powered 1964
GTO that would be based on a larger and more conventionally engineered Tempest introduced the following year.
Motor Trend magazine named the Corvair as its 1960 Car of the Year, Tempest as 1961's Car of the Year, and the V6 Special received the award in 1962.
End of the first Y platform Each of the Buick, Olds and Pontiac Y-body senior compacts were replaced by a larger intermediate-sized platform called the
A-Body for the 1964 model year, which was shared with the
Chevrolet Chevelle. With the switch from a senior compact to an intermediate-sized platform, most of these "innovative" features were discontinued such as the Tempest's four-cylinder engine and transaxle, the aluminum block V8 (whose tooling was sold to
Rover of England who improved the design enjoying considerable success with it as the
Rover V8 in models such as the
Rover P5B and
Range Rover) and the Olds Jetfire's turbocharged version of that V8. Also, the uni-body construction used in the Y-body cars was replaced by conventional body-on-frame construction for the A-body. The Buick V6 was continued and enlarged to 225 cubic inches, with the basic engine remaining in production for many years, with a 3.8-liter or 231-cubic-inch displacement. The aluminum V8 was replaced by conventional cast-iron-block V8s of 300 cubic inches for the Buick Special/Skylark and 330 inches for the Oldsmobile F-85/Cutlass, while Pontiac carried over its 326-cubic-inch V8 to the '64 Tempest/LeMans line while switching the base engine from the four-cylinder to a 215-cubic-inch inline six-cylinder. ==Second Y platform (1976–present)==