Pontiac OHC-6 engines

Those were the first engines I ever heard of with belt-driven camshaft. The rest of the engine was fairly pedestrian. A teacher in my high school went for a test ride in a demo with a salesman. It stalled (which may not have had anything to do with the OHC) and stranded them during the test ride, so she didn't buy it.
I got a ride home from college in one a couple of years later. I was curious, but didn't even get to see the engine.
 
I've never seen the OHC 6, but my hometown junkyard had an early Tempest with the 4-cylinder that looked like a Pontiac V-8 cut in half. I pulled the distributor from it to use in my 400. There was also one of the aforementioned aluminum Buick blocks sitting with crushed cans in the scrap pile.
 
I think the engine is very cool, but to bring things back to earth, the stock engine made 215 gross HP at 5500 rpm and a 1967 Pontiac Firebird Sprint with the same engine did 0 to 60 in 10 seconds. The next year’s Firebird with a 400 cu inch V-8 did 0-60 in 5.5 seconds.
:sleep:
 
I think the engine is very cool, but to bring things back to earth, the stock engine made 215 gross HP at 5500 rpm and a 1967 Pontiac Firebird Sprint with the same engine did 0 to 60 in 10 seconds. The next year’s Firebird with a 400 cu inch V-8 did 0-60 in 5.5 seconds.
:sleep:
0-60 in 10 seconds is about the same as a BMW 2002tii.
 
... and likely a lot quicker than a 6-cylinder Nova of the same vintage.
We had a '63 Chevy II 6 cylinder 3MT. There was nothing fast about it. Adequate yes, fast no.
Come to think of it, I witnessed a street race in Calgary in 1970 between a 2002tii and a Nova V8. Lots of noise from the Nova but the BMW seemed to have won the usual 1 block race. I was behind them which is not the best place to call a winner - but the point is, that race was really close.

A 2002tii was considered a quick car at the time, notwithstanding the 10 second 0-60 time, and yet most current econoboxes are faster than that.
 
The Pontiac OHC Sprint 6 was developed under the order of John DeLorean when he was the boss at Pontiac.
It was the first engine in the world to use the toothed rubber belt for cam drive.
The end-pivot finger follower valve train with stationary hydraulic lash adjuster anticipated what has become the standard OHC valvetrain of the current auto industry.
The engine was available in 230 and 250 cubic inch versions, and with a 4-barrel carb, I think got up to 230 hp.
I had a friend when I was in college that had a 230 Sprint 6 in a '67 Tempest, but don't remember anything exceptional about the performance. The most exciting part of the car was the brakes. It had a single-reservoir master cylinder without power assist, so you really had to use some muscle to get the car to slow down. The first time I tried to slow the car in traffic, it seemed like it sped up when I hit the brakes. Heart skipped a beat, adrenaline surge caused a big spike in leg pressure, then the car slowed down.

I think Jay Leno has a vintage Firebird with the Sprint 6 and is restoring it.
 
... The most exciting part of the car was the brakes. It had a single-reservoir master cylinder without power assist, so you really had to use some muscle to get the car to slow down. The first time I tried to slow the car in traffic, it seemed like it sped up when I hit the brakes. ....
You must've been accustomed to the touchy over-boosted power brakes typical of '60s American drum-brake cars. The non-power brakes of my parents' 1964 LeSabre were fine. (However, those of their '66 F-100 were more consistent with your description.)
 
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