[John V.]

Hmmm, not according to the '64 Tempest Inspector's Guide.

The ONLY 4 spd offered for the '64 Tempest was the Muncie.

p/n 9774825 was the Muncie wide ratio trans used for all applications, all tire sizes, all ratios except 3.90 axle.

p/n 9774826 was the Muncie wide ratio trans used for all applications with 3.90 axle.

In April '64, p/n 9777000 was released for the Muncie close ratio. It was available as a Special Equipment option and required GTO option, Tri-Power option, 3.90 axle, metallic brake option, HD rad, & HD fan as mandatory additional options.

All of them made use of the Hurst shifter which was a Competition Plus shifter body although used PMD linkage and stick lever, so not quite what Hurst sold over the counter as a Competition Plus shifter. The stick lever depended on bucket or bench seat.

In '65, the same Muncie trans choices were again used in the Tempest but all new p/ns were issued.

The '65 shifter was revised and there was a variety of stick lever styles that were used. I am not up to speed on all of the whys and wherefores, generally, the GTO got the lever stamped "HURST" but apparently not all did for reasons that apparently aren't completely understood. Once again though, all of the shifter bodies should have been the Hurst Competition Plus.

Jerry, perhaps you are remembering the introduction at mid '65 of the HD 3 spd trans. It was a top loader Dearborn trans, fully synchronized.

According to the mid year announcement, it was optional on ALL V8 Tempests. This included the GTO, it was not standard in the GTO option package but an extra cost option.

Since the 4 spd was an option, we didn't miss that in figuring the value of the GTO option package.

Jerry, if your '65 326 HO had a Dearborn trans in it, it either was the optional HD 3 spd which was a better trans than the std GTO 3 spd Muncie or if it was a Dearborn 4 spd, it could not have been original to the car.

The base tranny was a 3 spd and all V8 Tempests including GTO got the same Muncie 3 spd as the base trans. Only difference was, the GTO got the floor shift linkage (don't recall if it was a Hurst shifter body used with the 3 spd) as std., the others got the column shift linkage as std. A Lemans with Console got the same shifter body as the GTO but that would have been extra cost.

I did account for this difference (added $10), including the floor pan cutout for the floor shift, although I'm not sure there was really any appreciable cost difference between the parts used for each (floor shift vs. column shift).

Regardless, for '64 & '65, if you ordered a 4 spd in any Tempest, you got a Muncie. And the 4 spd option was the same price with or without the GTO option. And they all used a Hurst shifter body.

Jerry, no doubt it is easy to tell the difference between a Muncie 4 spd and a Dearborn 4 spd.

But something doesn't add up about the '65 326 HO Lemans you bought way back when since a Dearborn 4 spd was not a factory install in any '64 or '65 Tempest.

Are you sure it wasn't a 3 spd?