Thread: Tempo Matador.

The Tempo Matadors I know were based on VW 25 hp, the early ones at least. They were front wheel drive with the engine behind the front wheels. They made trucks and vans which looked like a cross between Split window VW's and a train. The later Matadors had a water cooled engine, English origin I think.

The Tempo Matador on Oldbug.com.

Tempo (company) - Wikipedia

Both correct fgs.

Tempo Matadors (about a one ton front wheel drive, FC truck) were about as far as I can remember, in the early to mid fifties. I remember them as having an aircooled engine, being very prone to rust, and not being around for very long! They looked a bit like the VW pickup of the time, but slightly smaller and much rarer. They were probably cheaper than the VW.

I remember seeing one in Largs Bay , Adelaide , when I was young.

If I remember correctly , the guys who drove it repaired tents and did odd jobs at the ZC/NBHC Holiday Camp , a place I frequented for the first 14 yrs of my life.

Originally Posted by V8Ian

Who's heard of them? They were busses and light commercial vehicles built on 80" and 86" Series Land Rovers.
The forerunner of Pollies Coaches (Gympie Q) operated one on charter work.

Ian, in the 60s, someone in the Pine Rivers area had a sort of khaki coloured one. I distinctly remember it, as it was sooo ugly.

Originally Posted by Saitch

Ian, in the 60s, someone in the Pine Rivers area had a sort of khaki coloured one. I distinctly remember it, as it was sooo ugly.

There was a plumber in Redcliffe had an early, small Dyna-ish ute with suicide doors. It wouldn't have been a contender for COTY, on aesthetic grounds either.

I saw a Matador Tempo van in good nick in Barraba in the late 80's, I went back when I could get time some time off to chase it up. After many dud leads I tracked it down to a bloke whose yard looked like a wrecking yard. He had cut it up and scrapped the body, all that was left was the front panel and the engine/chassis. He was going to make a vehicle with two engines by using a VW rear end. All he managed to do was totally stuff a going vehicle. I bought what was left of it and sat on it for a while, the 25HP engine was running when he took a torch to it. I finished up giving it away to a bloke who knew how much it was worth, he flogged it for a fortune. A going 25HP VW engine is now worth a lot of money. I have since found more bits and virtually gave them away to people who are rebuilding them. I kept 6X16" rims that fit VW's. I have a couple of Split VW projects and a Country Buggy to rebuild if I can ever get a shed finished.

1951 Tempo Matador For Sale on Oldbug.com

Never heard of one before