diff --git a/pandas/core/algorithms.py b/pandas/core/algorithms.py
index f76f952c53d1d..729d4e4059595 100644
--- a/pandas/core/algorithms.py
+++ b/pandas/core/algorithms.py
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ def factorize(values, sort=False, order=None, na_sentinel=-1):
         uniques = uniques.take(sorter)
 
     if is_datetime:
-        uniques = uniques.view('M8[ns]')
+        uniques = uniques.astype('M8[ns]')
     if isinstance(values, PeriodIndex):
         uniques = PeriodIndex(ordinal=uniques, freq=values.freq)
 
@@ -279,6 +279,7 @@ def rank(values, axis=0, method='average', na_option='keep',
         f, values = _get_data_algo(values, _rank2d_functions)
         ranks = f(values, axis=axis, ties_method=method,
                   ascending=ascending, na_option=na_option)
+
     return ranks
 
 
@@ -364,12 +365,22 @@ def _interpolate(a, b, fraction):
 
 
 def _get_data_algo(values, func_map):
+    mask = None
     if com.is_float_dtype(values):
         f = func_map['float64']
         values = com._ensure_float64(values)
     elif com.is_datetime64_dtype(values):
-        f = func_map['int64']
-        values = values.view('i8')
+
+        # if we have NaT, punt to object dtype
+        mask = com.isnull(values)
+        if mask.ravel().any():
+            f = func_map['generic']
+            values = com._ensure_object(values)
+            values[mask] = np.nan
+        else:
+            f = func_map['int64']
+            values = values.view('i8')
+
     elif com.is_integer_dtype(values):
         f = func_map['int64']
         values = com._ensure_int64(values)
diff --git a/pandas/core/array.py b/pandas/core/array.py
index f267771bb770f..495f231921a19 100644
--- a/pandas/core/array.py
+++ b/pandas/core/array.py
@@ -35,18 +35,3 @@
 
 NA = np.nan
 
-# a series-like ndarray ####
-
-
-class SNDArray(Array):
-
-    def __new__(cls, data, index=None, name=None):
-        data = data.view(SNDArray)
-        data.index = index
-        data.name = name
-
-        return data
-
-    @property
-    def values(self):
-        return self.view(Array)
diff --git a/pandas/core/common.py b/pandas/core/common.py
index 3cedc37533e0c..30ce5166b71e7 100644
--- a/pandas/core/common.py
+++ b/pandas/core/common.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 import codecs
 import csv
 import types
+from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 
 from numpy.lib.format import read_array, write_array
 import numpy as np
@@ -39,7 +40,7 @@ class AmbiguousIndexError(PandasError, KeyError):
     pass
 
 
-_POSSIBLY_CAST_DTYPES = set([np.dtype(t)
+_POSSIBLY_CAST_DTYPES = set([np.dtype(t).name
                              for t in ['M8[ns]', '>M8[ns]', '<M8[ns]',
                                        'm8[ns]', '>m8[ns]', '<m8[ns]',
                                        'O', 'int8',
@@ -867,11 +868,14 @@ def _infer_dtype_from_scalar(val):
 
         dtype = np.object_
 
-    elif isinstance(val, np.datetime64):
-        # ugly hacklet
+    elif isinstance(val, (np.datetime64, datetime)) and getattr(val,'tz',None) is None:
         val = lib.Timestamp(val).value
         dtype = np.dtype('M8[ns]')
 
+    elif isinstance(val, (np.timedelta64, timedelta)):
+        val = tslib.convert_to_timedelta(val,'ns')
+        dtype = np.dtype('m8[ns]')
+
     elif is_bool(val):
         dtype = np.bool_
 
@@ -1608,7 +1612,7 @@ def _possibly_convert_objects(values, convert_dates=True,
 
 
 def _possibly_castable(arr):
-    return arr.dtype not in _POSSIBLY_CAST_DTYPES
+    return arr.dtype.name not in _POSSIBLY_CAST_DTYPES
 
 
 def _possibly_convert_platform(values):
diff --git a/pandas/core/frame.py b/pandas/core/frame.py
index 5a0d975a473e1..b00ffd9edfb1a 100644
--- a/pandas/core/frame.py
+++ b/pandas/core/frame.py
@@ -4696,9 +4696,14 @@ def _convert_object_array(content, columns, coerce_float=False, dtype=None):
             raise AssertionError('%d columns passed, passed data had %s '
                                  'columns' % (len(columns), len(content)))
 
-    arrays = [lib.maybe_convert_objects(arr, try_float=coerce_float)
-              if dtype != object and dtype != np.object else arr
-              for arr in content]
+    # provide soft conversion of object dtypes
+    def convert(arr):
+        if dtype != object and dtype != np.object:
+            arr = lib.maybe_convert_objects(arr, try_float=coerce_float)
+            arr = com._possibly_cast_to_datetime(arr, dtype)
+        return arr
+
+    arrays = [ convert(arr) for arr in content ]
 
     return arrays, columns
 
diff --git a/pandas/io/tests/test_stata.py b/pandas/io/tests/test_stata.py
index eb3f518b0dd4b..aa553e93e72b8 100644
--- a/pandas/io/tests/test_stata.py
+++ b/pandas/io/tests/test_stata.py
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ def test_read_dta1(self):
     def test_read_dta2(self):
         if LooseVersion(sys.version) < '2.7':
             raise nose.SkipTest('datetime interp under 2.6 is faulty')
+        skip_if_not_little_endian()
 
         expected = DataFrame.from_records(
             [
diff --git a/pandas/src/inference.pyx b/pandas/src/inference.pyx
index e23afad278ee7..c048b2786bd91 100644
--- a/pandas/src/inference.pyx
+++ b/pandas/src/inference.pyx
@@ -56,7 +56,14 @@ def infer_dtype(object _values):
     if n == 0:
         return 'empty'
 
-    val = util.get_value_1d(values, 0)
+    # make contiguous
+    values = values.ravel()
+
+    # try to use a valid value
+    for i in range(n):
+       val = util.get_value_1d(values, i)
+       if not is_null_datetimelike(val):
+           break
 
     if util.is_datetime64_object(val) or val is NaT:
         if is_datetime64_array(values):
diff --git a/pandas/src/reduce.pyx b/pandas/src/reduce.pyx
index bfbe0f3ea7938..50fff7f9eb460 100644
--- a/pandas/src/reduce.pyx
+++ b/pandas/src/reduce.pyx
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 from numpy cimport *
 import numpy as np
 
-from pandas.core.array import SNDArray
 from distutils.version import LooseVersion
 
 is_numpy_prior_1_6_2 = LooseVersion(np.__version__) < '1.6.2'
@@ -114,8 +113,8 @@ cdef class Reducer:
 
                 # use the cached_typ if possible
                 if cached_typ is not None:
-                    cached_typ._data._block.values = chunk
-                    cached_typ.name = name
+                    object.__setattr__(cached_typ._data._block, 'values', chunk)
+                    object.__setattr__(cached_typ, 'name', name)
                     res = self.f(cached_typ)
                 else:
                     res = self.f(chunk)
@@ -164,7 +163,7 @@ cdef class SeriesBinGrouper:
         bint passed_dummy
 
     cdef public:
-        object arr, index, dummy_arr, dummy_index, values, f, bins, typ, ityp, name
+        object arr, index, dummy_arr, dummy_index, values, f, bins, typ, name
 
     def __init__(self, object series, object f, object bins, object dummy):
         n = len(series)
@@ -178,7 +177,6 @@ cdef class SeriesBinGrouper:
         self.arr = values
         self.index = series.index
         self.typ = type(series)
-        self.ityp = type(series.index)
         self.name = getattr(series,'name',None)
 
         self.dummy_arr, self.dummy_index = self._check_dummy(dummy)
@@ -210,9 +208,10 @@ cdef class SeriesBinGrouper:
             ndarray[int64_t] counts
             Py_ssize_t i, n, group_size
             object res
-            bint initialized = 0, needs_typ = 1, try_typ = 0
+            bint initialized = 0
             Slider vslider, islider
-            object gin, typ, ityp, name
+            object gin, typ, name
+            object cached_typ = None
 
         counts = np.zeros(self.ngroups, dtype=np.int64)
 
@@ -226,8 +225,6 @@ cdef class SeriesBinGrouper:
 
         group_size = 0
         n = len(self.arr)
-        typ = self.typ
-        ityp = self.ityp
         name = self.name
 
         vslider = Slider(self.arr, self.dummy_arr)
@@ -235,11 +232,6 @@ cdef class SeriesBinGrouper:
 
         gin = self.dummy_index._engine
 
-        # old numpy issue, need to always create and pass the Series
-        if is_numpy_prior_1_6_2:
-            try_typ = 1
-            needs_typ = 1
-
         try:
             for i in range(self.ngroups):
                 group_size = counts[i]
@@ -247,24 +239,15 @@ cdef class SeriesBinGrouper:
                 islider.set_length(group_size)
                 vslider.set_length(group_size)
 
-                # see if we need to create the object proper
-                if try_typ:
-                    if needs_typ:
-                          res = self.f(typ(vslider.buf, index=islider.buf,
-                                           name=name, fastpath=True))
-                    else:
-                          res = self.f(SNDArray(vslider.buf,islider.buf,name=name))
+                if cached_typ is None:
+                    cached_typ = self.typ(vslider.buf, index=islider.buf,
+                                          name=name)
                 else:
-                     try:
-                          res = self.f(SNDArray(vslider.buf,islider.buf,name=name))
-                          needs_typ = 0
-                     except:
-                          res = self.f(typ(vslider.buf, index=islider.buf,
-                                           name=name, fastpath=True))
-                          needs_typ = 1
-
-                     try_typ = 1
+                    object.__setattr__(cached_typ._data._block, 'values', vslider.buf)
+                    object.__setattr__(cached_typ, '_index', islider.buf)
+                    object.__setattr__(cached_typ, 'name', name)
 
+                res = self.f(cached_typ)
                 res = _extract_result(res)
                 if not initialized:
                     result = self._get_result_array(res)
@@ -309,7 +292,7 @@ cdef class SeriesGrouper:
         bint passed_dummy
 
     cdef public:
-        object arr, index, dummy_arr, dummy_index, f, labels, values, typ, ityp, name
+        object arr, index, dummy_arr, dummy_index, f, labels, values, typ, name
 
     def __init__(self, object series, object f, object labels,
                  Py_ssize_t ngroups, object dummy):
@@ -324,7 +307,6 @@ cdef class SeriesGrouper:
         self.arr = values
         self.index = series.index
         self.typ = type(series)
-        self.ityp = type(series.index)
         self.name = getattr(series,'name',None)
 
         self.dummy_arr, self.dummy_index = self._check_dummy(dummy)
@@ -351,16 +333,15 @@ cdef class SeriesGrouper:
             ndarray[int64_t] labels, counts
             Py_ssize_t i, n, group_size, lab
             object res
-            bint initialized = 0, needs_typ = 1, try_typ = 0
+            bint initialized = 0
             Slider vslider, islider
-            object gin, typ, ityp, name
+            object gin, typ, name
+            object cached_typ = None
 
         labels = self.labels
         counts = np.zeros(self.ngroups, dtype=np.int64)
         group_size = 0
         n = len(self.arr)
-        typ = self.typ
-        ityp = self.ityp
         name = self.name
 
         vslider = Slider(self.arr, self.dummy_arr)
@@ -368,11 +349,6 @@ cdef class SeriesGrouper:
 
         gin = self.dummy_index._engine
 
-        # old numpy issue, need to always create and pass the Series
-        if is_numpy_prior_1_6_2:
-            try_typ = 1
-            needs_typ = 1
-
         try:
             for i in range(n):
                 group_size += 1
@@ -389,27 +365,15 @@ cdef class SeriesGrouper:
                     islider.set_length(group_size)
                     vslider.set_length(group_size)
 
-                    # see if we need to create the object proper
-                    # try on the first go around
-                    if try_typ:
-                        if needs_typ:
-                              res = self.f(typ(vslider.buf, index=islider.buf,
-                                               name=name, fastpath=True))
-                        else:
-                              res = self.f(SNDArray(vslider.buf,islider.buf,name=name))
+                    if cached_typ is None:
+                        cached_typ = self.typ(vslider.buf, index=islider.buf,
+                                              name=name)
                     else:
+                        object.__setattr__(cached_typ._data._block, 'values', vslider.buf)
+                        object.__setattr__(cached_typ, '_index', islider.buf)
+                        object.__setattr__(cached_typ, 'name', name)
 
-                         # try with a numpy array directly
-                         try:
-                              res = self.f(SNDArray(vslider.buf,islider.buf,name=name))
-                              needs_typ = 0
-                         except (Exception), detail:
-                              res = self.f(typ(vslider.buf, index=islider.buf,
-                                               name=name, fastpath=True))
-                              needs_typ = 1
-
-                         try_typ = 1
-
+                    res = self.f(cached_typ)
                     res = _extract_result(res)
                     if not initialized:
                         result = self._get_result_array(res)
diff --git a/pandas/tests/test_frame.py b/pandas/tests/test_frame.py
index d966dcf5d3721..ad8b29d9448bf 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/test_frame.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/test_frame.py
@@ -10489,13 +10489,17 @@ def test_rank2(self):
                 [datetime(2000, 1, 2), datetime(2000, 1, 3),
                  datetime(2000, 1, 1)]]
         df = DataFrame(data)
+
+        # check the rank
         expected = DataFrame([[2., nan, 1.],
                               [2., 3., 1.]])
         result = df.rank(1, numeric_only=False)
         assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
 
         # mixed-type frames
-        self.mixed_frame['foo'] = datetime.now()
+        self.mixed_frame['datetime'] = datetime.now()
+        self.mixed_frame['timedelta'] = timedelta(days=1,seconds=1)
+
         result = self.mixed_frame.rank(1)
         expected = self.mixed_frame.rank(1, numeric_only=True)
         assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
@@ -11087,6 +11091,31 @@ def test_constructor_with_convert(self):
                                       None], np.object_))
         assert_series_equal(result, expected)
 
+    def test_construction_with_mixed(self):
+        # test construction edge cases with mixed types
+
+        # f7u12, this does not work without extensive workaround
+        data = [[datetime(2001, 1, 5), nan, datetime(2001, 1, 2)],
+                [datetime(2000, 1, 2), datetime(2000, 1, 3),
+                 datetime(2000, 1, 1)]]
+        df = DataFrame(data)
+
+        # check dtypes
+        result = df.get_dtype_counts().order()
+        expected = Series({ 'datetime64[ns]' : 3 })
+
+        # mixed-type frames
+        self.mixed_frame['datetime'] = datetime.now()
+        self.mixed_frame['timedelta'] = timedelta(days=1,seconds=1)
+        self.assert_(self.mixed_frame['datetime'].dtype == 'M8[ns]')
+        self.assert_(self.mixed_frame['timedelta'].dtype == 'm8[ns]')
+        result = self.mixed_frame.get_dtype_counts().order()
+        expected = Series({ 'float64' : 4,
+                            'object' : 1,
+                            'datetime64[ns]' : 1,
+                            'timedelta64[ns]' : 1}).order()
+        assert_series_equal(result,expected)
+
     def test_constructor_frame_copy(self):
         cop = DataFrame(self.frame, copy=True)
         cop['A'] = 5
diff --git a/pandas/tests/test_index.py b/pandas/tests/test_index.py
index 3270d80dc9dad..de6092a65f507 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/test_index.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/test_index.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 from pandas.core.index import (Index, Float64Index, Int64Index, MultiIndex,
                                InvalidIndexError)
+from pandas.tseries.index import DatetimeIndex
 from pandas.core.frame import DataFrame
 from pandas.core.series import Series
 from pandas.util.testing import (assert_almost_equal, assertRaisesRegexp,
@@ -32,6 +33,9 @@
 
 from pandas import _np_version_under1p7
 
+def _skip_if_need_numpy_1_7():
+    if _np_version_under1p7:
+        raise nose.SkipTest('numpy >= 1.7 required')
 
 class TestIndex(tm.TestCase):
     _multiprocess_can_split_ = True
@@ -236,12 +240,7 @@ def test_asof(self):
         tm.assert_isinstance(self.dateIndex.asof(d), Timestamp)
 
     def test_nanosecond_index_access(self):
-        if _np_version_under1p7:
-            import nose
-
-            raise nose.SkipTest('numpy >= 1.7 required')
-
-        from pandas import Series, Timestamp, DatetimeIndex
+        _skip_if_need_numpy_1_7()
 
         s = Series([Timestamp('20130101')]).values.view('i8')[0]
         r = DatetimeIndex([s + 50 + i for i in range(100)])
@@ -1607,11 +1606,12 @@ def test_get_level_values_na(self):
         expected = ['a', np.nan, 1]
         assert_array_equal(values.values, expected)
 
-        arrays = [['a', 'b', 'b'], pd.DatetimeIndex([0, 1, pd.NaT])]
-        index = pd.MultiIndex.from_arrays(arrays)
-        values = index.get_level_values(1)
-        expected = pd.DatetimeIndex([0, 1, pd.NaT])
-        assert_array_equal(values.values, expected.values)
+        if not _np_version_under1p7:
+            arrays = [['a', 'b', 'b'], pd.DatetimeIndex([0, 1, pd.NaT])]
+            index = pd.MultiIndex.from_arrays(arrays)
+            values = index.get_level_values(1)
+            expected = pd.DatetimeIndex([0, 1, pd.NaT])
+            assert_array_equal(values.values, expected.values)
 
         arrays = [[], []]
         index = pd.MultiIndex.from_arrays(arrays)