The Forgotten Pontiac Can Am

Well, Mark, this is really wild. I can't remember the last time I saw one of these. A 77 Pontiac Can-Am, right? That's correct. Man, this is one rare car. How many of these did they make? 1,377. Boy, that's pretty precise. 1,377. Yep. I mean, I can't imagine that was their original intent. No, their original intent was to do about 5,000 of them. What happened? They had a problem with their rear spoiler. The mold kept breaking on it. Okay. And they stopped production on that. And because of the dash, it's a Grand Prix dash. That year, the Grand Prixs were pretty popular. So GM, instead of spending the money giving the dash to this car, they'd much rather keep it for the Grand Prix. Save it for the Grand Prix. Well, you know, this is a weird body style. It was kind of one where you either loved it or hated it. That's correct. Because, you know, the gills, the kind of shark gills in the rear window, you know, the way it kind of tapers off in the back, the big V in the front. But it's really, it's clearly Pontiac when you see this hood. Absolutely. That's Pontiac. Where did you find this thing? It came out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. And before that, it was in Tennessee. And that's as far as I go with that. I can't find anything before that. These rusted like crazy. Yes, they did. The floor pans and the quarter panels and sometimes the bumpers. Really? The bumpers because they'd hold the water in them. Did you have to redo it? Yes, I did. Complete rotisserie restoration on it. Did you do it or? Me and a friend of mine owns a body shop. Really? I mean, this is a big car to put on a rotisserie. It really is. It's heavy. That's a big rotisserie. It is. Yes. Wow. And, you know, to make it the Can-Am, was it the striping package? It was the striping package, the dash, and the spoiler. Man, it's wild looking. And I like the red interior. Did they all come with red? Actually, they came with four colors. They came with red, black, beige, and white. Wow. You know, and you're right, the Grand Prix dash just looks fantastic. It sets it right off. Oh, man, it does. You know, and were these special buckets for this? No, they all came with these type of buckets in it. Okay. It was the only option. But how about the door panels? The door panels were for this car only. Wow. Now, how tough was that? Well, it took them two years to reproduce them for me. Really? So you've redone all the interior? All the interior's been done. That's correct. Jeez. Boy, and it's, you know, I mean, it looks like it's a lot of fun. It is. It cruises really nice. Yeah, I bet. Well, and, you know, again, the louvered rear window, you know, it actually, it's like vertical blinds because it kind of lets the light in. And this was the problem, right? This was the problem child. Okay, why? It looks pretty simple. Well, it looks simple, but with the fiberglass and the way they molded them, they had problems with them. And then they went to urethane and they had a problem with the urethane. They thought they could get around to it and finish their production run, but it didn't happen. So they said, eh. Yeah, that's it. That's it. Well, so 6.6, it's the Pontiac 400, right? Pontiac 400. Let's go look at that baby. Open up, Mark. All right. That is a great looking scoop. Thank you. Is that unique to this car? Well, actually, I had one of the Firebirds. Is it really the same one as the Firebird pretty much? It's pretty much. That year, this is off a 76 Firebird shaker hood. The 74s, the Firebirds are a little bit different, but this is a larger scoop. And it's great that it comes through the hood. It comes through the hood and it shakes when the motor runs. Really menacing. Yes, it does. But this baby is packed in there. You've got air, you've got, you know, I mean, all that back there. It's tough to change the plugs. It's got to be. It's really tough. Do you have to go underneath? No, you use it with a socket with a universal on it to get in there and a couple of busted knuckles and you're all set to go, you know? Is this the original engine? Yes, it is. Wow. Actually, I had one piston in a pan when I bought it. Whoa, that's rough. And it was a little tight, yeah. You saved it? We saved it. It's a number matching car. Wow. We just leave the front two cylinders and threw her back together and she runs great. That is just incredible. And like I said, man, that's a big one too. It's large. I haven't seen one of these forever and they're just so different. They're so distinctive. Where are you from? Rochester, New York. Bet you don't see one of these at any show you go to. No, I'm about the only one in town that has one. The only kid on the block. Mark, I love this baby. 77 Pontiac Can-Am. Yep. Beautiful 6.6. 6.6.