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Rare One Owner Red Can Am on 2040-cars

Year:1977 Mileage:115954
Location:

Bradenton, Florida, United States

Bradenton, Florida, United States
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Get yourself, or your sweetheart a great Valentine's Day present, it's even the right color!

This is a one owner 1977 Pontiac LeMans with the Can Am performance package, and as far as I know the only one in this color, all were made in white, this one is not.  The short lesson is that there were either 1,177 or 1,377 (Depending on your source, no one seems to pin down a hard number) LeMans Sport Coups converted into Can Ams by a company called Motortown Corporation in 1977 as a GM project to resurrect (sort of) the GTO.  The project got cancelled by GM when the stamping machine that made the rear spoilers broke and was down for most of the spring.  With hundreds of white LeMans SC's sitting in the yard at the factory, GM management eventually pulled the plug on the project and sent the last batch of about 450 machines to be modified after the stamping machine was fixed.  There isn't much else to say, if you're looking for one of these then you know what we are talking about, if you've never heard of it before, ask questions and I'll try to answer as best as possible.

When I purchased the car, I was working at a Pontiac dealer in Ypsilanti Michigan and was told it was sent in with the last batch of Sport Coupes that went off to Motortown for conversion to the Can Am.   Supposedly our Sales Manager was a golfing buddy of the VP of Pontiac at the time and he is the one that slipped the red one in at the last minute.  I can't verify that, but that's what the manager of the dealership told me when I bought it and hey, it's a good story.  I purchased this in August 1977 as my first new car and drove it for twelve years as my only vehicle.  I had it restored in 2000 although the numbers don't match anymore, the heads got lost but I acquired a set of factory correct units and the motor is in stock configuration.  The last 10 months the car has been sitting outside and there was a leak that allowed water to do the damage you see in the photos of the interior.  The engine and drive train, in fact the entire car, only has 15,000 miles on it since it was restored, the tires have less than 500 miles on them and are a year old.  If it were not for the rusted out floor, you could drive this car anywhere, although the gas bill would be a bit high.

The car is equipped with the Pontiac T/A 6.6 (400 C.I.D.(Option W72)) engine with 4 bbl carb rated at 200hp at 4,000 rpm, and 325-lbs.ft. of torque at 2,200 rpm with a TurboHydramatic 400 transmission running a G80 code positrac rear end.  Some Can Ams were built with the 6.6 Litre (403 C.I.D. Oldsmobile) engine with 4 bbl carb., but this one sports the Pontiac motor.  The interior is the standard LeMans bench seat, Can Ams were supposed to have bucket seats with a console and floor mounted shifter and full gauge package from the Gran Prix, this car did not get that.

The only options of note are A/C which works very good and an AM/FM Stereo radio with 8 Trac tape player which does not work, but the car was and still is an eye catcher and in its day, a heavy hitter in the stoplight wars.  That may sound like a bit of a stretch by today's standards but in the mid to late seventies, many cars barely boasted 150hp.  The Pontiac 400 has A LOT of torque at low RPM and it can still give a good account of itself from 0 to 60.  I installed headers and a custom exhaust along with the old Trans Am style side splitter tailpipes.  The shaker hood is functional and at wide open throttle not only does the car feel like it's pushing you into the back seat, it sounds like a P-47 Thunderbolt on wheels.

This is not a garage queen, as I said above, I drove this car for over twelve years both city and highway, it has traversed the country and never let me down.  After restoration I drove it only on short trips to local car shows and up to a year ago, almost every day to work, I would have continued had not the floor started to give out.  She runs fine on pump gas and all I've used in it for the last ten years is Chevron with Techron additive fuel to keep the system clean.  The oil has been changed religiously every 3,000 miles using Mobil 1 fully synthetic motor oil, and the transmission has Amsoil fully synthetic fluid in it.  The cooling system has been drained and refilled every two and a half to three years and belts and hoses changed at the same time.  As stated above, the tires are just about a year old with about 500 miles on them and filled with nitrogen.  The car drives straight, no pulling left or right and cruises fast or slow, your choice, although at 70+ it gets a little noisy with the 3.23 rear and that three speed automatic, but power is instantaneous if your foot gets itchy as more than one tail light gazer can attest.

It's tough to let this car go, but circumstances are forcing my hand, this is a good solid eye catching machine that makes everyone take notice when you pull in wherever you go, be it the grocery store, the beach, a hamburger joint or a national car show.

Hello Kitty plate not included.

  • I reserve the right to end the sale of this machine at any time.
  • The car is sold as is and where is, no warranty implied or stated.
  • The buyer is responsible for all shipping / transporting costs.
  • I will assist and cooperate with shipping companies if needed, I have bought and sold other cars over the years and know the way things work.
  • A $500 deposit is required immediately after the auction ends and an email with your contact information.
Thanks for stopping by.

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Pontiac and McLaren once hooked up, and it was rad

Fri, Jun 24 2022

Most of us would bend over backwards to have a chance to own a McLaren car, but few can afford such extravagance. That said, there’s a way you can get behind the wheel of a legitimate McLaren without breaking the bank. For 1989 and 1990, the Pontiac Grand Prix was offered in a limited-edition ASC-McLaren variant that featured tuning and updates from the iconic British automaker. Examples of this rare coupe rarely surface for sale, so itÂ’s surprising to see this low-mile 1990 Pontiac Grand Prix ASC-McLaren on eBay. The car is the result of a partnership between American Specialty Cars-McLaren (ASC-McLaren) and Pontiac. WeÂ’re not talking about the McLaren Formula 1 team or even the iconic McLaren road cars here. The McLaren connection comes from an arm of the automakerÂ’s powertrain engineering department. The Grand PrixÂ’s standard 3,1-liter V6 got a massage and a turbocharger, adding 65 horsepower for a total of 205 ponies and 225 pound-feet of torque. A four-speed automatic transmission sends power to the front wheels. That output is modest by todayÂ’s standards, and it wasnÂ’t outrageous even by 1990 standards, but the car returned a decent 0-60 mph time of around 7 seconds. The $5,000 ASC-McLaren package added a load of cool 1980s tech to the Grand PrixÂ’s interior, some of which is surprisingly advanced for the time. The car got a head-up display and a digital display on the dash. The steering wheel should be delightfully familiar to anyone who remembers a top-end Pontiac of the era, with the entire center of the wheel filled with buttons instead of the airbags we see today. The car had insanely padded bucket seats front and rear(!) with a distinctive pear shape.  Many sources peg production numbers between 2,500 and 3,500 units, so the car is relatively rare compared to its mass-produced Pontiac counterparts. This oneÂ’s got just 17,746 miles on the clock, too, and appears to be in excellent condition. ItÂ’s had just two owners and no reported accidents. The seller notes a little surface rust from the car being in storage so long. This era of GM cars tended to deteriorate quickly, so a bit of surface rust shouldnÂ’t be a huge issue. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Junkyard Gem: 1980 Pontiac Phoenix LJ Hatchback

Sun, Jan 22 2023

The car-building world was rushing headlong into front-wheel-drive by the late 1970s, eager to reap the weight-saving and space-enhancing benefits of front-drive designs. General Motors designed an innovative FWD platform to replace the embarrassingly outdated Chevrolet Nova and its siblings, and that ended up being the Chevrolet Citation. The other US-market GM car divisions (except Cadillac) got a piece of the X-Body action, and the Pontiac version was called the Phoenix. Here's one of those first-year Phoenixes, not doing a very good job of rising from its snow-covered ashes in a Colorado self-service yard. Pontiac had used the Phoenix name on a luxed-up iteration of Pontiac's version of the Chevy Nova during the 1977-1979 model years, and so it made sense to apply that name to the Pontiac-ized Citation. Phoenix production continued through the 1984 model year (the Citation managed to hang on through 1985). Just to confuse everyone, the Nova name was revived in 1985, on a NUMMI-built Toyota Corolla. The LJ trim level was the nicest one for the 1980 Phoenix, and it included lots of trim upgrades and convenience features. However, even Phoenix LJ buyers had to pay extra for a three-speed automatic transmission instead of the base four-on-the-floor manual ($337, or about $1,291 in 2022 dollars). If you wanted air conditioning, that was another $564 and you had to get the $164 power steering and the $76 power brakes with it (total cost in 2022 dollars: $3,080). Affordable cars weren't so affordable back then, not once you started adding basic options. Both generations of the Phoenix had grilles influenced by those of the Pontiacs of earlier years. The base engine was the chugging 2.5-liter Iron Duke four-cylinder, but a 2.8-liter V6 was optional. This car has the V6, rated at 115 horsepower rather than the Duke's miserable 90 horses. The price tag: 225 bucks, or 862 inflation-adjusted 2022 bucks. The Phoenix was available just as a two-door coupe and five-door hatchback. The MSRP on this car would have started at $6,127, or around $23,469 now. That would have been a pretty good deal even after paying for the options, with the Phoenix's excellent mix of good interior space and solid fuel economy… but the Citation and its kin (the Oldsmobile Omega and Buick Skylark as well as the Phoenix) suffered from seemingly endless, highly publicized recalls and quality problems.