Pontiac billed the 1977 Pontiac Can Am as “Created in the Trans Am Tradition,” and this special model celebrated the 1977 return of SCCA’s Canadian-American Challenge Cup, the “Can-Am” sports car racing series. This Omaha, Nebraska classic could be yours for $22,500, assuming you’re willing to reward the seller for listing it against Craigslist policy here on Long Beach, California craigslist, where it’s no doubt torturing Californians browsing for local cars. Thanks to reader Michael for spotting this instantly recognized muscle car.
Only produced in Cameo white, the Can-Am came with this unique stripe package, black rockers, blacked-out trim, and other unique touches. Thanks to lov2xlr8.no for some details.
I think my 1978 Pontiac Phoenix had the same asymmetrical center console. This instrument cluster is much cooler, though, speaking of full performance instrumentation with wood-grain class.
Pontiac promised the now chart-topping 400 cid V8 delivered “the horsepower of last year’s 455,” and the “T/A 6.6” script on the shaker hood scoop pays homage to Canada’s use of the metric system… from a land where 6.6 liters equals 400 cubic inches. These mid-’70s V8s may not peel your eyeballs back like the pre-smog cars, but a rebuild can fix that if you’re not worried about someone asking to measure your cylinder bore or compression ratio at Pebble Beach. Pontiac touted the Can-Am’s “Shades of the GTO;” isn’t that worth $22,500?
Well-bought at $10,000. $22,500 is a fever dream. It’s an old Pontiac.
Like…..
Funny. I like too.
Thanks
Am I the only one that doesn’t understand the “cover your license plate” mentality? I mean, anyone driving down the road can see your plate, and if someone wanted to look it up, they would have to have a friend at the DMV.
You are not the only one. Does not make sense to me either. I am very protective of my identity but this is paranoia.
Maybe plate does not belong on car. Or seller has alot of cars for sale and uses that plate on all of them, and wants yo come off a private party and not a dealer
I tend to find people who block out license plates do it cause the car isn’t registered to the seller. To many people flipping cars without titling them in their names. I use to be guilty of that as well. Once I bought a car for 500 bucks and after a bit of work I was asking 4500 for it. A buyer traced the plates I had on it. He contacted the guy I bought it from to find out what I paid for it. It spoiled that sale.
Takes a special person to see that!, well done.
Is it worth $22,500? Probably, but not to me, although I would like to own one. These were nice cars for the time, I never did understand the explanation of why these were cancelled. How could the company have only one mold for the spoiler, or it not be repairable? Oh well, that made them an instant collectible.
I’m with you. I liked these. More than just a tape stripe special. I’d like to have one, but it’s about ten grand higher than I could justify paying. Nobody would have one at the local cruise night, that’s for sure.
This article explains how the car’s opposition used the broken spoiler mold as a reason to kill the car
http://www.hotrod.com/articles/0802phr-1977-pontiac-can-am/
Wow, how crazy is that? They kill the entire run of 5,000 cars over the spoiler snafu.
Politics at work.
When new I didn’t care for these but this white one is pretty darn cool. Just not what I’m craving for at this time.
A 1977 Trans Am drive train slammed into a Lemans and a swell new sticker package. Kux manufacturing was the company who produced the rolls of material that were then cut and layered into various patterns for Pontiac and other GM products. How do I know that? Because I worked for the Rexham company that made the rolls of material. We would get finished products back from Pontiac for quality control checks. Imagine being able to get all the Firebird hood and side stickers you could want. I had ten sets of them at one time just rolled up. No Idea what happened to them though. That time of my life was sort of foggy. LOL.
Pete, I, too, have difficulty remembering most of the 1970’s. Must be an environmental thing.
Pontiac used metric engine displacement callouts as far back as the original GTO in 1964. They even used the international spelling of “Litre.”
Every car has it’s price but not my cu of tea good luck to the seller
“Some” Californian’s don’t browse cars newer than 1975 because of our “insane” smog requirements. I do but search out post 75 vehicles but they generally bring much less money here unless it is just a very special car. Which in my humble opinion this is not.
Perfect car for the person who can’t decide between a Grand Prix and a Trans Am.
Jesse and Josh- I will often check back two or three times with an interesting vehicle to read the new comments. Normally on any other website on the internet, that would involve scrolling to the bottom of the page. You fellows have a habit of changing the order of the comments around. Can you please give your reader’s intelligence a bit more credit and leave the comments in the order that they are received? Believe me, we will be able to figure it out on our own!
Big thumbs up 👍 to you on that rant Jack!
All this car needs is an engine worthy of the chassis.
A 455 SD would be just fine.
If they hadn’t killed the 455 in ‘76. At least it’s got a Pontiac motor and not an Oldsmobile 403 like a friend’s T/A had.
I would go back a few years for a better looking old Pontiac.
An a/c delete car, too. Black interior is not too common.
I would like to have that car. Swap in a manual trans. Suspension upgrades. Wheels tires . Front roll pan and a rear roll pan. And have a pretty decent muscle car.
After spending $22,000? I have an 84 Corvette you can have for $16,500
Maybe I’m a loaner in this, but I thought the Lemans was the best looking of GM’s midsized cars in 1977. The CAN AM would be at the top of my list. There may come a time when these will be worth $20k, but it’s not now. I’d pony up $12 to $15 max.
I had a 73 Century (same body) and loved that car. These cars can perform and handle with a few mods. The Can-Am was like a swan song for 70s muscle cars (not pony) as someone else noted at least it don’t have an Oldsmobile engine in it. 12k-15k is a more legit price.
I bought a 76or 77 Lemans GT…400 ci,400 turbo trans, green in and out..had same louvers on back glass.. cost me 200$…. My mom sold it behind my back…booo–hisss
CC Fisher: don’t you know that you Americans spell everything the WRONG way? LOL!!
Area. We spell things AMERICAN, it’s the rebelliousness in us.
I like this car as it is a combination of sport and luxury. By this time the Grand Prix was more luxury than sport but still pretty nice. Pontiac had a 78 model called the Grand Am which was pretty much the same concept on the newly down sized platform. The smaller car is not as dramatic looking but is space efficient, and I like these also. Not for this asking price though.
What!? Californians just register them out of state. As often as they’re driven the likelihood of a ticket for out-of-state license is slim to none. If one takes the time to incorporate in another state as an LLC, as an example, listing the vehicle as a company asset, then they can’t even give a ticket as the registered owner is the out-of-state company… NOT the driver!
Worth EVERY penny!!! You just dont se these on the road and especially in this condition…