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poncanam01



Joined: 15 Nov 2010
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 9:53 pm    Post subject: 77 can am Reply with quote

Hi,I'm thinking about buying a can am.I want to run the vin #'s first before purchase.Can somebody tell me where I can look up this info? Thanks Ed
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Larry
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 11:24 am    Post subject: Can Am Reply with quote

While there is little chance of a bogus Can Am, there were a number pushed through dealerships AFTER the official plug was pulled by the factory (following the damage to the rear spoiler die). A "real" Can Am would have to show up on the option listing for the car.

The only place to find that information is through Pontiac Historical Services. Do a Google searce and you will find their contact information and procedure.

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poncanam01



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PostPosted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 8:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Larry thanks for the info.
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rexs73gto



Joined: 17 Sep 2015
Posts: 94
Location: Niles MI

1973 GTO

PostPosted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 2:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you think it's not a real Can Am there are some items you will have to have on the Can Am to be a real 1. It will have a Grand Prix dash , There are some made up ones out there that have the std. LeMans dash & these would be wrong. All Can Am's have a turbo 400 trans. They can have both a Pontiac 400 or an Olds 403 engine. Those are the only 2 engines they came with. No 350's or 455's either. All of them will be white , as some of the books say there were a few orange ones but none got out in orange. All were 4 bbl engines too. But the only real way is to order the info from Pontiac Historical Society. Then you will have proof of right or wrong.
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I have a 73 GTO that I bought new, well it was a demo because the car I ordered was an SD car which never came in & i had to take what was left because I was in the Navy & had to talk to the dealer when I could.
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Larry
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 9:24 am    Post subject: Red Can Ams Reply with quote

Con-traire on the "no orange Can Ams." I have had a numbver of Can Ams and have done a ton of research on them over the years.

There is a beach seat original (and real) RED Can Am on Longboat Key by me here in Florida. I have known this car since the early '80s and it was restored a couple/few years ago. I have not seen it for quite a while, but local people tel me it is still around.

Also, many years ago (up in Dayton, Ohio) I bought a complete rear spoiler assembly with tail lights, panels, etc.- that was RED. The seller told me he took it off of a RED Can Am that was in a Detroit junk yard. So they did and still do exist, which has been confirmed by Jim Wangers. If I recall correctly, it was something like 7 that were released.

The color was more red than orange too.

Wish I stil had my last Can Am and a GARAGE FULL of parts, but I let them all go to a fellow in Orlando who said he was "trying to corner the market on Can Ams." Last I heard, his big-dollar real estate money (and his marriage) went bust. I wonder where all the cars and parts ended up.

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rexs73gto



Joined: 17 Sep 2015
Posts: 94
Location: Niles MI

1973 GTO

PostPosted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 10:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Larry the article by Jim Wagners said he did make a few of the orange cars but because of the problems with corp didn't want them to get out & all the orange cars which you might call red as they were just a bit darker then carousel red, but none of the car got out from the design studios where Jim & his company were making them in MI. As far as the one from a junk yard who knows what people do to those cars after a few years. The same goes with the one you may have known about before but in the article where Jim was talking about the Can Am's he said that Pontiac would not allow them to be released to the public in anything but the white car.
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I have a 73 GTO that I bought new, well it was a demo because the car I ordered was an SD car which never came in & i had to take what was left because I was in the Navy & had to talk to the dealer when I could.
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rexs73gto



Joined: 17 Sep 2015
Posts: 94
Location: Niles MI

1973 GTO

PostPosted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 11:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Larry I forgot to say that when i was in the navy I was stationed in Norfolk VA. & there was a very big Pontiac dealer that I looked at & drove 3 Can Am's & was ready to pull the trigger on one but was $ 500.00 difference between the Van I had & the new car. Needless I kept the van , but at that time the guy did say for an extra charge they could change the color of the car if I didn't like the white only option. Is there a chance that the one near you had got the same option as I did at the time & opted to go for a new color over the white only cars ??? Because as I remember I think it was 1377 Can Am's . Now I'm not completely sure of that number , but I think it's close. But there were all white as jim had said when they pulled the plug when the mold broke for the rear spoiler he would look out his office window & all he could see was a sea of white LeMans's just waiting to be converted & then when they knew they wouldn't be getting a new mold for the spoiler they started shipping the white special ordered 400 cid LeMans out the other dealers waiting for them. The only thing these cars didn't have that the real Can Am's had were the spoiler & stickers. But they were in essence Can AM's under the shin ??
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I have a 73 GTO that I bought new, well it was a demo because the car I ordered was an SD car which never came in & i had to take what was left because I was in the Navy & had to talk to the dealer when I could.
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rexs73gto



Joined: 17 Sep 2015
Posts: 94
Location: Niles MI

1973 GTO

PostPosted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 11:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just a quick P.S. to you Larry . Thanks for the kind words in your PM to me , again thanks .
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I have a 73 GTO that I bought new, well it was a demo because the car I ordered was an SD car which never came in & i had to take what was left because I was in the Navy & had to talk to the dealer when I could.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 02, 2015 10:03 am    Post subject: Can Ams Reply with quote

It's really hard to figure what Jim has said in the past. However, there have been a number of non-white Can Ams documented over the years. (Check with Vern Howard in Missouri with the Can Am Registry). If they were actually special orders or some of the first ones that snuck out, we would not know without a VIN check for production dates.

The only one I saw (in Florida here) is an original car. I spoke to the owner, and the original condition I saw it in years ago clearly showed original paint. As did the spoiler set and rear pieces I had from the Michigan junkyard.

I was very active with a group of Can Am owners years ago, and this was common knowledge. The number has always been something like 7 that were released. It is no secret that Wangers wanted a new Judge. As a matter of fact, his first proposal for the rework of the Lemans (to try to boost slumping sales) was a Judge replica of sorts- red in color. That got nixed. So he got his inspiration for the white car with snazzy graphics from the Pontiac Lemans show circuit car, the "All American." The story even goes that he used the "All American" decal to slice and dice into "Can Am."

We have a number of articles about this neat car in our On-Line Magazine.

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rexs73gto



Joined: 17 Sep 2015
Posts: 94
Location: Niles MI

1973 GTO

PostPosted: Sat Oct 03, 2015 12:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Larry, yes I have heard a lot of different stories over the years about the Can Am & the one about using the All American decals & cutting them to make it say Can Am I've heard a lot. Also about Jim wanting the New Judge He was hot for that. But Pontiac was more into gas mileage more then performance at that time. I don't know why because Buick was starting to develop the Regal with the turbo while under wraps & of course Chevy was still trying to figure out how to get more HP out of the Vette. The new head of Pontiac was not talking anything performance about that time as he wanted to even kill the T/A, even with the sales bing so good. Almost like they had jumped back in time by about 30 years & going back to the old frumpy old mans car. Mac , Mac Mecaller (sp) was still trying to get the twin turbo 301 through But like anything performance it got taken off the table for good about 78. By the way the ywin turbo 301 used a 400 crank with extra webbing in the lower block & was going to put out about 500HP & get 25 mpg's. Chevy had a BIG hand in killing that as they would have had to use the Pontiac 301 in the vette if it would have gone all the way. Chevy put up such a stink back then about it , saying they would NEVER put anything but a chevy engine in the vette . So bye bye went the good & strong 301 twin turbo. I would have loved to have one of those in the G/P or the new style Grand Am. They would have been so fast, the Turbo Regal would have had that instead of the turbo V-6 to. Plus the 301 was/is light.
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I have a 73 GTO that I bought new, well it was a demo because the car I ordered was an SD car which never came in & i had to take what was left because I was in the Navy & had to talk to the dealer when I could.
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