Pontiac Can Am - Can American Cookin'

It looked as if Pontiac had another homerun on its hands. Ironically, due to mid-production problems involving the casting mold for the rear spoiler, only 1,130 (or 1,377 depending upon the source) of the proposed 2,500 (5,000 were supposedly ordered) rolled off the production line that year. The mold was never fixed, so the one-year-only Can Am was relegated to musclecar history. It's highly unlikely you'll see one on the road these days, and only a fortunate few people have had the opportunity to experience a Can Am firsthand. Bob Cook was one of those people who owned a Can-Am when they were new. "The Can Am had just been unloaded off the transporter at the dealership when I saw it for the first time," Bob remembered. "The dealer barely knew that two Can Ams had been delivered before I was inside cutting the deal to buy one of them. I actually had to wait because one of the Sport Coupes was earmarked for a customer. Thankfully, he bought the one with the bench seat and no sunroof and I was able to trade in my ailing '73 Buick Riviera for the bucket seat and sunroof-equipped model."

Though a few years later, Cook's 117,000-mile stunner had to go due to family obligations, it left a lasting impression. "My wife and I were still dating when I had the first one," Bob recounted. "I owned it up until our second child was on the way, when we sold it because we needed more room. We actually replaced it with a 4-door Caprice around 1982."

By the mid-90s, Cook's latent yearnings for a powerful Poncho were stimulated by a '67 GTO. Bob recalled, "I wanted it because my friend and I rode around in his 1967 Linden Green GTO when we were young. It had a black vinyl top and a 4-speed and was just about the hottest thing in town at the time. So in October 1999 I bought a '67 GTO out of New Orleans. I wanted a Linden Green model but couldn't find one--this one was gold. It was a great driver but was no show car. Since repainting it in Linden Green would hurt its value, I decided to sell it. I then began thinking about the Can Am and my wife, of course, had interest in it because of our shared history with it, which gave me incentive to look for one. I soon realized how affordable they were."

Finally, Bob found this Can Am for sale on ebay. He flew to Springfield, Ill. and took delivery in March of 2000, then drove it home 700 miles in 40* weather with no heat!

Two weeks later, he was tearin' it up at the Pontiac Southern Nationals. Bob came away with a runner-up finish from the race, and it was then that he decided to update the mechanicals. "Racing at the PSN really prompted me to start on the upgrades," Cook explains. "The body needed very little--it only had a few dings--so I started improving the CA's performance first."

Cook turned to Mickey Mazucca at Competition Automotive in Plano, Texas who deep-sixed the 400-incher and replaced it with a punched-out YC-code 455 displacing 462 cubes. The '72 block received a stock reground nodular-iron crankshaft with resized factory rods. Upgraded TRW forged pistons, piston rings and bearings were chosen for durability's sake. Commanding the actions of the valvetrain is a 226*/234* duration at .050 hydraulic cam with .448/.448 lift. 1977 6X #4 heads with 2.11/1.66 valves had minor porting and bowl work done before installation and the chamber size finalized a 9.86:1 compression ratio. The stock oil pan and replacement pump was bolted back on to supply mineral-based lubrication for the big motor.

On to induction matters, the 93-octane is delivered via Holley's 110-gph Blue pump working in tandem with the stock mechanical unit to a Rochester Quadrajet (with .075 jets and .032 secondary metering rods) atop a 1972 cast-iron intake manifold (no EGR!). Once vaporized, the petrol feels the heat of the General's HEI with 35* of total timing in at 3100 rpm. R/A-III exhaust manifolds were called upon to expel the fumes and 2.5-inch Advanced Technologies Research mufflers and pipes tone the big-inch Pontiac down to a dull roar.

As for the rest of the drivetrain, TCI's Street Fighter 400 transmission was installed, along with its 2200-stall Saturday Night Special converter for improved off-the-line torque multiplication. Rear gear ratio was upgraded to 3.73:1 for a good compromise between streetable civility and tire-burning power. The factory 8.5-inch rear is controlled with custom Pro-Tech Machining aluminum lower control arms, with coil springs and a stabilizer bar pirated from a 1996 Impala SS helping out as well. The huge Goodyear 255/70s (wrapped around 15x8-inch Snowflakes of 1978 or 1979 vintage) didn't stand much of a chance, so Bob prefers Mickey Thompsons at the track these days.

Now, with a mid-13-second A-body on his hands, Bob could turn to more aesthetic concerns. He knew that the Can Am had been repainted with Cameo White lacquer in the mid-80s, and the paint had some checking that had to be attended to. Bob repaired most of the blemishes himself, and he turned to Dave Reinhardt of Reflections Auto Detail and Paint located in Plano, Texas who applied a clear acrylic finish (not a clear coat), which takes out orange peel and makes the paint a lot slicker than a factory finish. Dave Dusold, who fixed many dings on the body, did so with Painless Dent Repair.

Though the Firethorn Red interior retains its original upholstery, rug and headliner, a few upgrades were performed, An aftermarket Jensen CD player and more powerful speakers supply the tunes and a handmade engine-turned panel comprises the dash fascia.

Bob finally had what he had been wanting since that first Can Am left his driveway nearly 20 years earlier: A near-perfect example of this rare post-musclecar era performer, with improvements in all of the right places. Although he says there's "no way to know" how much money he spent to do it right, his work has been recognized by the hobby. The Can Am received gold awards at the Ft. Worth Rod & Custom Show and Pontiac Uprising in Arch City and at this year's Pontiac Southern Nationals. Not to mention a Jim Wanger's GTO award for the Can Am at the Southern Nationals and a Best in Class from the Dallas Autorama.

We know that the odds aren't in your favor for spying a Can Am on the road, but rest assured that if you run across this one, you will be duly impressed.

Pontiac's 1977 Can Am was born just after a gas shortage and skyrocketing insurance premiums crippled the musclecar market, a time when base Corvettes only mustered 180 horsepower. The standard for performance was so ridiculously low that Pontiac very well could have slapped a few decals on the LeMans and still sold cars. But the Can Am was much more than just a flashy red, orange and yellow stripe package with a hood scoop and tail spoiler on a Cameo White body prepared by Motortown Corporation (a Detroit-based specialty company that completed the Can Am's cosmetic transformation at its facility). This high-performance option for the LeMans Sport Coupe was a real bargain. Considering that the $1214.43 WW3 option got you all of the flashy add-ons plus a torquey W72 400-cubic-inch engine rated at 200 hp that put 325 lbs.-ft. to the ground at 2200 rpm and was straight from the Trans Am's option list, how could you go wrong? Not too many of Detroit's highway mastodons were packing that kind of power.

Also included:

* Rally gauge cluster with clock in a Grand Prix dash
* Turbo Hydramatic transmission
* Power front disc brakes
* Variable ratio power steering
* 1 1/4-inch and 7/8-inch stabilizer bars
* RTS Handling Package
* GR70x15 steel belted radials with space saver spare
* Body color Rally II wheels
* Protective rubber bumper strips front and rear
* Body color twin sport mirrors (left-hand remote)
* Blacked-out grille
* California and high altitude regions used the 185-horse 403 Olds engine

For More Information on Can AmsFor a complete history of the Can Am see The One Year Wonder in the 2/99 issue of HPP. Try these web sites for Can Am information on the Internet

www.canams.comhttp;//groups.yahoo.com/group/pontiac-canam

or register your Can Am with:

Can Am Registry
C/O Verne Howard
505 Northwest Watson Road
Lee's Summit, MO 64063
816-554-2099
e-mail; CanAm77Man@aol.com