Why The 1977 Pontiac Can Am Was The Last Muscle Car 

My uncle bought this car brand new when I was about 10 years old. The minute he pulled up with it from the dealer, I was awestruck. Even at that age I was a motor-head in the making lol. Years later when I was around 18 years old he gave it to my mother. A while later my mom and I were driving and she spotted a 1975 Lincoln Mark 5 that was parked on a guys lawn with a for sale sign in the window. She fell in love with it, but couldn't afford it. I took a chance a few days later and stopped to see how much the guy wanted for the hot rod Lincoln. Although only $1500 bucks, as an apprentice Toolmaker I didn't have the cash. I told the guy I wanted to buy it for my mother. He was so impressed that I was trying to surprise my mom, he offered to let me make payments. After I got half paid off, the guy, a stranger gave me the keys and the title and said kid, take t home and surprise your mom. To shorten the story, after giving the Lincoln to my mom, she gave me the Can am. By far the basest beast on the road....That car turned so many heads just because most people had never seen one. I even got pulled over by a cop once, and he said "I apologize for pulling you over, I just had to see this car up close" In closing, yes, I went back every week to the Lincoln guy, and paid it off. That's just how we rolled in those days, people were kind and trusted each other. Ahh...the good old days.

My dad gave me his Can Am when i graduated from high school now it's my grandsons. 76.+++ original miles

When I was a kid a neighbor bought one brand new and when I saw it my mouth dropped open and everytime I see one I get the same reaction .

My cop friend had one and he had a wrecked 70 Gto that was basically stripped! He took the ram air 3 heads off the GTO and also took the 4 SPD and center console and installed it on the Can Am along with the intake manifold and the Holley Carburetor! That Can Am went from a dud to a beast! That 400 oh he also added a solid lift cam to the 400 but that 400 was finally doing what it was built to do from the beginning! The car also had the 373 rear gears and chunk from the 70 GTO and the car ran a impressive 11.97 at 112 mph in the Quarter mile!!!! Pretty dam good for a lead sled!!!!

Sir, I apologise for taking so long to say this. THANK YOU !!! Your videos are priceless, I feel in some ways. I was born in 70 and your vids on the vehicles of my childhood are so awesome to me. Your videos on the stuff from before I was born are just as good and important to me. Im at an odd age and time in life sir. I have just recently inherited the oldest guy in the family status and it's nice to have these educational (and yes, nostalgic, brings me back to my childhood) videos. I hope you can understand what I mean. Thank you very much. CAN AM BABY !!!!

I had no idea Steven Wright knew so much about cars! 😅

If you were to tell someone back in the 70's or 80's that Pontiac would go out of business they would've thought you were crazy. They had some of my favorite cars growing up as a kid. The GTO Judge Ram Air The Trans Am Tempest Catalina...I could go on and on.

Malaise era muscle is fascinating. Interesting to see what a company could make with the government clamping down on safety and emissions. You should cover the 73 chevelle 454 ss and the 71-73 mustang.

The broken spoiler mold was only part of the story. As told to me by Jim Wangers himself, if it had only been the mold, that would probably not cancelled the project. However, the dash that the Can Am used, was from the Grand Prix, and the GP was a much much higher profit car than the Can Am, so GM brass saw every Can Am sale as a lost GP sale, so in order to keep the more profitable GP line moving (and keep the dash supply full;) the decided to cancel the Can Am. It is sad, considering what it could have been. The total production of Can Am is said to be 1377, with only 1133 being converted, meaning there were 244 W72 equipped, non converted cars sold as plain LeMans Sport Coupes.

I had a chance to buy a 77 Can Am in the Spring of 83 shortly after I was released from active duty for 1400.00. It had issues but very restoreable. I now own my Dad's 67 GTO. I have owned the 64 Tempest and the 71 Catalina. Wished I had them both now.

My Uncle had one of these. He was a car collector and owned at least 15+ cars over the years. RIP Uncle Dale he was always one of my favorite uncles, although his Brother, Wayne was great too in his own way. They are both gone now and we miss them very much.

Bought one in 2018......41 years after I first saw one!

To this day,I still drive an inline or v8 engine with manual transmission and despise today's touchscreen bubble cars,give me a 67 Galaxies or GTO any day,this Can Am is a true dream car

My father and brother both worked for pontiac I was blessed to be brought up with these cars I now own a 1970 GTO of my father's and my brother's 1973 Lemans sport I was in the middle of buying a Can Am under payments when the gentleman call me to come over to the house to talk when I got there the garage and car had burned to the ground Got my money back from him still offered to still buy it as is And he told me it be almost impossible to restore do to lack of parts great video Thanks for sharing Although my father told me the spoilers mold was reason for cutting production

I’m pretty sure the CanAm stopped production due to the spoiler mold breaking but more likely because the GMC ‘A’ body line was coming to an end. The 1978’s were all downsized to a size closer to that of the X-body (Chevy Nova, Olds Omega, Buick Apollo and Pontiac Ventura. The downsizing began with the 1977 Chevy Impala/Caprice and other ‘B’ body line models. All as a result of the 1973 oil embargo. They should’ve continued a version of the CanAm off the ‘78 LeMans oh well. Keep the videos coming. 👍👍👍

Pontiac really was holding out to the end. The SD 455 sticking around until ‘74 and this can am, not to mention the good aftermarket support and custom cars like the Macho T/A’s and the Herb Adams VSE FireAm’s.

Always liked the Can Am . Never owned one . Those cars are rare , didn’t sell a lot of them , sad . Gas crisis was a pain

I can only recall seeing one of these. It was 1985 in the Fairchild AFB auto shop. Someone brought one in to do work on it and it really caught my attention and I am sure others too.

I have a cousin who ordered one as a 20 year old, and he still owns it to this day.

I knew a lady that lived in West Field community in N.C.. She drove hers daily until she had a stroke. After that her children took over her life and the Can Am was gone, wherever. That car was washed regularly, had mechanicals took care of, oil and pgrease regularly, and just most important, never been wrecked, not even fender bender.

The mold broke? THAT ended production? I think Pontiac couldve come up with something else if they truly wanted too.

I really like the collonade cars once they switched over to the quad square lights. The '76 Grand Prix, Cutlass, Regal, and of course the Can Am were very well styled two-door cars.

I worked in a small all-service station in Connecticut just out of high school in the early 1980s. My boss's girlfriend owned one of these great machines and I got to drive it a couple of times after doing oil changes and brake jobs on it. Its acceleration really surprised me as, aside from the decals and through the hood air intake, I thought there was not too much special about the vehicle. Man, was I ever wrong about that! I owned a 1973 Olds Cutlass Supreme at the time with the stock Quadrajet replaced with a Holley four banger, and this Can Am had off the line that put my 350 to shame. Great American car.

I grew up during the golden years of performance cars in the late 60's. By the time the Can Am was released, we all knew the era was officially dead. Watching the gigantic Can Am motor around the neighborhood, the sense of sadness was palpable. The only thing in front of us was years of sub 200 horsepower V8's and big chrome bumpers. Pontiac to their credit, continued with the Trans Am models and all the young men of that era dreamed of owning one. It looked sporty and the murdered black version with the gold screaming chicken decal was the bomb.

I now feel a little more special having raced one of these back when I was a kid in my 73 340 Challenger. Only 1000 ish made. We raced twice once 1/4 mile, then rolling start at 40 top end. It sounded pretty mean. Good times!

I bought a brand new Can Am here in Dallas, TX and it still is my FAV car even though i have owned a few Corvettes since then but i never had as much fun as i did in the Can Am. Long story but i found my Can Am on a Sunday night sitting a few rows back on the Pontiac lot and it was starting to rain but i stood there dreaming of owning it. Woke up the next morning and didn't rush my shower thinking the car would be gone and that was a Monday so went back to the dealership and there were two other older guys standing around it and one sitting on the steps waiting on his wife to get there and approve of him buying it. He told me he was going to just store it. I was a 20-year-old kid with 20 bucks on me and a decent second shift job. Luckly i had a good salesman and he took me to his office and said man i've got to get sticker price for it. I think it listed around $6750.00 and he said just put a deposit on it. I said man all i have is 20 bucks on me. He said i'll take it and hold the car for you. WOW i went bananas i was SO Happy just like it was yesterday i remember everything. I went to my credit union, and they financed it with 400 bucks down, picked up my new Can Am two days later. What an experience and i was broke at that point until pay day. HAHA.. YES, they were great cars, kept it 5 years and sold it for 5grand to a young kid with his mom helping him get the cash. I had new car fever and bought the first new body style 1982 Camaro Z28... those Z28's were real turds though...lol OH i still have the window sticker for my Can Am also. I wish i could go back and do it again!!!

Thank you for making this video for historical use for Pontiac lovers and general car show query searches. Your research and attention to detail maybe questioned by us all arm chair quarter backs who are expert on brand x or BHP or the legends you give to us weekly. but nobody will question your honesty, video making skills, narration skills and body of story presented. we thank for your hard work. In the 1980's I was third owner of a 1977 Can Am Lemans I loved that car. My Dad and i threw many a weekend bringing a blown engine version of Can Am left in a back yard to rot back to working order. I installed a 1977 Trans AM 400CU motor in it (ironically rear end smashed). with modifications like Hooker headers, better intake and modified QJ carb. with true dual exhaust and chucking out all the smog stuff out. You can get 250 HP easy. issue was that stock Rear end could not hook up so, if you can't get off the line. you lost the red light race,. I miss that car. had to sell it after i got into college. Be neat to get one now, not seen one in twenty or so car shows i been to in Southern California 2018 and 2019 yet.

The Hurst Oldsmobile of about the same year came with a 'rocket 350' and was dubbed the W-30, it came with a 2 slot hurst shifter.

Thanks for highlighting this one year only car, a bright spot of innovation amidst a sea of very dull, and uninspiring Detroit land-yachts that "wallowed" on the roads from 1973-1979. I knew by the mid 70's that the japanese cars were going to rule the rest of the 70's when my mom bought a brand new 1973 Honda Civic. She said, quite prophetically, "this car (the Civic) is going to put an end to the VW (bug)". Accolades to Pontiac for being the last "hold out" of something a bit exciting to drive!

In the summer of 1980, I had just graduated high school. I spent a lot of time on the local cruising strip in my 74 Road Runner, 400 automatic. There was one of these cruising there every weekend, I just loved it. Such a cool car, they honestly should have called it a GTO. That's really what it was. Oh, if it had a 4-speed with Hurst shifter!

Back in the day I had a '73 Grand Am. It was an amazing car - one of my all-time favorites among the 25 or so vehicles I've owned over the years. I always wanted one of these, even though they were quite lethargic for a "musclecar". This one looks great. I'd love to have it and drop in a crate motor that offers the performance that matches the car's look.

So few people remember this 1 year model but they were pretty unique indeed. One thing that I loved was they used the basic interior from the 73 - 77 Grand Prix's which was my favorite of all the GM personal luxury coupes of the era. Thanks for all your great videos as they are so thoroughly researched.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a feature that wasn't mentioned in this video was that it had Swivel front bucket seats!

My first car (1961) was a Pontiac land yacht (Chieftain two door pillar style), but one of a very few guys that drove a V-8. In 1968, I bought a brand new GTO (389ci with a Hurst "His and Hers auto). I remember those Can Ams, but they were named after a racing series, not a track. Just as an FYI, the guy with the bad hair is Jim Wangers, who headed Pontiac's advertising division, and was responsible for promoting the original GTO. The concept and engineering team was with the blessing of John DeLorean, president of Pontiac (yes, that John DeLorean).

I've never seen a Can Am I'm my life!!! But now I know the other car to keep an eye out for!!!

I DO remember these... Rare to begin with, finding one in mint condition now probably can set you back almost as much as a '69 Firebird Trans Am, or even a '70 Chevy El Camino SS with the big block 454 and cowl induction...

Killer car. Almost bought one of these about 20yrs ago. If that one would have had the Pontiac W72-400 (it had the Olds 403) I would have. In retrospect, wish I’d have bought it anyway. Very cool cars.

A friend of mine had one in high school. I had never heard of a Can Am before i saw his. I have a 40th anniversary Grand Prix supercharged tucked away at home. Less than 3,000 made.90,000 miles on mine. Can Am looks like one of the Last G.T.O.'s of the early 70's.

The 1977 Can Am was nice looking, My 1978 Trans Am ran 14.10 at 99 mph in stock form with only bolt on headers.

My very first car I purchased at the age of 17 was a 1971 Pontiac Grand prix SJ model with a 455 7.5 litre naturally aspirated 8 cylinder engine, with 2 valves per cylinder that provides power and torque figures of 325 bhp (330 PS/242 kW) at 4400 rpm and 617 N·m (455 lb·ft/62.9 kgm) at 3200 rpm respectively. The speedometer went to 140 mph. I buried the speedo 2 times I'm guessing 140 to 145, plus once coming down the hog back on I-70 east in Golden Colorado and the other time 6th Ave heading west under i- 70. That's cooking baby. There weren't to many cars that could beat me.

By far one of my favorite Pontiac cars They're better in person

Thank you for making and uploading this video

I could have sworn I watch this video already

Genuinely love this channel, so glad I found you!!! Would never have known about such a beautiful sleeper screaming if it wasn't for your channel, thanks again!

Good video. Informative on many levels. It is interesting learning what was going on behind the scenes at GM. The interesting thing they( GM and Pontiac) brought the GTO back years later based on Holden Monaro.

When I was in high school, I worked part time at a gas station. A regular customer had one and I remember thinking that this was probably the last of it's kind...

Every time I see Jim Wagoners “Rug on his head” I still giggle. I was in the Navy when this came out ad tried to by one of these ‘Land Yachts’ in ‘77, but I was told the order was cancelled. It took a long time before I ever found out why it was cancelled. I bought a used Ventura GTO fastback instead....

We had a 76 LeMans Sport Coupe in beige. I believe it had a Pontiac 350 V8. It could get up! I remember seeing the Can Am on the street, it was impressive.

Didn't see anything on 69- 70 grand prix....love those 2 yrs!!

They also built the Pontiac Grand Am in the mid 70 I owned a 1975 Grand Am 400 with the 400 turbo transmission. It had the dura nose written on the back of it was 741/2 the interior was laid out much like a SJ Grand Prix bucket seats console full instrumentation power windows. The exterior had the louverd side windows. But no shaker hood or rear spoiler. Great interstate car you would run out of gas before you would gear. PEACE OUT 🐝😎🐝

A sad ending to one of the the greatest decades of muscle cars!

I'm a Mopar guy. I like Pontiac and really wish they still were in production. However. I would call both the '78 Dodge Magnum GT with the 400-4bbl and the '78-'79 Little Red Express, THE LAST of the muscle cars/trucks.

My high school band teacher had a Pontiac Can Am. I'm pretty sure he traded it in for whatever the "latest and greatest" car came out a few years later but I bet if he'd known so few were made he would have held onto it. I always thought it was a sharp looking car.

When I was in high school there was a guy that had two of these in his drive way. I never saw them move and they sat there for years.

One thing needs mentioning is that body style is called the "Colonnade". It's like a coupe with the slanted B pillar of a sedan. Full-size GMs haddum too.

WOW, That guy took a pic with that rug on his head..................more power to you.

Saw one years ago at a local 1/8 mile track. Guy said the original 400 had spun a rod so he replaced it with a 455. He also swapped out the rear gears for a set of 4.56s. I'll just say that boat could boogie. If i gave an actual time id be lying but i seem to remember mid to low 8s in the the 1/8th mile. Which scared the first fox body driver he raced lol.

I've always said and believe that if Pontiac was not part of GM, it would have become the greatest American automobile manufacturer. Pontiacs biggest, BIGGEST problem was being under GM management.

Very interesting. These segments are always well researched.

I remember this Car so WELL ......... It competed with the 1977 Firebird Formula......... The Can Am was a rocket car for this time frame........ A lot of Car for the Time......!!!!!! Thank you for this VIDEO.....!!!

I love this channel! It's so simple yet it's every thing I need

Great Story... Sad the True Muscle Car Era was So Short Lived. Thanks for Sharing

I had a 74' 442 with a 350rocket and it reminds me of the can am..

Thanks for the memories.

I’ve never heard of this car and I think it’s a very good looking car

Should’ have never stopped making the GTO. General motors should bring back the GTO and the Trans Am today. With retro styling GTO and Trans Am could be great again .

Had a friend who had one. It was a nice car.

Nice video but it would've been a lot better if you managed to get the entire car in the frame all at once every here and there... Great car!

Another awesome video dude! Well done.... keep them coming!

IMHO, one of the best looking Pontiacs of the Colonnade generation. :)

I did not have a CanAm but l did have a 1974 Pontiac LeMans Sport Coupe. Bucket seats, console shift, sun roof, and it had a 350.. bought it used in 82, was cleaning under thee hood and came across a small sticker that read something like: ....Notice: this engine is designed to be run on 98 or better octane. I know what this means. At that time there was still a station not too far away that sold both 105 and 110 octane. With a 1/4 tank of just gas l went and filled up. Good god almighty that heavy beast would run. After fixing a bad trans, had a lot of fun. Would catch a second gear chirp sometimes. And l do miss that car.

I always loved those cars! Class if 1982. Just turned 59!

Although you mentioned they only came in Cameo white, I believe there was rumored to be 2 or 3 orange Canams.. I purchased a Canam in 1991 in Asbury Park, I believe a local police officer was the previous owner. It wasn't in bad shape, it drove well, and only really needed cosmetics redone. When it was in good enough condition to "show" I brought it to Englishtown Raceway Park, in NJ during the "show days" . . . also went to several of the local "car shows"... Always got the cold shoulder! Always! Even from the Pontiac guys! lol...

Please do a video on the 1991-1996 buick roadmaster.

my neighbor had 2 of these one for each of his boys sadly one of the boy died in his in a head on Collision shortly after getting his . I can still remember looking out my bedroom window and lusting over those cars every morning before school thinking 4 more years and I'll be driving one of those but I ended up getting a yellow 72 pinto yet the exploding suitcase instead.

They can build an internal combustion engine where a crankshaft, a cam, heads, pistons along with the correct fuel mixture, radiator, vacums, exhaust and all the rest have to work together at pinpoint precision before allowing the transmission and all of the moving parts within one of those that again have to work together and if so, the driveshaft with rotate and in return, the rear end and all the gears and lube within them, if working will turn the complex system of a wheel with the brakes, rotors, and bearings, etc. Now if all that works, it will turn the wheel that's attached to a tire compressed with air and dependent on it's tread and road condition and out of commission if introduced to a nail or a curb.. Finally, if all that works, the idea is that whatever this platform is on will thrust you forward or backwards and reach speeds of 200 mph plus in some cases, and well over that in others and that's without mentioning the body, windows, lights and all the rest of the vehicle, they're telling me this car was stopped because the spoiler mold was broken? Bring in an artist to rebuild it, create a parallel or an entirely new design, go without it or anything other than that excuse.. ..Sorry but that's the laziest excuse I think Ive ever heard..

Cool car... Pure American !

Dodge Lil' red wagon "Hold my oil can son."

My first car was a 1968 GTO. LOVE IT. IM 55 AND WIISH I HAD THAT NOW!

One of my customers in Las Vegas, Nevada had a 1977 Pontiac Can-Am, all white with red interior, had the 403 Olds engine in it we were taking our time with it, putting it back together in original condition, I moved away from there in 2005 and that's the last I saw of her, I know she was determined to finish it. I have often thought about the car and how she was coming along with it.

The guy who lived down the street from my parents and I had one. I think it was his since new. Had no idea how super rare these are. The government did a nice job ruining the auto industry as usual. Still Pontiac overcame it.

The muscle car started with Pontiac. And it ended with Pontiac.

Really was a cool car. Too bad we lost "Pontiac...They built excitement!"

I like that guys toupe

Growing up in California in the 70's I don't recall ever seeing one of these?

Interesting. Some very unique looking cars. Wild colours and shapes.

77 was a good year. Worked at a place for a time. Cat there had a '76 Grand Prix he'd driven from Indiana to Cali. Nice car.

For $375.00, I bought me a 1972 Pontiac Grand-Am La-mans in 1985, with hoodscoop and rear-window-loovers. It was all in primer . I drove it for 3 years, in Texas, age 17, 18, and 19. It had a Trans-am engine, and almost the exact same body . This car had parts everywhere on it , including beauty rings . Cars don't need to be this heavy anymore. They have much better designed, lighter materials now . It just SUCKED DOWN the gassoline !!! The dash board was epic looking. No one would buy it from me though... So I gave it to my friend. It was very heavy..and used too much gas..but what a smooth boat-ride it was ! I later bought a 1972 BMW for $800.00 .

5:26 I seen that Grand National sitting in the cut

I had a 69 Impala Custom with 255hp 350 4 barrel and it got 23 mpg. Later in life I bought a 78 Formula Firebird, 170hp 350 4 barrel and it got 11 mpg. Go figure

Being in the car repair business my whole life and an NHRA racer in the late 60's-early 70's I can tell you, the last muscle cars came and went a LONG TIME before 1977. The last year for real muscle was 1971.....!!!

I once owned a Can-Am. Mine was an ‘86 model in white/orange that I bought brand new. It was a single-cylinder 4-stroke motocross monster powered by the legendary 560 ROTAX motor. The bike could practically climb straight up.

Love these cars!

Never heard of this car. Love it.

I had a 73 Goat. Black on black. Owned that same car 3 times. Which I would have kept it. I've tried unsuccessful to find a 73 or this 77 Can Am to buy. These cars sounded great,not tinny like the new cars.

WOW awesome car. 😀

I love her muscle cars like that. Tee type of car is it only real car guys get super excited about when they see one

1972 WAS the last year for the great muscle car era!

There was 1 after, the 1978 Dodge Magnum GT with the P-code 400 4barrel high performance engine.

I really like the body lines. Awsome design