78 Can Am that never was
 

May '78 Car and Driver article on the '78 Grand Am CA which was to be the new Can Am. Too bad it never happened! It was a four speed car.
I also have a 3 page Motor Trend article too which goes into more detail. I dont know how to post in a PDF format so I will post the full scan of the article.


http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...6/scan0001.jpg

Here is the May 1978 Motor Trend article.....

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...6/scan0002.jpg
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...6/scan0003.jpg
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...6/scan0004.jpg

Thank you for posting that! I've always wondered what the 78 looked like. Jim Wangers said it looked good, but I've never seen a pic of it till now. That's nice!!!! :DThe canceling of the 77, killed the 78 before it even had a chance:mad:. I think they would have sold thousands!! Someone could have jerked that 301 out and put in a w72 220 horse 400 and had one fun car. I'll have to get a copy of that magazine soon. David

I wonder what happened to the prototype? Probably went to the crusher, but it would be nice if it ended up in someones collection.

Swap a T/A 6.6 into that 78 CanAm and you would have a pretty quick car!

What is the deal with the M/T article and states it has the "305" in the specs and then in the article and says it has a "301".It kills me that it gives it a 8 in performance and it takes 21.1 sec to get to 80 mph,although it's a GREAT looking car it a total pig performance wise.

I have the May '78 Car And Driver, and I don't see that article.

Editor's error
 

I am sure it's a typo, shoud be 301. I was thinking the same thing, 105 top speed ? 0 to 60 in 11.2. Something was wrong with that test car, like maybe 2 plugs wires not connected. :confused:

We had an 80 Grand Prix W37 car 301 4 bbl 4 speed auto and that thing was no rocket but I know it got to 60 in around 9 secs by the handheld stopwatch and it was strong on the highway top end.

May 1978 Motor Trend..........the Car and Driver article I am unsure what month it was.

Just got the Dec '08 issue of High Perf Pontiac and wouldn't you know it on page 68 is a pic of a '78 CA at an Arizona car show! Has a different hood than the one in the articles so maybe it's the other prototype??

I would sure like to know more about it. Maybe someone knows the owner Thom Sherwood and could ask him about it. It's for sale too!

1978 Can Am FYI.............................
 

The latest High Performance Pontiac issue has this in it in the Pontiac Heaven X article. I also attended this event and saw this car there. It says it is one of 2 78 Can Ams built and he has the documentation for it also. They made mention of the car over the PA system during the show also.

What is he asking for it?

I was busy with the T shirt booth and only had enough time to walk over the by the car briefly. I have no idea what the price was and that wasn't put over the PA system, just about the rareity of the car was mentioned. I bet that Steve Barcak might be able to tell you more about it, or put you in touch with the owner. PM Steve and ask him for more info.

I beg to differ
 

Just curious, does the HPP article specifically state this was the would-be "Can Am"?

I had that Motor Trend article for years, and I never saw any reference to the Can Am designation. To me the CA was short for California, ie: a take on the '68 Mustang California Special. Buick also produced a 68' or 69' Skylark with a 'California' performance option.
California Grand Ams got the U code 305 for the standard V-8. This might explain the M/T article's confusion between the 301 & 305.


Keep in mind this Grand Am CA was a prototype. Do we know PMD actually constructed these two cars in their own facillity, OR, did they hand two early Grand Ams over to a custom shop for a conversion, ala Boyd Coddington. Or did some wealthy customizer just get creative with a couple production Grand Ams?

The add on body parts and the 4-speed just smell of a private custom shop to me. That's my opinion. I'll have to read HPP's article, but I do not see any mention of the "Can Am" designation or PMD's intent of such in the Motor Trend article.

P.S.
I agree with BR57. Those acceleration times are seriously out of wack.
They were either starting off in third gear, or they substituted the statistics from a 231 powered A-body. Most likely the latter.
They reported the "301" was modified to produce 190 hp. Then give those lousy acceleration times. Give me a break!

If they put that erronious stuff in print, then who's to say what else in the article is made up?

This was More than likely a Motortown built car. I think it was "Glory Years" by Jim Wangers book that stated he had seen the 78 Can Am version and thought it looked very nice. So, this car must have been built before they cancelled the 77 production...... It also stated that with the 77 production cancelled, that the 78 was cancelled too. I'll have to look through my book again to be sure, but I'm pretty sure it was. Anybody read that book lately? It's ben a while for me. BTW, I really like that car! David

That scenario just doesn't make sense to me. PMD built this thing while the '77 Can Ams were still rolling off the line? Then they just abruptly changed their mind about producing a second generation Can Am, but produced 13,000 Grand Ams anyway?
The picture in the article is a little fuzzy, but it looks like a Grand Am badge on the fender. The question is, what does the CA stand for?

Sirrotica, you say this Thom Sherwood has documentation for the other car. What is the build date on the body tag I wonder? I'd be curious to know what the VIN is. I bet it starts with 2G27. And I wouldn't be surprised to see the fifth digit was a U.
Is that issue of HPP still on the newstands?

David, I'm not trying to be wise ass, I just want to get to the bottom of this.

No offense taken. I'm just stateing what I read. Until this was posted, I had not seen a picture of one at all. It does make sense that this car was built while the 77's were still being made. The Can Am was a late year car, and the 78's were going to be all new. I bet they had several of the 78's being tested in mid 77. Everyone knew the 78 cars were going to be smaller, so the larger 77 Grand Prixs were selling as fast as they could make them. That was another reason for the 77 Can Am to be cancelled, it used Grand Prix dash assemblies and other parts. I'll try and find it in my book in the next few days. I'm just glad this car survived the GM crusher..........:)

The GrandAm badging does make sense if the CA stands for CanAm. The 77 CanAms had Lemans Sport Coupe badges on the front fenders. The CanAm was an option package, not a model.

I remember seeing the article back in the day. Back then I took the CA to stand for CanAm. I still do, though I don't have any proof.

I like the prototype. I wish they would have produced it.

This article was re-run in the July 1978 issue of Hot Rod magazine.
The fender emblems are "Grand Am CA" not the production emblems with the red/white and blue under the grand am....

Thom Sherwoods car was off the production line and was modified for a Hot Rod Magazize build. I havn't communicated with him for several years, but I think he found some lady using tha car as a daily driver. It was kind of beat up. He was in process of repairing it. I'll search for pictures he sent me.

Probablly posted this 78 before, but nicely done and worth showing again.

Ok, found the only pictures he sent me. Also found his number so I'll try calling and ask him to chime in here, unless someone else personally knows him.

His email stated the car was featured in Hot Rod Magazines Nov 1978 and Feb 1979


the wheels in one picture were set up against the car to get a feel for the "look".

Car bumped a wall and did some damage........

picture of the prototype too