[Grand73Am]

Yes, I don't mind that they aren't so popular. I like them and that's what's important to me. The lower perceived value made it so I could have several of them . I like the better chassis and interiors over the earlier years. And I like the style. You get alot of car for your money. I've put about 37,000 miles on my nice unrestored original 75 Sport Coupe over the last 5 years. It's now at about 99,000 original miles. It's seems to be pretty popular when I drive it, since I've gotten many positive looks and comments from the public. I expect my others to get the same reaction when I get them going.
New parts may not be so easy to come by, but thanks to the internet, I really haven't had any trouble getting all I need to restore mine. For example, when I bought my 73 GA several years ago, the nose was totally gone, not just the rubber part, but the reinforcement, the headlight bezels, nose emblem, grills, all that stuff specific to a 73 GA. But I found every piece I needed.
And of course some of the other parts are interchangeable with other 73-77 A and G bodies too, so it's not too hard to find some decent used parts, that may need a little restoration to use, but not that hard to do.
Yes, it would be nice to have more repro parts available, like the other more popular cars, but just because there aren't repro parts available, shouldn't prevent someone from restoring one of these cars.

[Lemansrestor]

Ultimately, these cars are rare. When you concider how many have gone to scrap over the years. Ten years ago I had a '73 GA auto which sat in my yard. I was running a full time repair shop at the time and didn't have time to get to this car I picked up for parts.
The city I live in came in and "cleaned up" my yard for me. I lost the 73 GA and a '77 Pariesiene. Both cars had 400 with TH400 trannys. A few years later, one of my customers had a 73 Lemans and didn't have the money to repair it. It had a 350 with TH400. She offered it to me, but I had no place to store it. It went to the crusher.
Last year the city "cleaned up" my yard up again and I lost another '73 Lemans. This one had a 350 with a spun bearing and a TH350.
It's discouraging, I had the parts, resources, and $$s to have repaired these cars. No time.
We "A" body owners are up against a fading resouce with vultures out there driving the prices up.

[zeebo]

i agree with Lemansrestor.. these cars are rare in good shape and i think that out of all the 73-77 A bodies, the pontiacs are the most sought after, 'cept maybe next to the 454 SS chevelles of 73. they arent making any more and they are already 30+ yrs old..fewer and fewer around all the time. i, too am not in this hobby for money making, im in it for the enjoyment of having and preserving a piece of automobilia for myself and (maybe) future generations..(and turning a few heads never hurt nobody) if i dont keep em nice and preserved, who will? like Lemansrestor said, the cities and townships are crushing the parts cars as urban sprawl takes over. alot of repop parts for these cars i doubt will ever be produced..so what we have now is all we got. too bad about all those auction houses driving the prices nuts on muscle cars that should never see the other side of 10k...vultures, vultures everywhere. get em now while u can..they aint coming down in price. my 2 cents..zeebo

[Grand73Am]

Lemansrestor, I'd have to move if I lived somewhere that "cleaned up" my yard like that, or keep them in a safer place for sure .
I don't see much affect from muscle car auctions on these cars. I gave $3800 for my 62,000 mile 75 LSC, that I drive daily. I've put 37,000 on it since and still going. Well worth it. My 73 GA 455 running project car was $1400 and my junker 73 GTO project was $350. All within the last 5 years. It's just a matter of keeping an eye out for what you want. I know they don't survive well in some parts of the country, but if they aren't where you live, find one somewhere else online and go get it. You may have to go South or West, but there are exceptions. I live in the Atlanta area, but when I was looking for a 75 LSC, I watched eBay, collectorcartrader.com , the local autotrader, and advertiser for a few months and wound up finding one I wanted that was 1800 miles away in N.Dakota. I flew up to get it and drove it back. There were always several 75 lemans' for sale around the country in the collectorcartrader for reasonable prices. I was able to find the 2 73's locally. They're still some affordable ones out there to be had for those that really want one. Just as with any car, if you go for the best model, you might have to pay more than if you settled for a lesser model. As rare as they are, there's usually even a 73 Grand Am or GTO for sale somewhere. A nice one should bring good money(even though they often don't), since they are the more collectible ones, but a project car can be had for much less.
Values are going to go up on desirable cars. They can't help but go up on these cars, since they've been valued so little . Some people may be trying to get big money for these cars, but only the really nice ones will bring it, and it's still not as much as comparable values of other more "collectible" cars in the same condition. So, I think we're lucky and smart to like these cars that are still underappreciated and undervalued, saving us money on the purchase of what we like.

[77 Canamman]

However, I never thought any Can Am would ever sell for $23,500. There are also a few documented cases last year of really high optioned low mileage cars selling for over $18k. The '73 GTO's, 455 Grand Ams, GT's and Can Ams will continue to rise in value, while the garden variety A bodies will still be easy and cheaper to buy.

[Grand73Am]

Congratulations! Good to hear there are some people willing to pay what it's worth .
And not really a bad deal for the buyer. One way to look at it is that if someone had to pay someone else to restore one, it would cost more than that just for the labor, parts and materials, not including the initial cost of the car. And the buyer doesn't have to wait for however long it would take the restorer to finish it, which can take a while .

[sdx455]

Wow like what I am hearing. When anybody asks what year gto I say 73 usaully they say . Whats it look like ... I probably spent 30k restoring it . But I did alot of things twice changed the cam 3 times , bought ram air manifolds ,changed to headers ,rebuilt the auto then covertd to manual . When someone says want to sell it . I say you wont give me what I have in it . I thought it could get 12,500 to 15 . for it but couldt replace it for that .Have it insured for 17500 .. However some people love them for some reason ,others just want a classic car and no nothing about a bodys and would pay above and beyond market . I know any old car will go up in value . The one thing I do like is that I rarely see another one . When I started restoring it 10plus years ago I picked through 20 of them localy . few years later steel prices were high and they all were gone crushed

[TropicDave]

Originally Posted by sdx455

The one thing I do like is that I rarely see another one .

I know what you mean. We have a car show every Tuesday night here. I've been going with my Can Am since last August, and have NEVER seen another '73-'77 Pontiac A-body show up, much less a G- or B-body. Lots of second-gen F-bodies but then that's no surprise. I know of one other Can Am in town but it's hardly ever driven, and one '76 Sports Coupe, which has dropped off the radar. And that's for a town of over 100,000 people. Now and again I see other GM A-bodies of our years, but not too often.

[Fake Goat]

"Hi, I'm Dan, and I'm an A-body-aholic!"

Sounds like an AA meeting here, but I too am somewhat addicted to these old beasts. My dad constantly "encourages" me to sell my '74 GA and look for something like a Firebird, Nova, Chevelle, but I like the fact that since I bought my GA 3 years ago, I have never run across another in person. It gets looks, comments, and people generally like it.

But I don't really care what others think, I like it! I too will have WAY too much in this by the time I am done ($20-$23K), but it will be absolutely cherry and it will be MINE.

[BR57]

Originally Posted by TropicDave

I know what you mean. We have a car show every Tuesday night here. I've been going with my Can Am since last August, and have NEVER seen another '73-'77 Pontiac A-body show up, much less a G- or B-body. Lots of second-gen F-bodies but then that's no surprise. I know of one other Can Am in town but it's hardly ever driven, and one '76 Sports Coupe, which has dropped off the radar. And that's for a town of over 100,000 people. Now and again I see other GM A-bodies of our years, but not too often.

Well, I live in a town of 3,000,000 and I go to cruises almost evey week in the summer months, did a few up north as well. In the last 5 years I have only ever seen one 73 GTO at a cruise and it came from 200 miles north to the Big Smoke. I parked beside it. That was the only time anyone ever paid attention to my car, even though mine is a GT, they were seeing double.

[billygoatii]

Here are a couple of pics from 2003. The 2nd CanAm used to belong to a friend of mine, he has since sold it. The GrandAm is a factory 4 speed car.

[77 Canamman]

I live in a sparsely populated area, and I am one of three people that own and drive '73-'77 Pontiac A bodies.

The Can Am always attracts a lot of attention at the local cruise ins. Most people that like the car never knew that they made a Can Am in 1977. By the time I bought my survivor car, I only attended three cruise ins, and no local shows. That will be different this year, with the reunion in August being the highlight.

[mike nixon]

i'll agree with baker. most 73-7 abody guys are cheap. i'm seriously considering cutting up my 74 g/am to build a g/p project. i like the cars but for the time and expense incurred in building one of these cars the done value isn't there if something happens and the car has to be sold at a later date.

re the comment about people not driving their gto's. that's their loss. i drive mine daily when they're together , in running condition and weather permits [salt].

this year's driver's going to be a 65 g/p. nice parts are just as hard, if not harder, to find for it as an 70's a-body but the value's better when it's done.

i am glad that these cars have a following. they're great cars with good lines for the time frame in which they were built. they drive and handle well, it's just a shame there aren't more parts being repro'd for them.

mike

[Mark1968]

I know of severl yards in the sw ohio area with 73-77 A bodies in them, mostly chevelles. I also have a 74 chevelle I am wanting to do away with, good used parts are near impossible to find. If anyone in the area is interested I can give locations.