1977 AMC Hornet AMX on BAT

[76B5]

Upfitted by the same shop (Motortown) that did the f body road runners and r/t cars...

1977 AMC Hornet AMX

 

[Oldiron440]

120 hp?

 

[Aspen500]

Well, for 1977, 120 hp from 304 cubic inches wasn't all that bad, sad as that sounds. It was the era of a Lincoln with 460ci and a whopping 200hp. Still, the AMX has 30hp more than my Aspen originally had with it's E24 225, rated at a mind boggling 90hp.

 

[Oldiron440]

I remember a 304 gremlin that did great burnouts, the guy did swap a 390 in it at some point..

 

[kkritsilas]

318-2V in 1980/1981 had 125 HP in our cars, so the rating on the 304 is not too bad. Hornet should be lighter than our Js or Ms, probably close to what the F coupes weigh.

 

[XfbodyX]

The only other car they did I like besides our f-s was the cam am-s early on the superpak Fs were and adjustment for me. I passed on a silver one of these AMX things like the yellow one and also passed on a hideous mustang cobra, probably the worst abortion of a mustang that lived. At least our F-s were done on a new platform.

The can am had a semi stout 400 and with the exception of the rear spoiler only took features from other pontiacs.

 

[Oldiron440]

I liked the 73 Grand Am
I don't know when Pontiac changed the name to Can Am probably after they dumped GTO.
In 77 I bought a 74 Lemans sport coupe with a manual transmission and a Pontiac 350, that thing would pull low 20s on the hyway.
The Grand Am was available whith the SD 455.

 

[XfbodyX]

The Grand Am was available with the SD 455.
There is a fake on on youtube and it was pointed out by the window sticker and posters in the know. Pontiac canceled the few that were pre ordered. In the vid you can easily tell its not a d port headed 455, just a std 455.

Only SD455 in the brochures. I had a 73 with a 400 4 speed and a 74 with a std. 455. The 455 car was cool with 7.4 litre emblems on it.

73 used that body for the GTO, then in 74, the last year for then they used the cheesy Ventura/nova body.

The can am, was just used for the one car that motor town did in 77, it was just a worked over Lemans?

Ive some of the old hot rod mags with the pre production ad with the 455SD listed as an option.



My 455 one ran like any other smog boat but a good exhaust and mild ram air 2 cam made it fun.

 

[Oldiron440]

I like the look of the 73 as pictured above, Gm changed tail lights and quarters for 74 not for the better.

 

[XfbodyX]

Thats funny, I liked the 74-s better myself, I think maybe because I had the 74 before I had the 73. here is a web pic of the 74 tail.

 

[Aspen500]

Years ago, there was a Can-Am around here, summer and,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,winter. I remember it had a spoiler a reverse shaker scoop like a T/A (Firebird T/A that is) and it was white. First I remember seeing it was around 1981 or 1982 and already the 1/4's were rotted out so chances are, it's loooooooooong gone eon's ago.

 

[Oldiron440]

I had my 74 until 81 with no rust at all, perhaps it was when the paint fell off I replaced it. IDK

 

[Aspen500]

I believe the Can-Am was a '77(?) Unfortunately, cars driven year round up here, rust quick unless you're meticulous with cleaning outside AND underside in the winter. Even then, you can only hold it off for just so long. My Dakota is evidence of that. Newest vehicle I've spotted at work with "outer body perforation" is a 2016 Equinox with the bottom of the fenders rusted out behind the front tires. It sucks, it really does.

It was one of these cars. Last I saw of it, must have been about 1986 at the latest because I still had my Barracuda and, the Can-Am didn't look much better than the other picture. It was still complete, unlike the car in the pic but rust wise, it was about 1 step away from looking like that. Seems like it just vanished suddenly, not long after '86.

 

[Oldiron440]

It's a shame, they were a really nice driving car.

 

[DCAspen]

Guy in my neighborhood had a Can-Am as a winter beater in the late 80's.I was at a demo derby in 1987 after a Mopar show in Massachusetts and a Can-Am was in the derby,looked pretty nice and a shame it was destroyed.

 

[kkritsilas]

The ‘73 Grand Am was a really cool car. Big inch motors only (400/455). Handled really well for a car of its size, from what I understand. I was crazy about the car, at 13 years of age, tape stripes and rear window lovers is all it took). A guy who was dating a girl in my neighbourhood used to drive one. It was white with the tasteful red/white/blue tape stripe package. I think it had the leather interior, in red.

The ‘73 is the only one that had real wood veneer interior trim. All other years, it was wood-grained vinyl.

Big fan of these cars. Getting hard to find, at any price, and I was looking for a while.

Can Am was mostly a trim package, using a very de-rated 400 (last year or two of the 400). I think it had less than 200 HP, and the Trans-Am style reversed hood scoop. All were white. From memory, only a few thousand were made.

 

[Trey]

The Can Am was only built in 1977 and only for about half a year. They halted production when the tooling to make the rear spoiler broke and they chose not to fix it.

I really like the AMX posted. I like oddball cars, I've even owned a couple of the Mustang Cobra abortions.

 

[Oldiron440]

Now I liked the Mustang 2 for some reason.

Esptially the mach 1 but not the King Cobra.

 

[kkritsilas]

I think the women in Charlie's Angels drove some Mustang IIs. Still couldn't make them cool.

 

[Oldiron440]

That's Farrah Fawcett on the hood.