It seemed everyone forgot the great Pontiacs built after 1972 and that was a shame. However, interest in these cars is starting to take off. And why not? In my opinion the 73-77 Pontiac LeMans has several great things going for it including great looks, excellent handling and exceptional reliability. Ray White's Oshawa built and Chevrolet powered 73 LeMans Sport Coupe is an excellent example of what was offered to us lucky Canadians. Here's a little about the car in Ray's own words:

This is my 1973 Lemans Sport Coupe. It is a true Driver and Survivor undergoing only a paint job in 1989 from its original Ascot Silver. Since purchasing it in 2004 I have done a little work on the car to suit my taste but always with the mind to keep the car as typical as possible for the period it is from.

The car is documented by GM Canada as one of 3,761 built. It was built in Oshawa on March 9, 1973. The car has just over 63,000 original miles. We often dont think of a LeMans as a Canadian Pontiac with a Chevrolet engine under its hood but here is one. In this case, it is a 350 small block badged as a Pontiac Astro-Flash.

I decided the only way I was ever going to get into the old car hobby was to make a specific decision on what year and model to look for. I settled on 2 choices, a 1970 Tempest 2d. post or a 1973 LeMans Sport Coupe, both cars my dad owned when I was a teenager. The search for the Tempest still continues.

I found this car by searching the web, then one Thursday there it was, in Barrie Ontario. Luckily I was heading up to the cottage the next day so I called and made arrangements to see the car. The owner said he bought it in 1989 but since 1996 it was stored at the family farm in a Barn near Parry Sound. He produced a invoice dated a week earlier from the Parry Sound Canadian Tire for a battery and some exhaust parts, required to bring the car down to Barrie.

It idled rough and launched badly when I first drove it but I was soon topping 80 mph on the cornfield lined country roads. When the owner handed me a box of small bits and parts and I saw the original dealer emblem that said 'by Rumble - Leaside Ontario', I looked at my 16 year old son and said we have to buy it. At the time he went to Leaside High School and the dealership, now Brennans, is only blocks from the school. In fact when I attended Leaside High for our driver training, Rumble supplied the 1974 LeMans and Regals we learned to drive on. My Dad even had a '73 Sport Coupe that I learned to drive on and took to Prom in 1976. I gave the owner $400, the contents of my wallet as a deposit and agreed to come back Monday evening with $2,400 more in cash.

The car is really like a toy for me, its not perfect and its played with. I am lucky that it didnt cost very much so I dont fuss over it. Its got a few scratches and door dings some I bought with it and some I put on myself, but it runs well and is reliable. The GM Canada paper work for my car shows a really neat option which Ill point out Console, Less and this explains why I have bucket seats and a column shifter. Seems rather odd but kind of neat I think.

One thing to know about a 1973 Canadian built LeMans is that no where in this world do there exist any reproduced parts for this car. If that isnt bad enough, on top of that 1973 is a one year only body style for the LeMans. 74/75 are the same as are 76/77 but 73 stands alone. As an example I recently purchased ignition wires and what a fiasco. Each time I got the wires they were wrong, they were for various Pontiac V8s, until finally we asked for a 73 Chevelle, BINGO, exact fit. So in this regard I share a lot in common with a Beaumont owner.

Since purchasing it I have put all the exterior trim back on it, I had two broken parking lamps which have been replaced but took forever to find and got them from a GTO undergoing NOS restoration in BC. Put in a Grant steering wheel that I set up as close as possible to the optional NK5 Soft Rim Sport Steering Wheel. My GM paper work showed my car was built with that wheel but it was not on the car when I got it.

I found NOS sill plates in Chicago, got a map light from a Grand Am which just bolted right in place from Edmonton to replace the dome light, its got a 160 MPH speedo from a Firebird in Ohio which needed a bit of finesse to fit since it was from a floor shift car and also recently obtained the Rally Cluster from California.

Pulled dual horns from a 74 Luxury LeMans from a salvage yard in Midland, mine only had one from the factory, and figured what the heck, so now I have triple horns.

The ZZ4 Bowtie Aluminum intake came from a brand new ZZ4 crate engine in New York, never run - a $65 eBay score; valve covers from an 86 IROC Z in Tennessee - $7 eBay score, painted aluminum look almost like LT-1 covers. Replaced a leaky Quadrajet with a new Edelbrock 600 CFM performer, got a discontinued GM Performance Parts Air Cleaner from Karbelt in Pickering and I had some air cleaner decals made up of my own design to reflect the original Big Block style Pontiac decals used up to 1969 using the Astro Flash 350 Small Block instead.

The crowning touch though has to be that N.A.S.A. ducted hood, from Mike in Grafton, owner of a 75 Cup Car  undergoing a frame off, Mike also gave me a rear sway bar from his 75 as he changed his to the Trans Am bigger diameter piece.

Thats about it. Have to mention Darryl, my good buddy 65 Camino, who is always nearby to help turn wrenches, come up with ideas and travel to cruise ins with and also acknowledge Todd and this great site and fantastic members which makes the hobby a lot of fun!

I mentioned that I took my Dads 73 SC to my Prom in 1976. The pretty girl who was my passenger that night is often my passenger in this Sport Coupe too, August 1^st is our 27^th Wedding Anniversary so it is a nice coincidence that Todd asked to feature my car.

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Epolougue: In October 2011 the LeMans underwent a 454 Big Block engine swap. Using the Big Block was an easy solution to adding horsepower and torque to this otherwise nice performer yet somewhat sedate L48 powered car. The word muscle car can now be legitimately used when speaking of this LeMans Sport Coupe and the car has claimed victories over a 440 Roadrunner and small block powered Corvette. The swap is documented under thr 1970+ engine tech section.