1977 Pontiac Lemans Safari Wagon

Paladin · Veteran Member

1977 Pontiac Lemans Safari Wagon

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

That's impressive. By 1977 the 301 2bbl was the standard engine in Safari and the 400 4 bbl was the optional engine. No other Canadian sold LeMans had the 400 option in '77, just the Safari.

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Looks like a nice car to work with. My brother drove one of these almost across the country back in the 1980s. Almost identical except it was light blue metallic outside and light blue inside. Had the 3rd seat and the 400 as well.

I did have occasion to drive it a couple of times, really liked the car as it was comfortable and really felt planted to the road, but it was surprisingly low on power, even with the 400.

Also have to say it was a weird sensation sitting in the rear seat looking out the rear windshield at vehicles following you, hoping they would be able to stop in time if they had to...

Paladin · Veteran Member

73SC wrote:
That's impressive. By 1977 the 301 2bbl was the standard engine in Safari and the 400 4 bbl was the optional engine. No other Canadian sold LeMans had the 400 option in '77, just the Safari.

That's a great bit of information. When my buddy saw the car for the first time he said that he recognized it. As I recall, the story was that a company he worked for back in 77, order six identical Lemans wagons through Empress to be used as company cars. The employees of the company were apparently thrilled that they would be supplied with new wagons for their daily calls. It was only when the vehicles were about to be delivered that the company owner advised the employees that they would be paying for the wagons! The news landed with a thud, and the company owner cancelled the order with Empress. I don't know if he lost his deposit or any more to the story, but apparently Empress managed to sell the wagons locally to private buyers. As far as power, its not a RA IV, but it can still move out in good order and has that wonderful Poncho torque.

CDN2PLS2 · Uber Guru

That would be a Great car to drive back to Ontario.

Paladin · Veteran Member

CDN2PLS2 wrote:
That would be a Great car to drive back to Ontario.

Definitely! So far I've only listed the car on CP as I'd really like to see it go to one of the subscribers here who know what it is and won't just destroy it. As mentioned, all of the dry, California sheetmetal comes with the car, most of which is bolt on. I paid over $2200 USD just for the doors and quarters. I'm certainly open to offers as I want to see it go to a good home. Let me know if you're interested. Thanks.

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

MC wrote:
I did have occasion to drive it a couple of times, really liked the car as it was comfortable and really felt planted to the road, but it was surprisingly low on power, even with the 400.

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By 1977 the net HP rating was 180 HP @ 3600 rpm with 325 ft-lb @ 1600.

It was a low revving engine but as I recall with those highway gears around 2.56 they were using back then seemed almost like an unlimited top end.

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Ha ha... I should qualify my comments. I drove the wagon in 1983, the same time I had my '73 Lemans with stock 350 Chevy. I was expecting the 400 to have way more power than my 350 but was surprised when it felt a lot slower. So what you have is a teenager's impression from 35 years ago... Take it for what it's worth, which is not much... ð

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

I recall my Dad test driving a 1977 Grand Prix with the 400, his trade in would have been a LeMans Sport 350 L48, like mine was originally. After driving it, He asked the salesman if he could order a V8 biggrin So your impression was right, the Chevy 350 was always a more sprightly engine especially in a lighter car. Fact is the 400 only had 5 HP more, torque was substantially more however, wagon a lot heavier.

Paladin · Veteran Member

Paladin wrote:
1977 Pontiac Lemans Safari Station Wagon, originally purchased from Empress Pontiac in Victoria B.C. This was my DD from 2013-2016. Factory Equipped with rare 400/4bbl, TH400, PS, PB, third row rear fold-down seat, roof rack. Upgraded with Detroit Speed 700lb front springs and solid front 1.25" sway bar with poly bushings, and Bilstein shocks all around, stock rear springs. Note: Car comes with spare, solid, absolutely rust-free sheet metal from California that includes: 4 doors, 2 front fenders, 2 complete rear quarter panels purchased years ago from Frank's Pontiac Parts. Also comes with deluxe interior door panels and power window assemblies for all doors, plus some spare NOS door weatherstrip. Frame is solid but there is lower panel rust on all four corners. Car is a pleasure to drive and has been incredibly reliable, and can be driven away. Have too many projects and I need the space. $3500 obo.
778-977-2041 call or text
gmga73@yahoo.com.
Price reduced to $2500.

-- Edited by Paladin on Sunday 29th of April 2018 02:16:48 PM

rabbit64cs · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

damn !!!! biggrin

65wagon · Poncho Master!

which 400 is this, chevy or pontiac

Bob F · Guru

Insanely good deal on this package. Seriously. If I only had time and space.

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

65wagon wrote:
which 400 is this, chevy or pontiac

Pontiac.

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Veeeerrrryyyy.....................interesting. Hmmm hmm.

57 Pathfinder · Guru

73SC wrote:
I recall my Dad test driving a 1977 Grand Prix with the 400, his trade in would have been a LeMans Sport 350 L48, like mine was originally. After driving it, He asked the salesman if he could order a V8 So your impression was right, the Chevy 350 was always a more sprightly engine especially in a lighter car. Fact is the 400 only had 5 HP more, torque was substantially more however, wagon a lot heavier.

around '85 or so I had a 74 LeMans with the 350 2 barrel and my buddy had a 75 Grand Prix with the 400 Pontiac. After losing to the Lemans more than once my buddy threw some money at it adding an Edelbrock intake, Holley 750, better cam, and long tube headers. That woke it up some, but the biggest problem was weight, a tight convertor, and terrible gears. At 70 mph if you nailed it it would move out hard...but trying to get it to launch faster than a steam ship was impossible.

Paladin · Veteran Member

Hey Guys, I had a potential buyer come by yesterday who is interested the wagon. He said he's only wants the drivetrain and that he'd scrap the body after he was done. I don't normally have any kind of bond or connection to the cars I've owned, but it would be a bit depressing to know that after being such an amazingly reliable and fun ride for all these years that the wagon was just going to be gutted and crushed. As insane as it sounds it would feel like I had betrayed the vehicle that had been so good to me. I know, ridiculous. I could probably sell the rust-free Cali sheetmetal separately for the same price I'm asking for the whole car, so from a cold financial perspective I should just sell him the car for the drivetrain and not give it a second thought. At the end of the day, I need to be rational and move the car along, but I thought I'd just put it out there one more time to see if anyone here is interested in buying. Let me know if interested. As an aside, Holley has a project Chevelle that is a great example of how cool this wagon platform can be. Not everyone's cup of tea, I know, but a clean version nonetheless. Thanks all! Gavin.

www.holley.com/blog/post/holley_s_rolling_test_bed_74_chevelle_wagon_runs_in_the_10s_with_a_stock_block_and_holley_efi/

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

It would be a shame to see this go to scrap. All the good cars are out west!

65Camino · Uber Guru

Where is all the rust ? Can you post pictures of that ?

65wagon · Poncho Master!

im with Ray , were is the rust. I stopped selling to guys like that even if im hard up, was offered money for my truck just for its power train said no thanks, but the body is rusty, then you must not want it.

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Wow, it would be a shame for this car to be scrapped for the drivetrain. I quite like it myself, but being on the east coast, the $3000-ish shipping costs make it very difficult to do.

How bad is the rust on the lower panels? Could you post pics?

What would you consider selling the car for without the California panels? Then you could sell those separately and maybe the car could still be saved without a severe financial hit to yourself?

Just trying to think of ways it could be done without the poor car becoming another drivetrain donor.

bigdreams · Poncho Master!

I would suggest putting this car on the Station Wagon Forum but I checked and see that it is already there. One of the members spotted the ad

http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/threads/77-lemans.49979/

Just my personal opinion but I think Americans are a lot more reverential of old station wagons - they also have cheaper gas.

I had a 73 Grand Prix with a 400 - I didn't find it lacked power but I did find it liked gas - I can't remember ( I owned it 40 years ago) but I think it had dual exhaust ( as opposed to just dual pipes)- I don't know if that made a difference from the power standpoint.

Could you perhaps post this on some of the Washington state classified sites? - l understand a lot of older cars are in use as daily drivers in place like Seattle.

65wagon · Poncho Master!

im sure if someone is running empty, it would be no problem to get it closer for the cost of fuel

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

I would just sell it and carry on.

Paladin · Veteran Member

bigdreams wrote:
I would suggest putting this car on the Station Wagon Forum but I checked and see that it is already there. One of the members spotted the ad
http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/threads/77-lemans.49979/
Just my personal opinion but I think Americans are a lot more reverential of old station wagons - they also have cheaper gas.

I had a 73 Grand Prix with a 400 - I didn't find it lacked power but I did find it liked gas - I can't remember ( I owned it 40 years ago) but I think it had dual exhaust ( as opposed to just dual pipes)- I don't know if that made a difference from the power standpoint.

Could you perhaps post this on some of the Washington state classified sites? - l understand a lot of older cars are in use as daily drivers in place like Seattle.

Thanks to everyone for the positive input. Sold the car yesterday without the additional doors and fenders. I'll post photos of those up separately in the parts section shortly after taking some more pics. I also have a complete set of RED interior door panels with PW switches, pulls, and the inner door lifts and motors, all appearing on initial inspection, (in my less than perfectly lit garage loft), to be really nice. I'll take everything out of storage and provide some close-up pics. If anyone is initially interested or wants a specific photo then let me know. I have no problem palletizing and crating large parts such as the doors and fenders as I've safely sent large parts across country before. Thanks again.