WTF - S. African 302 powered '73 'Can-Am' sedan?

budnate · #1 10-26-2006, 06:56 PM

you may laugh, but in the mid 80's the VW guys went all over the world to old dealers and bought up all there old NOS stuff...some really rare stuff was found and bought cheap and shipped back to Cal, then resold to us guys for large sums of cash...

the as found pics of stuff in the back of dealers was way cool.

**PeteLeathersac** · #2 10-26-2006, 07:17 PM

[ QUOTE ]
you may laugh, but in the mid 80's the VW guys went all over the world to old dealers and bought up all there old NOS stuff...some really rare stuff was found and bought cheap and shipped back to Cal, then resold to us guys for large sums of cash...

the as found pics of stuff in the back of dealers was way cool.

[/ QUOTE ]

I remember reading a story on that...in Hot VW or Cars & Parts maybe? . The guys were laughing as they pulled unbelievably hard to find NOS stuff out of old VW dealerships who were only too happy to get anything for their 'old junk'! .

So...anyone know anything of these little 302 Chevy African Supercars? .

~ Pete

Hylton · #3 10-27-2006, 12:15 AM

This thread reminds me of a guy in Germany who cut a 1982 Rabbit (Golf) in half length wise so he could shoehorn a 302 out of a Porsche 928 into it. I don't know who would go through so much trouble but the car looked exactly like any other Rabbit except it was 6 inches wider. He said he had a great time on the autobahn blowing away unsuspecting exotic cars.

**PeteLeathersac** · #4 10-27-2006, 12:41 AM

The VW sounds like a fun car but w/ the sectioning job would surely have been a lot of work...and dough! . Any pics or links? .

About 15 years ago a buddy here built a couple TR6's w/ small blocks...they were great fun and kind've a poor man's Cobra. .

I saw the note on 427StratoChief's profile that he has a Sunbird or Cavalier w/ a RWD small block...sounds like a fun piece too! .

I guess I'm liking this Firenza CanAm more because it was built by Chevy. . With a factory installed 302 and a Muncie, does this qualify as a Supercar? .

~ Pete

**2qwik2c** · #5 10-27-2006, 01:02 AM

There is a guy around home here that installed a 468 BB into a firefly convert. The back end was all tire with maybe 6" between them. Looked awesome. I bet it would be scary to drive. I will try to find a pic. 2qwik2c.

StriperSS · #6 10-27-2006, 02:14 AM

I may still have the German language car magazine with this widened Golf in it. If I recall correctly, it was built by one of the well known German tuners. I'll try and find it and scan it.

Hylton · #7 10-27-2006, 07:40 PM

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I may still have the German language car magazine with this widened Golf in it. If I recall correctly, it was built by one of the well known German tuners. I'll try and find it and scan it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ya, I think I might still have a copy of the Road and Track article. The car was gun metal grey in color. Will try to hunt it down as well.

StriperSS · #8 10-27-2006, 02:22 AM

Pete;

I don't know of anything specific about these small block Firenzas, but South Africa did have some interesting cars available. Because of Apartied, the country was a bit of a Pariah, and no one was 'officially' trading with them.
American cars were available there, but the import process was rather involved, so not a lot made it over. I read somewhere that Belgian assembled cars went there to get around trade embargos.

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