1973 Chevrolet Firenza CanAm 302

[69VN]

Anyone remember this car?

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/tag/chevrolet-firenza-can-am/

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2013/07/full-13015-5676-1973_chevrolet_firenza_can_am_
http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2013/07/full-13015-5677-1973_chevrolet_firenza_can_am_

[Lynn]

Have never seen it.
Would be the same chassis as an Opel Kadett.
Have always wanted to do a SB chevy in an Opel Rallye car.
Would be similar to a V8 Vega.
My fourth car was an Opel Rallye.
Traded it for my 10 10 69 Z.
I don't regret the trade.
But, still, a very solid, well built car.

[StriperSS]

Firenza's were sold in Canada, and were an updated Vauxhall Viva, completely different from the Opel Kadett. Ours were all 4 cylinders, and had horrendous reliability issues. In South Africa, 100 were converted to V8 power, all with Z/28 302 engines, just to make them legal for a local racing series. This would have been a handful on the street, but I would have loved to drive one! Some still survive in New Zealand, and here's a photo of a vintage racer.
Flickr photo (http://www.flickr.com/photos/8021817@N07/9296396743/sizes/l/in/photostream/)

[PeteLeathersac]

I love the Firenza Can-Ams and have brought them up in a few past threads here too.
A few years back I contacted and emailed w/ a few owners trying to confirm castings and if DZ, CE or other stampings were originally used (again these were '73 model year cars), some said DZ and others not but the results were never conclusive being nothing was provided to back it up.
Part of the problem is the 100 built were race cars first so much like ZL1's some have been rebodied or clones passed off as original cars so details kept tight especially at sale time.
There are a couple brothers who bought 2 Can-Ams new for the street and one or both still have theirs but I never did hook up w/ them so gave up.
Of note too is the cool Firenza Can-Am 302 exterior decal is sometimes seen on restored '69 Camaros, usually on cross ram air cleaners.
<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif
~ Pete

[Lynn]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: StriperSS</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Firenza's were sold in Canada, and were an updated Vauxhall Viva, completely different from the Opel Kadett. Ours were all 4 cylinders, and had horrendous reliability issues. Flickr photo (http://www.flickr.com/photos/8021817@N07/9296396743/sizes/l/in/photostream/) </div></div>

Are you sure? I know the sheet metal is different. Vauxhall was owned by Opel, and I always thought they shared common chassis components, even though the Vauxhalls were made in England.

Sorry to hijack the thread. The CanAm looks like a great car. Just not sure I could live with right hand drive.