Well besides the aftermarket wheels (those would have to go) the only minus is the 301 2bbl V8. Strange that they optioned up the car and only went for the smallest V8 available. In 77 you could still get a Pontiac 350 or 400 in these cars. (last year for the Pontiac 350) otherwise a very nice example.
I thought the window sticker said 6.6 litre 403 4 barrel engine at a $157.00 option. Is that correct, or where did that engine fit into the Pontiac pecking order. Not that familiar with GM power plants at that time.
The 403 was an Oldsmobile-built engine. It MAY have been the engine that was listed as a '400' cubic inch and used in some Firebirds as early as 1976. (Not sure on this..) They also used a '6.6 liter' nomenclature for it, as well. First got wide use in the downsized GM big cars in 1977, and also the intermediates and Firebird.
Thanks Krash. I vaguely remember that I had thought the 403 was an Olds engine, but wasn’t it about that time that GM was doing its dosey doe with various engines in various cars? I couldn’t keep up. Thanks for the clarification.
The Olds 403 was introduced for 1977 and could not have been used in a '76 Pontiac. The base engine in a '76 Firebird was the 5.7 liter (350 cu in) 2-bbl V-8. The '76 Trans Am came with a "6.5 liter" (397 cubic inches -- call it 400) with a 7.5 liter (455 cu in) V-8 as an option. The Olds 403 was also referred to as a 6.6-liter (not 6.5) V-8. 6.5 liters = 402.7 = 403 cubic inches. As far as GM playing do-si-do with its engines, GM did get caught in 1977 putting Chevy engines in some Oldsmobiles because they were selling so many cars they simply ran out of Olds-built engines. GM claimed that it never promised that Oldsmobiles would come only with Oldsmobile-built engines and thought that making the substitution was no big deal. Olds buyers thought otherwise because to them, what made an Olds an Olds was the Rocket engine. Anyway, I think the results was that Olds compensated the owners, and, starting in 1978, issued notifications like the one below in their sales literature.
This is the ‘77 Pontiac Bonneville I was referring to. Not the Firebird. The window sticker said 6.6 litre 403 4 bbl. could it have the 403 Olds engine in the Pontiac? It appears this car had the 403 in a Pontiac.
Yes, the 403 was available to the other divisions in 1977, and Pontiacs could certainly be so equipped. Buicks, too. I don't think it was available in Chevy.
You all are correct, I did not read the window sticker, look at the engine, or correctly read the VIN number! I must be getting older than I thought! Easy to tell it is an olds if you look at the engine! I always thought that they only put the Olds 403 & 350's in Cars for the California Market, and "High Altitude" Counties Like Denver and Salt Lake City. The dealer sticker says Cheyenne, so I am assuming Cheyenne Wyoming? That is probably also a "High Altitude" County. If so that would explain the Olds engine, as the Pontiac 400 and 350's did not meet those emission spec's for 1977.
