16th Annual Autosport 76 Montreal Plaque (Joel exhibited the yellow Can-Am Spyder)
Description
16th Annual Autosport 76 Montreal plaque: Joel exhibited the yellow Motion Can-Am Spyder Corvette in the 1976 Montreal show.
Following a strict 1974 cease-and-desist order from the U.S. government regarding his factory-new high-horsepower Baldwin-Motion muscle cars, Rosen had to pivot his business. He shifted focus from building brand-new turn-key drag monsters to constructing wild, coach-built sports car customs using customer-supplied vehicles.
The Can-Am Spyder was his crowning achievement of this era. It featured:
• The "Batmobile" Widebody Look: Inspired by John Greenwood's famous IMSA widebody Corvette endurance racers, the car featured massive, swept fiberglass body panels sculpted entirely by Motion Performance.
• Extreme Street Styling: It featured a full rear hatchback (years before Chevrolet offered one on production Corvettes), a deeply tunneled rear window, radical custom paint/graphics, and standard roaring side-pipe exhausts.
• Signature High-Performance: Underneath the futuristic body panels sat heavily modified big-block V8 power paired with a Hone Overdrive unit for highway cruising.
Because Rosen frequently traveled up the East Coast to showcase his newest creations at indoor car shows, the 1976 Montreal event served as the perfect international stage to display this exact car to custom-car enthusiasts.
