We had the original 1975 Pacer with the straight six in Aztec Copper. It was NOT underpowered and was a killer tow vehicle but heavy and got 16 miles per gallon. The styling was 10 years ahead of its time. All other cars were "styled" like cinder blocks.
You never mentioned that the Pacer Wagon could be ordered with faux woodgrain on the outside. I had a friend growing up that his family has a Pacer Wagon with the optional woodgrain exterior. I always thought the car was super kewl and the back seat roominess was outstanding. Theirs was a D/L and had all the options. Being a kid who was heavily into cars, i can remember checking it out while his parents would come pick me up and drive us to different places around town.
I was about to comment the lack of woodgrain on this car. I wonder what the take rate was, it must've been sky high especially compared to most other small-to-midsize wagons. It seems like most of the Pacer wagons without it I see are either '77s or were customized in the '80s and '90s.
The Pacer Wagon does look much nicer with the woodgrain paneling, turbine-style wheels, and the pre-1978 hood. It looked ungainly when they raised the hood and enlarged the grille to fit the V8 engine.
@@vwestlife Although imo the wagon pulled off the raised hood better than the hatchback. Same deal with the square front Pinto, and for that matter the original Mini Clubman.
AMC cars would always start and run. They had some quirky cars and some great looking ones, my favorite being the 68 and 69 AMX. Thanks to Adam for his time and hard work.....
Until recently, I never noticed that the dashboard design and overall interior seems quite nice. The dash design certain looks more contemporary than the Spirits and Concord I remember.
I love the Pacer. One of my best friends here in Hamburg has a 1977 AMC-Pacer Wagon DL with the cool 'Navajo-Interior'. And I myself had a X-Car until last year like those you've featured in your latest videos. A red 1980 Buick Skylark limited coupe imported from switzerland. This is now followed by a 1968 Ford Galaxie 500 two door hardtop coupe. The Ford-counterpart to your Mercury Park- Lane coupes.
My family had a '78 Pacer wagon w/ the woodgrain sides, it was all optioned out but even then I thought it to be very quirky, still it makes me smile to see one again.
I think my sisters was a 75 or 76. She bought it in the early '90s I remember it was gutless and very nondescript. But it did offer an excellent field of view and was quite utilitarian. Great video on an obscure underappreciated automobile.
I considered these attractive at the time, and still do. The larger six cylinder was a 258. The black strip at the bottom of the windshield was commonly used on Ford products starting with Lincoln in 1970, and on some GM products, starting with the F-body in 1970 1/2 and the A-body in 1973. The wrap-over doors without drip prevention were used on the 1973 GM trucks and soon rectified with bolt-on drip rails.
I once spent a summer with an Aunt and Uncle in '75 or so, said Uncle owned an AMC/Datsun dealership on the island of Kauai. He picked me up at the airport in a brand new yellow Pacer, I laughed so hard at the car to the point where my Uncle grew upset and drove off. So I call my Aunt to ask her to please pick me up, she in turn drove a pink Pacer...wisely I got into the mobile fishtank, lol.
The most practical version of this quirky-cool car. I've always loved the Pacer. Those body color wheel covers later appeared on the Concorde which you've covered in the past...
A great future of a wonderfully unique car. I always appreciated the weirdness and cleverness of these, which were reasonably popular here in Northern California at the time. And this is a nice example!
I think the unconventional door lock location is due to the upper door necessarily reshaped to protect a lowered window glass that was too tall to roll completely into the door cavity. As seen in the video, the door panel rises to a level slightly above the window glass, and that left no room for the door lock. So they used their standard off-the-shelf lock plunger and moved it down and near the handle.
Left and right sides of a car are determined from the driver's view, not looking at the car from the front. Right door is longer, as the creator said. Javelins and AMXs had the door locks in the armrests, since 1968, and earlier AMC cars had doors that locked by pushing down on the door handles, pulling up opened the door.
Tip #1 for new Pacer owners. unless you have the whole weekend, don't try to change the valve-cover gasket yourself. I've done at least a dozen for collectors and club members because a lot of shops refuse to do them or the labor cost will kill the wallet. 🙄
I agree. Some things are best left to people with experience & some shortcut tricks up their sleeves. I'm a heavy truck mechanic by trade with 25 years experience, but fix alot of friends classics on the side in my free time because modern shops are full of wannabe mechanics that fancy themselves "technicians". I'm convinced if they can't "plug" into it, they can't fix it period. I think alot of younger mechanics are actually afraid to work on classics in case something goes wrong. Finding a shop that specializes in classic cars is very hard to begin with, and when you find a good one, they will charge more than the average shop for their knowledge.
Brian; I can't really understand your comment. Replacing the valve cover gasket on a Pacer is actually a pretty simple job! I owned and drove a 1975 Pacer that I purchase new for about 25 years (until the rust got it) and had to replace the cheapo cork valve cover gasket several times. I did this job myself and it would take me about an hour to do it. The only problem is removing the valve cover from the engine because the cowl prevents you from lifting it straight up. The solution is simple... After you remove the stuff in the way (air cleaner, fuel line, etc) and unscrew the valve cover bolts (the rear-most one is a pain) you then turn on the ignition and turn on the windshield wipers. When the wipers are about 1/3 of the way up the window you turn off the ignition stopping the wipers in place. This raises the wiper linkage where it passes over the top of the engine and brings a "kick-up" in the wiper linkage into position over the valve cover. You can then lift the valve cover up enough to rotate it on its long axis over to the right (spark plug side) side of the engine. You kind of roll it over the top of the engine. Once the cover has dropped down a bit beside the engine you can pull it forward until it clears the cowl and out she comes. I will admit that the first time I did the job it took me a little longer because I spent 15 minutes figuring out the trick of positioning the wipers in a certain spot. By the way, I am not a mechanic but after having professional mechanics botch work on my vehicles several times I taught myself how to do car mechanical work up to and including engine rebuilds. Saves some money but more important, I know the job is done correctly. As an added bonus, not having to deal with mechanics keeps my blood pressure down!
I have a good friend whose family have been long-time U of Washington football season ticket holders. He had a 76 Pacer painted to resemble a U of W football helmet. Gold paint, white grill resembling a face mask, big purple "W" on the side. Rode with him to a few games from Olympia to Seattle. That car ALWAYS got a huge reaction from other drivers on I-5.
I really liked the Pacer, especially the wagon. I came close to buying a loaded Limited model at the end of the 1979 closeout selling season. I marveled at how it drove. It had all the bells and whistles but you got to row your own gears with the 4-speed floor mounted stick. The deal was never made, however. The sticker price was more than I could afford and the local AMC dealer wasn't in the mood to bargain.
Thanks for sharing Adam. Back in the very early 80s, my dad looked at a ‘77 model in the same color. I think the wagon looked fairly handsome, especially compared to the fishbowl-shaped coupe model. Sadly my dad couldn’t make a deal on it and wound up getting a Pinto wagon.
As someone who also owns a Pinto wagon, I wish him the best of luck with it. I have been unable to find hardly any parts for it, including engine parts, body parts, glass, and interior parts. Nearly 20 years ago I replaced the engine with a rebuilt one. They are no longer available. A broken windshield would total the car. Even salvage yards don't keep Pintos or Pinto parts because there is no market for them. There are likely only a few thousand Pintos still in existence in the U.S.
@@geraldscott4302 the Pinto has been gone many years now, I believe my dad sold/junked it around ‘89. It was actually a decent and reliable car but 10-plus years of Northeast winters took its toll and severe rust led to its demise. I believe corrosion, as well as a very limited collectors market probably resulted in so few survivors today. I wish you good luck with yours.
@@johnh2514 I live near Phoenix, AZ, so no rust. But things do break and wear out, and accidents happen, and sadly the Pinto is not really repairable. I have had offers to buy it from drag racers who want to build a race car out of it, basically just using the body, putting it on a tube chassis, gutting the interior, installing a roll cage, and putting a V8 under the hood.
The Volvo P 1800 ES pioneered that hatchback design. It had a giant all glass tail gate, so extraordinary, it's nick named "Snow White's coffin". In the mid 80s, there was a retro model, the Volvo 480, which looks quite similar as the car presented in the video. In the 2000s another retro model was introduced, the C30.
Mazda’s apex seals were metal for the rotary. Im surprised General Motors tried them with rubber as the material. You would think they couldn’t even get those rubber apex seals 3 miles down the road!
Mazda will use the rotary in an upcoming plugin hybrid. I think the apex seals are more durable when the rotary engine is operated at a constant speed, one of the goals of the hybrid. I'm not sure of all the reasons Mazda thinks the rotary needs another chance.
There was an online auction last summer (August 2022) in Scandinavia WI. This guy was an AMC & IH Scout fan. There was 9 Pacers there, including a wagon just like this. 304, brown, very clean 👌. Obviously there were AMC nuts bidding because I couldn't aquire any of the Pacers, not even the rusty ones. I ran that guy WAY up on every single one though! There was also a Javalin & a Gremlin. I did buy lots of parts, mostly engines and transmissions. Several 232, 258, 304, and 360. There was one 401 but it went too high. One of the Pacers was the guys hot rod project, it also had a 401. VERY COOL place, I will remember it the rest of my life :) Still upset that I couldn't buy a Pacer though.
Interesting, especially with a V8. I tried to buy an immaculate one once but the guy wanted to use it for demo derby. He will be going to Car Collector Hell one day.
A while ago, I read a very fascinating article about the Pacer for the British market and the serious issue it faced there. A small batch of British-bound Pacer was converted to right-hand-drive using the half-shaft technique (bicycle chain connecting the lower part on the left and the upper part on the right). Unsurprisingly, the longer door length worked against the British drivers. Despite the shorter length, its broad width made the awkward navigation through the narrow streets and parking space in the 1970s.
I bought a used 1978 woodgrain Pacer V8 wagon as a delivery vehicle. That greenhouse was torture driving across the desert after the A/C died! It had a 304 (5.0 L) engine with a Motorcraft 2-barrel carb. I found a better Holley 500 cfm 2-bbl carb that fit just fine. Surprised a lot of Foxstang Boi's when they couldn't even get past my Pacer wagoon! I tried but couldn't manage to kill the 304 because I would have happily swapped in an AMC 360 or 401 engine instead (similar block dimensions). Spark plugs #6 & #8 looked brutal to reach till I noticed them peeking at me thru the right front wheel well...
A friend in highschool drove a root beer brown 77. so it had the sloping hood. Extremely comfortable car for 4 people but it's a shame EFI and the later AMC cylinder head design wasn't available in the mid 70s.
Very cool! Looks to my like a Pinto sourced rack and pinion was used. Definitely leaps and bounds ahead of the worm gear sectors of most American cars of the day.
AMC had sold the "Buick" V6 back to GM a couple years before Pacer was released. The shorter V6 might have worked better in the Pacer, but the AMC version was only 225 cubic inches, the Buick version only 231.
Back then that Buick V6 was a pile of shit. Stupid odd firing shake & bake garbage. It wasn't the refined 3800 V6 GM built that we've admired for decades. Very little in common.
@@johneckert1365 When GM bought back the v6, they switched to an offset crankshaft that was smoother, but no balance shafts. The turbocharged Buick Grand National and GNX used that block. Adam should review either of those Buicks
@timothykeith1367 He did an episode on the 3800, but only briefly discussed the history of the old 3.8-4.1 For the first couple years after GM buying it back, the 3.8 was still odd-fire. I think it went to even fire with the offset crank in 76 or 77, not sure though
I had a ’75 Pacer and loved how roomy it was inside. the car was a nice highway cruiser and handled great around town. I got it cheap too which was good because I was still a young guy - strange thing is everyone seemed to know that car. When I drove around town, complete strangers would yell, ‘Hi Wayne!”
I knew a man who was a pilot in the Luftwaffe on the Russian front - the plane he flew was the JU-87 , he said the Pacer reminded him of sitting in the cockpit of his Stuka.
There was a Pacer commercial where a buyer was using it as a submarine sandwich delivery vehicle. They showed him making a h-u-g-e sub across the back seat and finishing just as they arrived at the delivery spot. Uber Eats 40 years ahead of time.
My dad and mom had a 1976 pacer in 80-81. My dad had such a hard time replacing the last spark plug, he bought the special tool to do it. He still has the speciality tool he had to buy to get the last one. When I asked him why he still had it he said "I had to pay for that tool for that stupid Pacer, I am going to get my money worth out of it". He uses it any chance he can.
3:28 I still remember my father complaining that the lack of drip rails on his '75 Malibu meant a choice between getting drenched or driving with the windows shut, which made it harder for him to keep the smoke from his cigarettes away from my mother. The Pacer was ahead of its time with these aircraft/limousine style doors, but wasn't it the Ford Tempo which finally solved that problem by integrating drip rails into the door seals? I always thought of the Pacer as more weirdness than true innovation, but it would have been interesting to see the 5 L V8-powered Pacer face up against the 5 L Mustangs and V8 Monzas of the 1978; I'll bet with whatever sport suspension packages were available, it was more competitive than it looked.
Very advanced design and foresight. In many respects AMC was well ahead of the 'big 3' in innovation. Definately a very cool looking car that I always liked.
Shortly after the Fishbowl came out Motor Trend shoehorned a 390 or 401 into one with molded fender flares and the rear quarter glass replaced with fiberglass or sheet metal. All in the school bus yellow a lot were painted in 75. For a while the Pacer front suspension was a favorite swap into fat fendered Steet Rods due to the whole thing being one complete unit.
The father of a friend of mine had a '75 Pacer X. Metallic lime green similar to your recent Ambassador purchase. It had a white interior. It handled really nicely.
I'm really surprised that someone was able to buy one in this great condition for just $10,000 so recently. I learned to drive in a Pacer. It was fun and probably a great choice (under powered) for a new driver. Great work with the video.
Mike Malamut largely buys whatever he wants. Price isn’t a factor although I agree he got a “good deal.”Malamut Collection falls somewhere on the scale after the Petersen, Leno, Lane, Gilmore. Top 10 US car/motorcycle collector.
Random boomer story... Back in '77 when I was in Grade 9 our gym teacher bought one of these new. It was either a robin's egg blue or some kind of pastel light green. Anyway, it's not the kind of colour that I would recall or expend efforts to alot a space in the neural network for. I do however remember him talking about his younger sons not being excited, not even inserted in, a new car coming home. Expressed how back in the day kids would always be excited about a brand new car coming home and these days kids were getting so spoiled. Back then. Anyway, I just told Mr Z., "Hey, it's a Pacer..."
This company was the little engine that could. They had so many innovations. You mentioned a lot. The things that went on to be later used by other companies was interesting. That headrest design latter showed up at Buick on the Roadmaster in the 1990's and on the Chevrolet Impala SS in the 1990's. They had the 4 wheel drive Eagle vehicles and so much more that are used today.
I owned a Pacer wagon, and loved it. Mine had the 258 and had plenty of power, especially compared to my 1972 Duster with the 198. It was also an absolute tank in Maine snow if equipped with good snow-treads. With the rear seat folded down there was plenty of cargo space, and the car was trouble free during the time I owned it. I was never nervous about repairs as my late Father-in-Law was an AMC Master mechanic; I still have his cased gold-plated award micrometer. Love your channel!
I owned the 78 Concord DL wagon which was larger than the Pacer. A lot of the features were the same on both cars. Mine was the same colour and had the reclining front seats. It was a trouble free car and the only issue I had was premature rust on the front fenders. Great highway car!
It is nice to hear Adam complement AM. They sure do deserve it. I drove a brand new '76 Pacer sedan and I thought it was one of the most comfortable cars I'd ever driven. The deep coil seats and very smooth, quiet ride was surprising for a car this small back then. Also, the roomy interior and wonderful visibility was far better than anything else I'd ever experienced, even up to the present time and handling was superb. I was not enamored of the styling, but many people were, at first. The Pacer got a bad rap from the press because it was heavy for a small car due to its unusually wide design (the most expensive to build dimension and therefore rare) and abundant glass. For a car sold on advanced design features and ultra modern styling, this was unacceptable to the press and therefore, eventually, the public. This caused a couple of less MPG than other compacts and due to new smog regulations the 232 1bbl six and the 258 1 and 2 bbl six did not deliver the peppy acceleration they were previously known for, but it was still adequate. These engines, prior to 1974 would have delivered peppy acceleration for the Pacer as they were much more powerful without the stifling emission standards. Even so, these engines did not need the catalytic converters found on virtually all other cars of the time due to their highly efficient design. American Motors produced astonishing quality on a shoestring budget that afforded them little of the image building that the big three enjoyed. The compromises forced on them were so cleverly dealt with that they were able to feature quality gains to the customer on every model. AMCs were always known for a higher than average resale value back then and the best warranty on the market.
I bought a 77 wagon in 1980. It was well equipped and the 6 had enough power but the best gas mileage that I could get was around 20 MPG. The gear shift knob was missing on the car, when I get it, so I bought a file handle from the hardware store and made a handle out of that! I received lots of teasing bout the car but I enjoyed for the 3 years that I owned it.
4:30 It also served the function of glare reduction, especially if brightwork existed outside the window, or a lighter interior trim color was chosen by the customer.
I remember when the first Pacer was introduced during the 1975 model year. I worked in a store and one of my customers bought a bright yellow Pacer X. He was so proud of it and waited for me to get off of work so that he could take me for a ride in it. My mother in law had one and so did my aunt.
Around 1978, I worked at a plant where 2 workers had Pacers. And each had 2. They obviously loved them. Comfortable to ride in as a passenger. I don't know if they all came with A/C, they sure needed it it the hot Kansas summer sun.
@@Al-thecarhistorian Thanks, I remember at some point AMC made A/C standard in the Ambassador. I think they may have been the first American manufacturer to do so. At the time I thought AMC cars were dorky and not in the same class as the big three.My opinion has changed 180 degrees.
@@paleghost AMC began providing AC as standard equipment in the Ambassador in the 1968 model year. I was like you. I am a baby boomer (1948 vintage) and cars were everything to me and my community growing up. My dad drove hot cars. My best friends mom drove a red GTO. I only thought about three things in high school and college: cars, girls and music. Regarding cars. My dad "hated" Ramblers and I followed his beliefs. While teaching in St. Louis, MO during the early seventies, friends drove a 1972 Ambassador wagon. I was IMPRESSED. What a beautifully designed and performing automobile. After that I had 4 AMC cars as collectible or hobby cars into the early 2000s. My favorite was my 1975 Sportabout I acquired in 1990 with 33,000 original miles. The best styled, practical, smooth, useful automobile I've ever owned. I will forever carry the torch for AMC. My dad was so wrong about Ramblers!
When talking about the interior, you forgot to mention the "crotch vent". I had a 1976 Chevy Caprice with one of those on it. This was a great feature. LOL
My cousin bought a Pacer Wagon (I think new) to carry his keyboards…he’s a musician. He doesn’t discuss his Pacer Years much…but I think he should…it was an interesting car!
I always thought the wagon was a pretty good looker. but thought the sedan was what were they thinking. But then again. AMC was notorious. For coming up with clown cars, when they folded Nesson took over.
Probably had reclining seats because Nash had reclining seats way back in 40s. I know that the AMC rebel and Ambassador still had seats that fully reclined in 70.
I was turning 8 years old in 76. the first time I saw a pacer I was mesmerized. we had a gtx and my dad drove and built supermodified race cars. so it confused my family that I was interested in the pacer.
So when the window is rolled up, you just see the back of the door panel on the outside. That also seems weird, in that you don't see through the glass, that there is this blocked off area. The front windshield blackout trim is a brilliant idea, and no downsides to it.
I had a 78 Pacer wagon. I bought it out of someone’s driveway for $50 in 1999. The interesting part was it was a 4 speed. It hadn’t run in years but i got it running and in a month or two it got completely flooded from a hurricane and i had to junk it. Got my $50 back but it was quite a let down
One of the nicer features of our Volare Premier was a 60/40 seat with dual recliners. A driver side recliner was otherwise almost non-existent on a 76 US car. Foreign cars of course had them - my 76 Acord being a case in point.
I always wanted one any trim level would do somebody I worked with had one and a higher trim level with wheels no less and I believe it had a partial white vinyl roof over the passenger compartment if I'm not mistaken it was really well equipped and featured a 4-speed manual
One year at my station wagon club's annual convention, we had a 1978 Pacer wagon in which the owner stuffed a 500 Cadillac V-8 taken from a 1973 Eldorado! As for those door lock buttons, I know Ford began putting them in the armrests of the 1979 LTD, which they said was an anti-theft measure, so maybe AMC was thinking along those lines too.
True story: I knew a couple from Persia at around this time - late '70s. The woman was obsessed with image and insisted her husband go out and buy a Mercedes or BMW on his new doctor salary. The man was the opposite - humble, smart and soft-spoken. Just to spite her he came home with one of these. Haha. Needless to say, she was enraged.
I worked for a car 'ferry' company in Florida decades ago. We took AMC cars from one dealership to another across the state. These cars drove wonderfully on the highway and the A/C worked great. Comfy. I owned a Marlin too. Super fun car.
What years did they make the Marlins? My next door neighbor had one in the mid sixties. I spotted one recently in my neighborhood, medium blue with black on the trunk. So cool.
1982 i bought a 1974 Pacer 50 miles on it , needed nothing , no rust no damage , new tires . Gold paint wood grind package , drove it around for a couple months fun car , had too many cars at the time , paid $6 for it well a bottle of whiskey that is , sold it cheep for $200 lol , wishing i would have it today !
Leave it to Adam to rise above the easy video -and instead to share a POV of a knowledgeable enthusiast. There are many videos that wallow in hating the Pacer, with the announcer typically delivering a smug dress-down. Instead, Adam bypasses all that to discuss the interesting and innovative features. The result: an informative and entertaining video of the type that’s missing from even the largest car channels. The Pacer is not my cup of tea (although it was a gutsy move by AMC) but I like learning about cars in videos like this. Thanks Adam!
Oddly enough, the first Pacer I saw was while on vacation in Puerto Rico. It was a yellow coupe with the wrap-around tail-lights. I was enamored, thinking it to be quite futuristic. Very Jetson's like. I was perhaps 10 years old, and the Jetson's perspective was still fresh on my mind. Certainly an awkward looking top-heavy design. But very cool nonetheless. Different as different can be. In contrast, I never saw any of these in New York City, not even one. I didn't know this car even existed until that trip to Puerto Rico.
For those of us who liked and drove the good-looking AMC offerings of the late 60s and early 70s, these Pacers, as well as the Gremlins, were a sad evolution of the AMC brand. For instance, in 1977 one of my closest friends bought a bulletproof 1970 AMC Rebel government issue four-door which was not only a good-looking car but fun to drive thanks to it being a V8 model.
I always thought the Pacer wagon had better proportions than the coupe. My high school math teacher had a light blue Pacer wagon. A high school friend had a loaded Pacer wagon with fake wood on the sides. I don't remember knowing anyone who had a Pacer coupe. There was a major AMC facility a few miles from my childhood home and there were a lot of AMC cars driving around. I remember Pacers as being routinely seen on the street but not that popular either. And after a few years, they were virtually forgotten.
Reminds me of the saying "what's old is new again"... when Chrysler secretly took the minivan world by storm in 1996 with dual sliding rear doors, Ford was caught flat footed in their production schedule of the Windstar with only a passenger side slider, and needed to get a competitive feature set and on the quick..So what did they do? They took a page from the Pacer and made the driver's side front door larger... didn't really work out that well for them and after a couple of years, brought a proper dual sliding rear door model to market...BTW...I always loved the Pacer!
My high school had these for drivers ed along with Pontiac Grand Prixs, the last full size year. The GPs felt like slugs and I could barely see out over the dash, while the Pacer had excellent visibility and felt much lighter.
I owned and drove a 1975 pacer (that I bought new) for about 25 years. The super visibility in ALL directions was one of the many things that convinced me to buy that car. The Pacer was a bit heavy weight wise but the handling and steering were very stable. By contrast my father had Plymouth Volare and that thing was very unstable and "twitchy". You had to be very careful not to approach its handling limits or it would bite you hard!
These also had an option of shag carpeting on the inside. I also remember seeing some that had heads up displays which had a second set of readouts placed into the dash that were upside down so they could be seen in the reflection on the windshield.
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Even though they were kind of odd looking, I always liked the Pacer!!! 👍👍🙂
We had the original 1975 Pacer with the straight six in Aztec Copper. It was NOT underpowered and was a killer tow vehicle but heavy and got 16 miles per gallon. The styling was 10 years ahead of its time. All other cars were "styled" like cinder blocks.
You never mentioned that the Pacer Wagon could be ordered with faux woodgrain on the outside. I had a friend growing up that his family has a Pacer Wagon with the optional woodgrain exterior. I always thought the car was super kewl and the back seat roominess was outstanding. Theirs was a D/L and had all the options. Being a kid who was heavily into cars, i can remember checking it out while his parents would come pick me up and drive us to different places around town.
I was about to comment the lack of woodgrain on this car. I wonder what the take rate was, it must've been sky high especially compared to most other small-to-midsize wagons. It seems like most of the Pacer wagons without it I see are either '77s or were customized in the '80s and '90s.
The Pacer Wagon does look much nicer with the woodgrain paneling, turbine-style wheels, and the pre-1978 hood. It looked ungainly when they raised the hood and enlarged the grille to fit the V8 engine.
@@vwestlife Although imo the wagon pulled off the raised hood better than the hatchback. Same deal with the square front Pinto, and for that matter the original Mini Clubman.
AMC cars would always start and run. They had some quirky cars and some great looking ones, my favorite being the 68 and 69 AMX. Thanks to Adam for his time and hard work.....
I don't know about that
Jerry Seinfeld had one on comedians in cars getting coffee George Costanza and it wasn't that great of a runner LOL.
Until recently, I never noticed that the dashboard design and overall interior seems quite nice. The dash design certain looks more contemporary than the Spirits and Concord I remember.
I’d love to have one of these.
They are still around.
I love the Pacer. One of my best friends here in Hamburg has a 1977 AMC-Pacer Wagon DL with the cool 'Navajo-Interior'. And I myself had a X-Car until last year like those you've featured in your latest videos. A red 1980 Buick Skylark limited coupe imported from switzerland. This is now followed by a 1968 Ford Galaxie 500 two door hardtop coupe. The Ford-counterpart to your Mercury Park- Lane coupes.
My family had a '78 Pacer wagon w/ the woodgrain sides, it was all optioned out but even then I thought it to be very quirky, still it makes me smile to see one again.
I think my sisters was a 75 or 76. She bought it in the early '90s I remember it was gutless and very nondescript. But it did offer an excellent field of view and was quite utilitarian. Great video on an obscure underappreciated automobile.
John Denver drove one in the movie Oh God, God was George Burns. He made rain inside the Pacer. Very good movie
True!
I considered these attractive at the time, and still do. The larger six cylinder was a 258. The black strip at the bottom of the windshield was commonly used on Ford products starting with Lincoln in 1970, and on some GM products, starting with the F-body in 1970 1/2 and the A-body in 1973. The wrap-over doors without drip prevention were used on the 1973 GM trucks and soon rectified with bolt-on drip rails.
Great car. Especially the ‘ball cooler’ lower air vent under the steering wheel. That should have caught on!
258 I6 was in the CJ7 and it had a lot of torque, great engine.
Closely related to the Jeep 4.0. The 258 crankshaft in the 4.0 makes a stroker for more torque.
I once spent a summer with an Aunt and Uncle in '75 or so, said Uncle owned an AMC/Datsun dealership on the island of Kauai. He picked me up at the airport in a brand new yellow Pacer, I laughed so hard at the car to the point where my Uncle grew upset and drove off. So I call my Aunt to ask her to please pick me up, she in turn drove a pink Pacer...wisely I got into the mobile fishtank, lol.
The most practical version of this quirky-cool car.
I've always loved the Pacer. Those body color wheel covers later appeared on the Concorde which you've covered in the past...
401 fits in effortlessly
Yes it does! I did one in the 80's for a friend who said it could not be done...took that 100 dollar bet to the bank! 🤑
All the AMC V-8 were dimensionally the same on the outside. Not sure why people don't understand that? Lol
A great future of a wonderfully unique car. I always appreciated the weirdness and cleverness of these, which were reasonably popular here in Northern California at the time. And this is a nice example!
I think the unconventional door lock location is due to the upper door necessarily reshaped to protect a lowered window glass that was too tall to roll completely into the door cavity. As seen in the video, the door panel rises to a level slightly above the window glass, and that left no room for the door lock. So they used their standard off-the-shelf lock plunger and moved it down and near the handle.
Another interesting Pacer "door fact" is that the left door is longer than the right door!
Left and right sides of a car are determined from the driver's view, not looking at the car from the front. Right door is longer, as the creator said. Javelins and AMXs had the door locks in the armrests, since 1968, and earlier AMC cars had doors that locked by pushing down on the door handles, pulling up opened the door.
@@ramblerdave1339 Ooops!
Duh! Can't tell my left from my right.
Tip #1 for new Pacer owners. unless you have the whole weekend, don't try to change the valve-cover gasket yourself. I've done at least a dozen for collectors and club members because a lot of shops refuse to do them or the labor cost will kill the wallet. 🙄
Good advice.
I agree. Some things are best left to people with experience & some shortcut tricks up their sleeves. I'm a heavy truck mechanic by trade with 25 years experience, but fix alot of friends classics on the side in my free time because modern shops are full of wannabe mechanics that fancy themselves "technicians". I'm convinced if they can't "plug" into it, they can't fix it period. I think alot of younger mechanics are actually afraid to work on classics in case something goes wrong. Finding a shop that specializes in classic cars is very hard to begin with, and when you find a good one, they will charge more than the average shop for their knowledge.
Drop off the nearest wrecking yard .
Brian; I can't really understand your comment. Replacing the valve cover gasket on a Pacer is actually a pretty simple job! I owned and drove a 1975 Pacer that I purchase new for about 25 years (until the rust got it) and had to replace the cheapo cork valve cover gasket several times. I did this job myself and it would take me about an hour to do it. The only problem is removing the valve cover from the engine because the cowl prevents you from lifting it straight up. The solution is simple... After you remove the stuff in the way (air cleaner, fuel line, etc) and unscrew the valve cover bolts (the rear-most one is a pain) you then turn on the ignition and turn on the windshield wipers. When the wipers are about 1/3 of the way up the window you turn off the ignition stopping the wipers in place. This raises the wiper linkage where it passes over the top of the engine and brings a "kick-up" in the wiper linkage into position over the valve cover. You can then lift the valve cover up enough to rotate it on its long axis over to the right (spark plug side) side of the engine. You kind of roll it over the top of the engine. Once the cover has dropped down a bit beside the engine you can pull it forward until it clears the cowl and out she comes.
I will admit that the first time I did the job it took me a little longer because I spent 15 minutes figuring out the trick of positioning the wipers in a certain spot. By the way, I am not a mechanic but after having professional mechanics botch work on my vehicles several times I taught myself how to do car mechanical work up to and including engine rebuilds. Saves some money but more important, I know the job is done correctly. As an added bonus, not having to deal with mechanics keeps my blood pressure down!
I have a good friend whose family have been long-time U of Washington football season ticket holders. He had a 76 Pacer painted to resemble a U of W football helmet. Gold paint, white grill resembling a face mask, big purple "W" on the side. Rode with him to a few games from Olympia to Seattle. That car ALWAYS got a huge reaction from other drivers on I-5.
I really liked the Pacer, especially the wagon. I came close to buying a loaded Limited model at the end of the 1979 closeout selling season. I marveled at how it drove. It had all the bells and whistles but you got to row your own gears with the 4-speed floor mounted stick. The deal was never made, however. The sticker price was more than I could afford and the local AMC dealer wasn't in the mood to bargain.
I love seeing Pacers, Gremlins, Chevettes and Pintos today. They're an inglorious part of our automotive past that remind us where we came from.
From junky shit boxes?
Thanks for sharing Adam. Back in the very early 80s, my dad looked at a ‘77 model in the same color. I think the wagon looked fairly handsome, especially compared to the fishbowl-shaped coupe model. Sadly my dad couldn’t make a deal on it and wound up getting a Pinto wagon.
As someone who also owns a Pinto wagon, I wish him the best of luck with it. I have been unable to find hardly any parts for it, including engine parts, body parts, glass, and interior parts. Nearly 20 years ago I replaced the engine with a rebuilt one. They are no longer available. A broken windshield would total the car. Even salvage yards don't keep Pintos or Pinto parts because there is no market for them. There are likely only a few thousand Pintos still in existence in the U.S.
@@geraldscott4302 the Pinto has been gone many years now, I believe my dad sold/junked it around ‘89. It was actually a decent and reliable car but 10-plus years of Northeast winters took its toll and severe rust led to its demise. I believe corrosion, as well as a very limited collectors market probably resulted in so few survivors today. I wish you good luck with yours.
@@johnh2514 I live near Phoenix, AZ, so no rust. But things do break and wear out, and accidents happen, and sadly the Pinto is not really repairable. I have had offers to buy it from drag racers who want to build a race car out of it, basically just using the body, putting it on a tube chassis, gutting the interior, installing a roll cage, and putting a V8 under the hood.
The Volvo P 1800 ES pioneered that hatchback design. It had a giant all glass tail gate, so extraordinary, it's nick named "Snow White's coffin". In the mid 80s, there was a retro model, the Volvo 480, which looks quite similar as the car presented in the video. In the 2000s another retro model was introduced, the C30.
The Saint had a Volvo P 1800.
Mazda’s apex seals were metal for the rotary. Im surprised General Motors tried them with rubber as the material. You would think they couldn’t even get those rubber apex seals 3 miles down the road!
Mazda will use the rotary in an upcoming plugin hybrid. I think the apex seals are more durable when the rotary engine is operated at a constant speed, one of the goals of the hybrid. I'm not sure of all the reasons Mazda thinks the rotary needs another chance.
There was an online auction last summer (August 2022) in Scandinavia WI. This guy was an AMC & IH Scout fan. There was 9 Pacers there, including a wagon just like this. 304, brown, very clean 👌. Obviously there were AMC nuts bidding because I couldn't aquire any of the Pacers, not even the rusty ones. I ran that guy WAY up on every single one though! There was also a Javalin & a Gremlin.
I did buy lots of parts, mostly engines and transmissions. Several 232, 258, 304, and 360. There was one 401 but it went too high. One of the Pacers was the guys hot rod project, it also had a 401. VERY COOL place, I will remember it the rest of my life :)
Still upset that I couldn't buy a Pacer though.
Interesting, especially with a V8. I tried to buy an immaculate one once but the guy wanted to use it for demo derby. He will be going to Car Collector Hell one day.
Those Pacers were TOUGH AS NAILS in demo derbies! Some derby organizations even banned them, just like Imperials.
A while ago, I read a very fascinating article about the Pacer for the British market and the serious issue it faced there. A small batch of British-bound Pacer was converted to right-hand-drive using the half-shaft technique (bicycle chain connecting the lower part on the left and the upper part on the right). Unsurprisingly, the longer door length worked against the British drivers. Despite the shorter length, its broad width made the awkward navigation through the narrow streets and parking space in the 1970s.
I bought a used 1978 woodgrain Pacer V8 wagon as a delivery vehicle. That greenhouse was torture driving across the desert after the A/C died! It had a 304 (5.0 L) engine with a Motorcraft 2-barrel carb. I found a better Holley 500 cfm 2-bbl carb that fit just fine. Surprised a lot of Foxstang Boi's when they couldn't even get past my Pacer wagoon! I tried but couldn't manage to kill the 304 because I would have happily swapped in an AMC 360 or 401 engine instead (similar block dimensions). Spark plugs #6 & #8 looked brutal to reach till I noticed them peeking at me thru the right front wheel well...
It's admirable that AMC was able to create jobs for blind engineers.
Lol
Dick Teaque was a genius. He made prototypes that blew away Ferrari. AMC just did'nt have the money to make them.
The Pacer was, and still is, way cool. Always wanted one when they came out, but I was unfortunately too young to yet drive.
I always liked the Pacer. Thanks for the video.
Surprisingly luxurious looking interior!
These were cute cars, especially with the plateaued hood and the wagon body style.
A friend in highschool drove a root beer brown 77. so it had the sloping hood. Extremely comfortable car for 4 people but it's a shame EFI and the later AMC cylinder head design wasn't available in the mid 70s.
Very cool! Looks to my like a Pinto sourced rack and pinion was used. Definitely leaps and bounds ahead of the worm gear sectors of most American cars of the day.
AMC had sold the "Buick" V6 back to GM a couple years before Pacer was released. The shorter V6 might have worked better in the Pacer, but the AMC version was only 225 cubic inches, the Buick version only 231.
If they only knew what they had.
Back then that Buick V6 was a pile of shit. Stupid odd firing shake & bake garbage.
It wasn't the refined 3800 V6 GM built that we've admired for decades. Very little in common.
@@johneckert1365 When GM bought back the v6, they switched to an offset crankshaft that was smoother, but no balance shafts. The turbocharged Buick Grand National and GNX used that block. Adam should review either of those Buicks
@timothykeith1367 He did an episode on the 3800, but only briefly discussed the history of the old 3.8-4.1
For the first couple years after GM buying it back, the 3.8 was still odd-fire. I think it went to even fire with the offset crank in 76 or 77, not sure though
I had a ’75 Pacer and loved how roomy it was inside.
the car was a nice highway cruiser and handled great around town.
I got it cheap too which was good because I was still a young guy - strange thing is everyone seemed to know that car.
When I drove around town, complete strangers would yell, ‘Hi Wayne!”
It was kind of neat, it got people thinking about visibility, glass area, etc.
I knew a man who was a pilot in the Luftwaffe on the Russian front - the plane he flew was the JU-87 , he said the Pacer reminded him of sitting in the cockpit of his Stuka.
Think of how many huge submarine sandwiches you could fit in this!
Awesome commercial! 🤣🤣🤣
There was a Pacer commercial where a buyer was using it as a submarine sandwich delivery vehicle. They showed him making a h-u-g-e sub across the back seat and finishing just as they arrived at the delivery spot. Uber Eats 40 years ahead of time.
My dad and mom had a 1976 pacer in 80-81. My dad had such a hard time replacing the last spark plug, he bought the special tool to do it. He still has the speciality tool he had to buy to get the last one. When I asked him why he still had it he said "I had to pay for that tool for that stupid Pacer, I am going to get my money worth out of it". He uses it any chance he can.
3:28 I still remember my father complaining that the lack of drip rails on his '75 Malibu meant a choice between getting drenched or driving with the windows shut, which made it harder for him to keep the smoke from his cigarettes away from my mother. The Pacer was ahead of its time with these aircraft/limousine style doors, but wasn't it the Ford Tempo which finally solved that problem by integrating drip rails into the door seals? I always thought of the Pacer as more weirdness than true innovation, but it would have been interesting to see the 5 L V8-powered Pacer face up against the 5 L Mustangs and V8 Monzas of the 1978; I'll bet with whatever sport suspension packages were available, it was more competitive than it looked.
Very advanced design and foresight. In many respects AMC was well ahead of the 'big 3' in innovation. Definately a very cool looking car that I always liked.
Adam, As is often the case, the wagon version greatly improved the lines of the car. 🤩
Shortly after the Fishbowl came out Motor Trend shoehorned a 390 or 401 into one with molded fender flares and the rear quarter glass replaced with fiberglass or sheet metal. All in the school bus yellow a lot were painted in 75. For a while the Pacer front suspension was a favorite swap into fat fendered Steet Rods due to the whole thing being one complete unit.
Car and Driver referred to it as the "flying fishbowl ".
I remember our 1960 Rambler wagon, it had reclining front seats. Us kids used to "camp out" in it in the driveway
The father of a friend of mine had a '75 Pacer X. Metallic lime green similar to your recent Ambassador purchase. It had a white interior. It handled really nicely.
I'm really surprised that someone was able to buy one in this great condition for just $10,000 so recently. I learned to drive in a Pacer. It was fun and probably a great choice (under powered) for a new driver. Great work with the video.
Still plenty around. And way cheaper than 10.
@@captainamericaamerica8090 That's good to hear. Thanks.
Mike Malamut largely buys whatever he wants. Price isn’t a factor although I agree he got a “good deal.”Malamut Collection falls somewhere on the scale after the Petersen, Leno, Lane, Gilmore. Top 10 US car/motorcycle collector.
i thought john denver drove one in oh god movie.
He did and God made it rain inside the Pacer
Random boomer story... Back in '77 when I was in Grade 9 our gym teacher bought one of these new. It was either a robin's egg blue or some kind of pastel light green. Anyway, it's not the kind of colour that I would recall or expend efforts to alot a space in the neural network for. I do however remember him talking about his younger sons not being excited, not even inserted in, a new car coming home. Expressed how back in the day kids would always be excited about a brand new car coming home and these days kids were getting so spoiled. Back then. Anyway, I just told Mr Z., "Hey, it's a Pacer..."
This company was the little engine that could. They had so many innovations. You mentioned a lot. The things that went on to be later used by other companies was interesting. That headrest design latter showed up at Buick on the Roadmaster in the 1990's and on the Chevrolet Impala SS in the 1990's. They had the 4 wheel drive Eagle vehicles and so much more that are used today.
I owned a Pacer wagon, and loved it. Mine had the 258 and had plenty of power, especially compared to my 1972 Duster with the 198. It was also an absolute tank in Maine snow if equipped with good snow-treads. With the rear seat folded down there was plenty of cargo space, and the car was trouble free during the time I owned it. I was never nervous about repairs as my late Father-in-Law was an AMC Master mechanic; I still have his cased gold-plated award micrometer. Love your channel!
I owned the 78 Concord DL wagon which was larger than the Pacer. A lot of the features were the same on both cars. Mine was the same colour and had the reclining front seats. It was a trouble free car and the only issue I had was premature rust on the front fenders. Great highway car!
Always like the Pacer. The red interior of this wagon is really nice.
One of my earliest childhood memories was in '76 when my dad put his name and my name in for a drawing for a free Pacer.
It is nice to hear Adam complement AM. They sure do deserve it.
I drove a brand new '76 Pacer sedan and I thought it was one of the most comfortable cars I'd ever driven. The deep coil seats and very smooth, quiet ride was surprising for a car this small back then. Also, the roomy interior and wonderful visibility was far better than anything else I'd ever experienced, even up to the present time and handling was superb. I was not enamored of the styling, but many people were, at first.
The Pacer got a bad rap from the press because it was heavy for a small car due to its unusually wide design (the most expensive to build dimension and therefore rare) and abundant glass. For a car sold on advanced design features and ultra modern styling, this was unacceptable to the press and therefore, eventually, the public. This caused a couple of less MPG than other compacts and due to new smog regulations the 232 1bbl six and the 258 1 and 2 bbl six did not deliver the peppy acceleration they were previously known for, but it was still adequate.
These engines, prior to 1974 would have delivered peppy acceleration for the Pacer as they were much more powerful without the stifling emission standards. Even so, these engines did not need the catalytic converters found on virtually all other cars of the time due to their highly efficient design.
American Motors produced astonishing quality on a shoestring budget that afforded them little of the image building that the big three enjoyed. The compromises forced on them were so cleverly dealt with that they were able to feature quality gains to the customer on every model. AMCs were always known for a higher than average resale value back then and the best warranty on the market.
I bought a 77 wagon in 1980. It was well equipped and the 6 had enough power but the best gas mileage that I could get was around 20 MPG. The gear shift knob was missing on the car, when I get it, so I bought a file handle from the hardware store and made a handle out of that! I received lots of teasing bout the car but I enjoyed for the 3 years that I owned it.
4:30 It also served the function of glare reduction, especially if brightwork existed outside the window, or a lighter interior trim color was chosen by the customer.
First car
Hand me down 75 PacerX in dark red too
Memories
Had a customer years ago that had one with the 304 in it. Would love to have it now.
You could get a Pacer with a V8? I didn't know that.
Yes. In the later years.
I remember when the first Pacer was introduced during the 1975 model year. I worked in a store and one of my customers bought a bright yellow Pacer X. He was so proud of it and waited for me to get off of work so that he could take me for a ride in it. My mother in law had one and so did my aunt.
Around 1978, I worked at a plant where 2 workers had Pacers. And each had 2. They obviously loved them. Comfortable to ride in as a passenger. I don't know if they all came with A/C, they sure needed it it the hot Kansas summer sun.
AC was optional.
@@Al-thecarhistorian Thanks, I remember at some point AMC made A/C standard in the Ambassador. I think they may have been the first American manufacturer to do so. At the time I thought AMC cars were dorky and not in the same class as the big three.My opinion has changed 180 degrees.
@@paleghost AMC began providing AC as standard equipment in the Ambassador in the 1968 model year.
I was like you. I am a baby boomer (1948 vintage) and cars were everything to me and my community growing up. My dad drove hot cars. My best friends mom drove a red GTO.
I only thought about three things in high school and college: cars, girls and music. Regarding cars. My dad "hated" Ramblers and I followed his beliefs.
While teaching in St. Louis, MO during the early seventies, friends drove a 1972 Ambassador wagon. I was IMPRESSED. What a beautifully designed and performing automobile.
After that I had 4 AMC cars as collectible or hobby cars into the early 2000s. My favorite was my 1975 Sportabout I acquired in 1990 with 33,000 original miles. The best styled, practical, smooth, useful automobile I've ever owned.
I will forever carry the torch for AMC. My dad was so wrong about Ramblers!
When talking about the interior, you forgot to mention the "crotch vent". I had a 1976 Chevy Caprice with one of those on it. This was a great feature. LOL
My cousin bought a Pacer Wagon (I think new) to carry his keyboards…he’s a musician.
He doesn’t discuss his Pacer Years much…but I think he should…it was an interesting car!
I always thought the wagon was a pretty good looker. but thought the sedan was what were they thinking. But then again. AMC was notorious. For coming up with clown cars, when they folded Nesson took over.
Probably had reclining seats because Nash had reclining seats way back in 40s. I know that the AMC rebel and Ambassador still had seats that fully reclined in 70.
When the Pacer Wagon came out I fell in love with them. It really got my attention.
I was turning 8 years old in 76. the first time I saw a pacer I was mesmerized. we had a gtx and my dad drove and built supermodified race cars. so it confused my family that I was interested in the pacer.
Super cool indeed! I'd love to have it.
In the 70s we called them a birth control device. They aged better than anyone thought.
That was pretty clever how AMC raised the inner door panels to hide the fact they couldn’t get the windows all the way down.
So when the window is rolled up, you just see the back of the door panel on the outside. That also seems weird, in that you don't see through the glass, that there is this blocked off area. The front windshield blackout trim is a brilliant idea, and no downsides to it.
It was also to protect the window when rolled down. People would put their elbows there, pull the door shut which could break the glass.
I had a 78 Pacer wagon. I bought it out of someone’s driveway for $50 in 1999. The interesting part was it was a 4 speed. It hadn’t run in years but i got it running and in a month or two it got completely flooded from a hurricane and i had to junk it. Got my $50 back but it was quite a let down
One of the nicer features of our Volare Premier was a 60/40 seat with dual recliners. A driver side recliner was otherwise almost non-existent on a 76 US car. Foreign cars of course had them - my 76 Acord being a case in point.
I always wanted one any trim level would do somebody I worked with had one and a higher trim level with wheels no less and I believe it had a partial white vinyl roof over the passenger compartment if I'm not mistaken it was really well equipped and featured a 4-speed manual
The title suggests the pacer is "homely" however, compared to just about every modern car on the road nowadays, this car is way better looking lol!
One year at my station wagon club's annual convention, we had a 1978 Pacer wagon in which the owner stuffed a 500 Cadillac V-8 taken from a 1973 Eldorado! As for those door lock buttons, I know Ford began putting them in the armrests of the 1979 LTD, which they said was an anti-theft measure, so maybe AMC was thinking along those lines too.
True story: I knew a couple from Persia at around this time - late '70s. The woman was obsessed with image and insisted her husband go out and buy a Mercedes or BMW on his new doctor salary. The man was the opposite - humble, smart and soft-spoken. Just to spite her he came home with one of these. Haha. Needless to say, she was enraged.
Thank you for sharing
I worked for a car 'ferry' company in Florida decades ago. We took AMC cars from one dealership to another across the state. These cars drove wonderfully on the highway and the A/C worked great. Comfy. I owned a Marlin too. Super fun car.
What years did they make the Marlins? My next door neighbor had one in the mid sixties. I spotted one recently in my neighborhood, medium blue with black on the trunk. So cool.
6:28 The knobs for the radio and the lighter look like they were lifted straight out of a 70's Chev 1/2 ton pickup.
Fascinating! So many unusual, little-known features. Great job, Adam!
1982 i bought a 1974 Pacer 50 miles on it , needed nothing , no rust no damage , new tires . Gold paint wood grind package , drove it around for a couple months fun car , had too many cars at the time , paid $6 for it well a bottle of whiskey that is , sold it cheep for $200 lol , wishing i would have it today !
My mistake it was a 1979 , not a 74 , today it would be worth lot more than a jug of whiskey lol
The AMC story has always been interesting to me.
Our highs school drivers ed class used a Pacer. I thought it was cool and it was great to learn in a car with such great visibility.
much more important than visibility of not-fully-lowered window glass is, having a comfortable edge for your elbow when driving with open windows.
Leave it to Adam to rise above the easy video -and instead to share a POV of a knowledgeable enthusiast. There are many videos that wallow in hating the Pacer, with the announcer typically delivering a smug dress-down. Instead, Adam bypasses all that to discuss the interesting and innovative features. The result: an informative and entertaining video of the type that’s missing from even the largest car channels.
The Pacer is not my cup of tea (although it was a gutsy move by AMC) but I like learning about cars in videos like this. Thanks Adam!
Thx!
Oddly enough, the first Pacer I saw was while on vacation in Puerto Rico. It was a yellow coupe with the wrap-around tail-lights. I was enamored, thinking it to be quite futuristic. Very Jetson's like. I was perhaps 10 years old, and the Jetson's perspective was still fresh on my mind. Certainly an awkward looking top-heavy design. But very cool nonetheless. Different as different can be. In contrast, I never saw any of these in New York City, not even one. I didn't know this car even existed until that trip to Puerto Rico.
I am what is commonly known in some circles as first.
I had a 74 Gremlin, but it had a 258 ci, not a 252.
It was a really good engine in my Gremlin, I loved that car!
The turning radius was awesome!
I'm pretty sure he meant to say "258"
Wayne's World! John Denver also drove a Pacer in the original Oh God! movie with George Burns.
For those of us who liked and drove the good-looking AMC offerings of the late 60s and early 70s, these Pacers, as well as the Gremlins, were a sad evolution of the AMC brand. For instance, in 1977 one of my closest friends bought a bulletproof 1970 AMC Rebel government issue four-door which was not only a good-looking car but fun to drive thanks to it being a V8 model.
Great piece.
Great review
I always thought the Pacer wagon had better proportions than the coupe. My high school math teacher had a light blue Pacer wagon. A high school friend had a loaded Pacer wagon with fake wood on the sides. I don't remember knowing anyone who had a Pacer coupe. There was a major AMC facility a few miles from my childhood home and there were a lot of AMC cars driving around. I remember Pacers as being routinely seen on the street but not that popular either. And after a few years, they were virtually forgotten.
Lots of glass in these cars provided very good visibility.
Reminds me of the saying "what's old is new again"... when Chrysler secretly took the minivan world by storm in 1996 with dual sliding rear doors, Ford was caught flat footed in their production schedule of the Windstar with only a passenger side slider, and needed to get a competitive feature set and on the quick..So what did they do? They took a page from the Pacer and made the driver's side front door larger... didn't really work out that well for them and after a couple of years, brought a proper dual sliding rear door model to market...BTW...I always loved the Pacer!
My high school had these for drivers ed along with Pontiac Grand Prixs, the last full size year. The GPs felt like slugs and I could barely see out over the dash, while the Pacer had excellent visibility and felt much lighter.
I owned and drove a 1975 pacer (that I bought new) for about 25 years. The super visibility in ALL directions was one of the many things that convinced me to buy that car. The Pacer was a bit heavy weight wise but the handling and steering were very stable. By contrast my father had Plymouth Volare and that thing was very unstable and "twitchy". You had to be very careful not to approach its handling limits or it would bite you hard!
These also had an option of shag carpeting on the inside. I also remember seeing some that had heads up displays which had a second set of readouts placed into the dash that were upside down so they could be seen in the reflection on the windshield.