zipdang Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 Saw this while having a sandwich at the local Wendy's just north of Delaware, Ohio. I'd guess this wasn't heading for restoration but one can hope... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plymouthcranbrook Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 I would agree that the odds were not high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_S_in_Penna Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 There are a good number of Pacers still around.I doubt that anyone would cry. That car wasat best a parts car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1937hd45 Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 (edited) I could see that on a JEEP chassis, build a rock crawler with roll up windows. Bob Edited March 14, 2016 by 1937hd45 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScarredKnightfan Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Hopefully it is & will give parts to Pacers still on the road! Cort > www.oldcarsstronghearts.compigValve.paceMaker.cowValve | 79 CC to 1995 Mercury Grand Marquis?!"Time will heal the pain" __ Exile __ 'Even Now' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 There are people who love Pacers? Surely you jest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 The only time I cried about a Pacer was when I had to ride with a friend in one back in the 80s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Our local service station mechanic/pump jocky drove a Pacer. He was born with abnormally short arms. Normal in function and appearance, just short. The sight of him driving that Pacer was a bit comical. Like the Pacer he was almost as wide as he was tall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlCapone Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Anyone that loves Pacers deserves to cry ( lol )! Wayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emjay Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 I a bit disappointed that this forum only looks skin deep. The beauty of a Pacer was its novel approach to packaging. Nobody ever considered departing from the norm of smaller cars being narrower than the bigger cars. So AMC considered why not make a smaller economic car as roomy as a big car. Their execution was poor but the idea has merit. I'm sure they choose to make it look different to highlight its different approach. Naturally, their job is to sell cars and they made some bad decisions, but you need to acknowledge that they at least tried to make it by being different, which was important at the time for AMC. No, I don't see myself ever owning one, but as I said I respect the effort. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 As a designer, if someone assigned you the task of creating a car that would land on everyone's top 10 ugliest of all time list you would come up with the Pacer. Now, I actually like the Gremlin and would certainly take a 401 Randell Gremlin in my garage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
factoryben Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 My wife had a 76 Pacer years ago when I was dating her (we have been married for over 25 years). To say it had problems was an understatement. It did bring us closer, however, because she called me almost twice a day to come "rescue" her when the Pacer's linkage got hung up. I finally showed her how to crawl under the car and manipulate the shifter rods to get it to operate. Even gave her an old blanket to use. Now wasn't I a knight in shining armor? She still did not think it was lady like. When the driver's window fell out and broke as she closed the door or was it when the door handles broke off causing to exit through the hatch or maybe when the headgasket started leaking so badly she had fill the radiator with a jug of ditch water (yes it was me that told her to do that when she asked me what to do if it overheated in the "country", anyway, she decided to sell it. 6 year old car with 36,000 miles on it and no one would give her anything for it. Scrapped it for $300. I guess I could say that 76 Pacer lead me to a vow. Kinda. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlCapone Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 My wife had a 76 Pacer years ago when I was dating her (we have been married for over 25 years). To say it had problems was an understatement. It did bring us closer, however, because she called me almost twice a day to come "rescue" her when the Pacer's linkage got hung up. I finally showed her how to crawl under the car and manipulate the shifter rods to get it to operate. Even gave her an old blanket to use. Now wasn't I a knight in shining armor? She still did not think it was lady like. When the driver's window fell out and broke as she closed the door or was it when the door handles broke off causing to exit through the hatch or maybe when the headgasket started leaking so badly she had fill the radiator with a jug of ditch water (yes it was me that told her to do that when she asked me what to do if it overheated in the "country", anyway, she decided to sell it. 6 year old car with 36,000 miles on it and no one would give her anything for it. Scrapped it for $300. I guess I could say that 76 Pacer lead me to a vow. Kinda.I am surprised you would marry someone with such bad taste ! Ugh. Wayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithbrother Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Hey, what your mouth/posts,,,,,,,(RIDES BY TROY) is building a custom one as I post, YOU will LOVE IT. Dale in Indy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlCapone Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Hey, what your mouth/posts,,,,,,,(RIDES BY TROY) is building a custom one as I post, YOU will LOVE IT. Dale in IndyThen I am surprised someone would marry you unless they belong to the White Cane society! Wayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Gregory Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 I worked at the Brampton , Canada AMC plant in 1972 and 1973 . There was so much overtime building Gremlins and Hornets . I was working a standard 48 hours a week and as much overtime as I wanted . All for $4.76 per hour plus overtime .Once they changed to the Pacer my friends told me things changed at the plant . Things slowed down . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GT52 Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 (edited) ...The beauty of a Pacer was its novel approach to packaging. Nobody ever considered departing from the norm of smaller cars being narrower than the bigger cars...Perhaps that's because adding "width" instead of "length" to a car disproportionately affects both aerodynamics and weight in a negative way? Chrysler figured out in the 60s that people would forgive you for just copying GM packaging and styling a year or two late, and did very well. Sadly, AMC never figured that out, "creatively" building cars that nobody wanted. Edited March 15, 2016 by GT52 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipdang Posted March 15, 2016 Author Share Posted March 15, 2016 There are truly lovers for every make! As you might guess, this friend of mine has a pristine Pacer (wagon no less) and he gets way more conversation at shows then the guys with '57 Chevrolets, GTOs, and the like. I guess "unusual" gets the attention! Oh, and Pacers aren't the only cars in his stable for those worried about his sanity! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Bollman Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 I like all cars including the Pacer. Not saying I would like to own all, but a Pacer, especially a wagon would be on my short list if space and money allowed more cars than I really need. It is a shame there are so many people quick to bad mouth cars that try to be something different. I know first hand since my first love are Crosleys and they make a lot of lists to. But like someone mentioned about Pacers, the cars that are a bit different tend to draw more attention at shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bamford Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 While not widely loved, the Pacer definitely followed the beat of a different drummer... Photo below is an original, low-mileage 1976 owned by a local collector, who points out that this car is 1/2" wider than a '76 Cadillac, and that the Pacer's right door is 3" longer than the left — this was an adaptation aimed at the commuter market (making it easier for car-poolers to climb into the back seat). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 I agree that at a run of the mill cruise night a nice Pacer will probably garner a lot of attention since it is different I think most of the negative comments are a reflection of the original picture which showed a car long past saving. So Yes, any low mileage pristine anything is worth preserving including a Pacer (just not by me). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_S_in_Penna Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 (edited) Photo below is an original, low-mileage 1976 owned by a local collector, who points out that this car is 1/2" wider than a '76 Cadillac... Chris, I'd have to see the printed dimensions to believethat the Pacer is wider than a 1976 Cadillac. Most full-sizecars were 79.9" or 80" wide in those days. I like seeing unusual cars; but I'm very hesitant to own anythat were not reliable. If they were unreliable when they were onlya few years old, wouldn't they be even more unreliable after 30 or 40 years? Edited March 16, 2016 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E45E Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 The wagon is far better proportioned than the hatchback. The nicest Pacer one could ask for would be a 1979 'Limited' model with the V8, complete with the leather interior package. With the demise of the Matador at the end of 1978, Pacer became AMC's flagship car which was available with all the luxury appointments, including power windows, locks, etc. And the inside door panels finally got away from being nasty hard vacuum formed plastic to nicely padded and carpeted panels with a neat built in grab handle integrated into the top armrest. As for width, I believe it was 77" inside dimensions. Anyone else remember the TV commercial with they were making a 6' wide sub, end to end in it? Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_S_in_Penna Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 ...As for width, I believe it was 77" inside dimensions.... If any dimension was 77 inches, it would have been the exterior width. It could not have been the interior,as even the biggest cars had shoulder room in the 60-inch range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capngrog Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 For some odd reason, I've always liked the looks of the Pacer, particularly the Pacer Wagon. I rented a Pacer once, and was very disappointed with its overall handling, but I still liked the looks. By the way, I never rented a Pacer again. A couple of years ago, I thought about buying a Pacer Wagon and fitting it to a 1989 Corvette frame that I have; but further consideration of the time, money and energy required to make such beast caused me to default to my usual position of "taking it easy". The Pacer, at an overall outside width of 77.3 inches was wider than the 1977 Cadillac Sedan De Ville (76.4 inches), but narrower than the 1977 El Dorado (79.8 inches). The interior of the pacer was 56 inches wide at the front door armrests and 48 inches wide at the rear seat. I still like the looks of the Pacer, but I'm not in the market to buy one. I love my Crosleys, some of which have a face only a mother could love, and I drive my Crosley Wagon frequently. The Crosley gets more comments (mostly positive) at the Local Pub and Local Cruise-Ins than any of my other cars. I don't like the looks of the Edsel or Tucker, but that's just me. Cheers,Grog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
factoryben Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 I must defend my wife's choice of the Pacer. Her former boyfriend advised her to buy it and she trusted him. I can't blame a woman for listening to a man's opinions on cars. Needless to say his opinion was, shall we say,a disaster for her. She made a much better choice when she dated and later married me. She now has a Corvette (1954), Buick convertibles (1959 LeSabre and 1984 Riviera), Chevy convertibles (1946, 1954, 1960, 1962, 1968, 1970, 1971 and 1973), several Oldsmobiles and a bevy of Cadillacs BUT NO AMC stuff. She wants a 2002 Thunderbird though and I can't quite understand that. Oh Well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipdang Posted March 18, 2016 Author Share Posted March 18, 2016 I love 'em just for their oddity. But I must admit, it has the most uncomfortable "window sill" for resting your arm with the window all the way down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_S_in_Penna Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 (edited) A couple in our region have a Pacer.Its license plate is an abbreviation of "FISHBOWL."An they have a school of stuffed-animal fishhanging from the ceiling in the rear compartment. Yes, car fans have good humor! Edited March 18, 2016 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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