"The Unfortunate History of the AMC Pacer"

[laser wheels]

Found this on Youtube and thought it was quite interesting.

 

[YT]

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[PiperCub]

With the very best will in the world - that's so ugly it gives the Nissan Juke (other goppingly awful looking new cars are available) a run for it's money. 

[Tamworthbay]

But they are so ugly they become strangely desirable.........

[Uncle Jimmy]

The Pacer was no worse and better than many of the turds about at the time. Much love for AMC here.

[fordperv]

Is it bad that I like them? I think they are lovely

[junkyarddog]

I like them.

 

Wouldn't want one though.

[PiperCub]

But they are so ugly they become strangely desirable.........

 

I know what you mean - makes you want one just to annoy people with!

 

 

Doesn't one variant of them have a really inappropriate big-ass motor in it? (Think I saw it on 'Fast & Loud'?).

[Uncle Jimmy]

I like the folks who own em too. The good side of Murica.

[Urko]

With the very best will in the world - that's so ugly it gives the Nissan Juke (other goppingly awful looking new cars are available) a run for it's money.

 

No way is it the same league for ugliness as the "Mini" Countryman and the Porsche Cayenne.

[Urko]

I know what you mean - makes you want one just to annoy people with!

 

 

Doesn't one variant of them have a really inappropriate big-ass motor in it? (Think I saw it on 'Fast & Loud'?).

They're all big-ass by our standards. The 3.8 six was the smallest (anorak fact - this engine was further developed into the 4 litre used in Jeeps until 2006). They could be had with a 5 litre V8, and it wouldn't be hard to drop an AMC 401 (6.5) in (I think some have done this in the US).

 

Of course, it was supposed to have a rotary engine.....

[dollywobbler]

Enjoyed that. Thanks for posting.

[laser wheels]

I've always loved them. They have that certain je ne sais quoi, as did so many of AMCs offerings. Which I suppose is kind of ironic, really, considering who they would eventually jump into le sac with.

[wuvvum]

The five-litre was only about 130 brake though iirc.  The 4.2 slant 6 was about 90.

[chaseracer]

Er... party on.

 

[tooSavvy]

...... Looks like I'm gunna have a lonnnnnng beard b4 there's a reflective consideration of 'crackpot/left field' SAVVY huggers

 

I will NOT wear a 'pit crew' limegreen Tshirt though...

 

 

TS

[Richard]

That was really well made, exactly how a documentary should be.

[danthecapriman]

I've always liked the Pacer, and the Gremlin.

There's something about all the old small 'economy' type yanks, the AMC's, Ford Pinto, Chevy Vega etc etc that I'd really love to have one!

[Station]

I love the way they made it to compete with small, economic cars from Europe, so they build a small looking huge car with a 6 cylinder or V8.

I remember having a Matchbox car of these and thought it was quite smart and 'desirable'.

[Lacquer Peel]

I love the way they made it to compete with small, economic cars from Europe, so they build a small looking huge car with a 6 cylinder or V8.

 

It was originally supposed to be powered by a rotary engine and designed before the fuel crises. The rotary engine would have been more of a disaster.

The brown wagon in the film looks great.

 

"I bet she's big on the inside, where it counts".

[cort16]

But they are so ugly they become strangely desirable.........

 

Just like the Nissan Juke.

[Urko]

The five-litre was only about 130 brake though iirc.  The 4.2 slant 6 was about 90.

Point of anoraxia, it wasn't a slant -

 

[Uncle Jimmy]

I guess these have long since had the emissions kit removed ^^^?

Wonder what it entailed?

[Bren]

A non strangled V8 would make one of these shuffle,even though it is heavier than a golf.

 

I had a corgi juniors one when I was little.

[Lacquer Peel]

I guess these have long since had the emissions kit removed ^^^?

Wonder what it entailed?

 

 

It's a Honda, but I believe it involved miles of vacuum pipes.

[2MB]

I enjoyed that thanks. Always had a soft spot for AMCs as my dad had a Javelin before i was born. Sadly ironic that in the last stages of the life of the company they pre-empted two very current trends: the huge small hatchback and the 'crossover'

[Junkman]

The Pacer was a fashion gag. Thus my mother interrupted her string of annual Renault 4 purchases when she saw the new Pacer in the

Renault sales room on the Champs Elysees in Paris and bought it.

It wasn't a bad car as such, but ironically its praised virtues in particular turned out to be impractical and actually worked against it, especially in Europe.

It was too wide to properly fit between other cars in a car park and even when it did, you couldn't open the long and almost foot thick doors

far enough to get out. It also was useless in Winter and due to being sold without A/C in Europe, the big windows steamed up terribly in wet weather.

For its size, it offered very little space inside and the boot often turned out to be too small for my mother's requirements, something that somehow

wasn't encountered with the Renault 4s.

So it was replaced with yet another 'trelle a year later, by which time it also looked surprisingly dated, something the Renault 4 oddly never did in its life.

I think mom didn't have to plough any fresh money into that deal.

But being ferried around for a year in a new Pacer as a tween in Munich is an experience I wouldn't want to have missed.

[Urko]

Electric pacers -

 

[brownnova]

 

 

The French advert... Where this woman appears to have shat out a Pacer...

 

Thankfully no skidmarks on that pristine white dress!!

[flat4alfa]

If you want to see a smart one, search on 'MoPacer'

 

 

Yes, it's hers.  Restored it with her Dad

[ray]

Not even the WheelerDealers could polish it  ..  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEEN7W9AmMk