Besides being the ugliest thing ever on 4 wheels, at 5 months old it developed the cutest little habit of sudden engine shutdown when driving 60 mph on the beltway.
A real honey.
It was designed around the wankel rotary engine, which AMC had a contract with GM to build for them. The deal fell apart because rotary engines also got horrificly bad fuel economy. By the time GM killed the project, AMC was to far along in its development project. Money to be used on its interior was funneled into re-engineering the car so they could jam a satndard AMC 6 under the hood. As a result, the interioris were terribly cheap. And there were other problems. In addition to engine issues, the passenger side door, which was longer the drivers door, frequently didn't close right because the hinges couldn't support the weight. The Pacer's devlopment wasted all that AMC had for future product development. Unable to solider on, it eventually was merged into Renault and we know how a marriage to a French car company goes.
I remember when I saw my first one - it was like seeing a toy car on the road. You either loved it, or hated it. The hated it group won.
6 comments:
i always thought they were great looking.
In the late 70's there were uglier cars than this one on the road. It really didn't look too bad, and it was roomy.
totally missed this one, sugar! i spent the 70's driving a vw van! xoxoxo
The wide-small car that killed AMC.
It was designed around the wankel rotary engine, which AMC had a contract with GM to build for them. The deal fell apart because rotary engines also got horrificly bad fuel economy. By the time GM killed the project, AMC was to far along in its development project. Money to be used on its interior was funneled into re-engineering the car so they could jam a satndard AMC 6 under the hood. As a result, the interioris were terribly cheap. And there were other problems. In addition to engine issues, the passenger side door, which was longer the drivers door, frequently didn't close right because the hinges couldn't support the weight. The Pacer's devlopment wasted all that AMC had for future product development. Unable to solider on, it eventually was merged into Renault and we know how a marriage to a French car company goes.
I remember when I saw my first one - it was like seeing a toy car on the road. You either loved it, or hated it. The hated it group won.
My aunt sold her BURGUNDY CADILLAC for a brand new silver pacer.
The Boy Of My Dreams in high school drove a diarrhea-yellow Pacer. SIGH.
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