AMC Pacer

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AMC Pacer
Manufacturer	American Motors (AMC)
Production	1975 — 1980
Assembly	Kenosha, Wisconsin Mexico City (VAM)
Class	Compact
Body style(s)	2-door hatchback 2-door station wagon
Layout	front-engine, rear wheel drive
Engine(s)	232 CID (3.8 L) I6 258 CID (4.2 L) I6 304 CID (5 L) V8
Transmission(s)	3-speed manual 3-speed with overdrive 4-speed manual 3-speed automatic
Wheelbase	100.0 inches (2,540 mm)
Length	171.8 inches (4,364 mm) (coupe)
Width	77.3 inches (1,963 mm)
Height	52.8 inches (1,341 mm) (coupe)
Curb weight	3,000 pounds (1,361 kg)
Fuel capacity	21.9 US gal (83 L/18 imp gal)
Designer	Richard A. Teague

The AMC Pacer is a two-door compact automobile produced in the United States by the American Motors Corporation between 1975 and 1980. Its initial design idea was started in 1971. The car's unusual rounded shape with massive glass area greatly contrasted with the mostly boxy, slab-sided models of the era. The Pacer's "jellybean" body style is a very easily recognized icon of the 1970s.

Contents 1 Design 2 Production 3 Mexican market 4 Media appearances 4.1 Feature films 4.2 Television 4.3 Print and new media 5 Famous owners 6 Collectibility 7 Ownership suppport 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Design

AMC's chief stylist Richard A. Teague began work on the Pacer in 1971, anticipating an increase in demand for smaller vehicles through the decade.

Car and Driver magazine noted that "AMC said it was the first car designed from the inside out. Four passengers were positioned with reasonable clearances and then the rest of the car was built around them as compactly as possible."^[1]

Designed to appear futuristic, the shape was highly rounded with a huge glass area, and was very unusual for its time. Road & Track magazine described it as "fresh, bold and functional-looking".^[2]

Development was under Product Group Vice President Gerald C. Meyers, whose goal was to develop a car that was truly unique: "...everything that we do must distinguish itself as being importantly different than what can be expected from the competition..."^[3]

Unique for a comparatively small car, the Pacer was as wide as a full-size American car of the era. Contrary to popular myth, it was not widened six inches (152.4 mm) to make room for the rear-wheel drive configuration. According to an AMC market study from the early 1970s, front-wheel drive was never a consideration,^{[citation needed]} although the editor of Road & Track asserted that front-wheel drive, as well as a transverse mid-engined configuration, were among "various mechanical layouts...tossed around by the idea people at AMC", adding that "it's unlikely they ever had much hope of being able to produce anything other than their traditional front engine and rear drive, using components already in production."^[4] A rear-engined layout was also explored.

The width was dictated partly by marketing strategy—U.S. drivers were accustomed to large, comfortable vehicles, and the Pacer's occupants had the impression, at least from the front seat, of being in a much larger car—and partly by the fact that AMC's assembly lines were already set up for full-size cars.

Also unique at the time, the passenger door was four inches (101 mm) longer than the driver's. The wider opening made it easier for passengers to get in and out, particularly from the rear seats; and they would also tend to use the safer curb side in countries that drive on the right. Ford used this design element in the 1990s Windstar mini-van.

Teague's low-drag design, which predated the fuel crisis and the flood of small foreign imports into the American market, was highly innovative. Its drag coefficient of 0.32 was outstandingly low for a car of its size. Teague even eliminated rain gutters, smoothly blending the tops of the doors into the roof—an aerodynamic detail which, although criticized at the time for allowing rain onto the front seat, has become the norm in today's designs.

The Pacer was also among the first production cars in the U.S. to feature rack-and-pinion steering.

In the mid-1970s the U.S. government mandated major safety improvements for the 1980 model year, to include 50-mile-per-hour (80 km/h) front-end crash testing, 25-mile-per-hour (40 km/h) side crash testing and 30-mile-per-hour (48 km/h) rollover testing, as well as installation of bumpers to resist 5-mile-per-hour (8 km/h) impact at the front and 10-mile-per-hour (16 km/h) at the rear. The Pacer was designed to these specifications, and also had laminated safety glass in the windshield.

General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler persuaded the government that it was not financially viable to modify existing production cars to comply with the new regulations, and that instead each company would be put to the enormous expense of producing new, safety-compliant vehicles. Accordingly the government requirements were reduced, which led to the deletion of several safety features from the production Pacer—for example the roll bar over the passenger compartment, and the bump in the roof that accommodated it. The Pacer's remaining safety features were not strongly advertised, and seldom influenced a potential customer's purchasing decision. The car's extra weight—due in part to the safety equipment and the abundance of heavy glass—hurt fuel economy: production models tested by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave 16 mpg–U.S. (14.7 L/100 km / 19.2 mpg–imp) in the city, but 26 mpg–U.S. (9.05 L/100 km / 31.2 mpg–imp) or better on the highway (depending on driving habits and transmission), thanks to aerodynamic efficiency.

Originally the car was designed for a Wankel rotary engine. In 1973, AMC signed a licensing agreement with Curtiss-Wright to build Wankels for cars and Jeep-type vehicles. (The agreement also permitted Curtiss-Wright to sell rotaries elsewhere.)^[5] Later, AMC decided instead to purchase the engines from General Motors (GM), who were developing them for use in their own cars. However, GM canceled development in 1974 for reasons that included durability issues, the fuel crisis, tooling costs (for the engines and also for a new product line designed around the rotary's ultra-compact dimensions) and the upcoming (late 1970s) U.S. emissions legislation. It was also thought that the high-revving Wankel would not suit Americans accustomed to low revs and high torque.

GM's change of plans left the Pacer without an engine. AMC had invested too much money and effort in the car's design to scrap it, so they hastily reconfigured it to accept their existing straight-six engine. This involved a complete redesign of drivetrain and firewall to keep the longer straight-six within the body dimensions designed for the Wankel, but it also allowed the Pacer to share many mechanical components with other AMC models.

[edit] Production

Introduced in showrooms on February 28, 1975, the Pacer was designed to attract buyers of traditional large cars to a smaller package during a time when gasoline prices were projected to rise dramatically.^[6] In its first year of production, the Pacer sold well, with 145,528 units. Some reviewers referred to it as a "fishbowl on wheels" or a "jellybean in suspenders" because of its unconventional styling, while some described it as a "cute" car. There was little competition from other American manufacturers, most of whom had been blindsided by the oil crisis. The increased demand for compact, economy vehicles was growing rapidly. However, Pacer sales fell after the first two years, and it was available through the 1980 model year. Similar to its mid-year introduction, on December 3, 1979, production of the Pacer ended at the Kenosha, Wisconsin assembly plant where it had begun five years earlier.^[7] A total of 280,000 cars were built. Increasing competition from the Big Three U.S. automakers and the rapid consumer shift to imported cars during the late 1970s are cited as the reasons for this outcome.

The Pacer's unconventional styling was also commonly cited as an issue in its lack of success. Other concerns included a lack of cargo space when carrying a full load of passengers (because of its short wheelbase). Cargo space could be increased to 29.5 cubic feet (0.84 m³) by folding down the back of the rear seat to form a flat floor. Drivers also cited a lack of power. The Pacer was heavy — Car & Driver wrote, "American Motors had already quoted a curb weight of 2990 lb. for the basic Pacer when we first wrote about the car, and that already seemed quite heavy; but when we weighed the test car (whose air conditioning, automatic transmission, power steering and so forth would not account for the full difference) it registered an astounding 3425 lb."^[8] — and the standard 232 CID (3.8 L) I6, with a single-barrel carburetor and optimized for low emissions (all vehicles at the time carried emissions-reducing devices), was relatively low-powered ("The Pacer comes with either of two AMC inline six-cylinder engines, both producing 100 bhp, but the larger 258-cu-in. (4.2 liter) unit delivering better mid-range torque"^[8]). In 1976, a "High Output" version of the 258 CID (4.2 L) engine was offered, which helped performance at the cost of higher fuel consumption. By the time a 304 CID (5 L) V8 was offered in 1978, the company had introduced a successful line of "luxury-compact" models (the AMC Concord). Additionally, gasoline prices remained high, limiting demand for V8-powered vehicles.

For increased cargo capacity, a station wagon body style was offered from 1977. A less unusual-looking design, it was longer, with a squared-off back and straight, almost upright, rear side windows. Although front vent windows were optional on all Pacers, the wagon's rear side glass featured vent windows as standard. The big rear hatch opened to a wide, flat cargo area with 47.8 cubic feet (1.35 m³) of space. The rear seat also folded flat to form a continuation of the cargo floor. Some wagon models featured simulated wood-grain trim on the lower body sides and the liftgate.

[edit] Mexican market

The Pacer was produced in Mexico by Vehículos Automotores Mexicanos (VAM) starting in 1976. The cars came with different engines, interiors, and other components because vehicles made in Mexico had to have at least 50% locally sourced parts. The engine was an AMC design, but modified and built by VAM. A unique to Mexico 282 CID (4.62 L) I6 engine was standard. It was designed to cope with low octane fuel and high altitudes. All Pacers built by VAM came with the following standard equipment: power disk brakes, power steering, handling package, slot wheels with ER78x14 radial tires, reclining front seats, and a radio.^[9]

[edit] Media appearances

[edit] Feature films

The "Mirthmobile" in the 1992 film Wayne's World is a Pacer.^[10] Wayne's World 2 (1993) has two Pacers: customized convertible and stretch limousine. Other feature film appearances include Car Wash (1976), The Eyes of Laura Mars (1977 film), Oh, God! (1977), Mask^[11] (1985), Cobra (1986), Miracle Mile (1988), Edward Scissorhands (1990), The Spirit of '76 (1990), Good Burger (1997) and Crash (2004),

[edit] Television

American television appearances include That '70s Show, The X Files and Pimp My Ride (in which a live rat is discovered in the dashboard).

[edit] Print and new media

In the Pacer's first year of production The American press said polite things about it.^[12] For example, Don Sherman wrote in the February 1975 issue of Car and Driver that it was "our first real urban transporter...There is, of course, the chance of monumental failure; it might be another Tucker ahead of its time or a pariah like the Marlin. But...with its high priority on comfortable and efficient travel and absence of Mach 2 styling, [it] at least seems right for the current state of duress. Consider this bold offering from AMC a test: Are we buying cars for transportation yet, or are they still social props?"^[1]

Road & Track magazine's April 1975 road test review described the Pacer's appearance as "bold, clean and unique...even when it's going 60 mph is looks as if it's standing still..." but noted that, even with the test car's optional front disc brakes, "in the usual panic-stop tests...our driver had one of his most anxious moments ever as the Pacer screeched, skidded and demanded expert attention at the steering wheel to keep from going altogether out of control. The histrionics are reflected in long stopping distances from highway speeds... [The car’s] engineering—old-fashioned and unimaginative in the extreme—does not match the perky design", which the magazine declared "most attractive to look at and pleasant to sit in."^[13] And Michael Lamm, writing in Popular Mechanics, said that with its "very modern styling, ample power and generous interior" he felt it was "more car" than "the Mustang II or "GM’s sporty compacts (Monza, Skyhawk/Starfire)", and that its performance felt "strong—certainly on a par with most V8s."^[14]

The British press were less forgiving: the cover of the major weekly automobile magazine The Motor announced: "We test the Pacer - and wish we hadn't." (Shortly afterwards, AMC stopped Pacer imports to the UK.)^[12]

In The Ultimate Classic Car Book^[15] motoring expert, TV presenter and 2004 Motoring Journalist of the Year Quentin Willson^[16] writes: "Who will ever forget the...AMC Pacer?...truly awful...painted in violent hues, laden with safety devices and strangled by emission pipery."

The car appears in several humorously-written opinion-based books of "worst cars", including:

• The World’s Worst Cars.^[17]
• The Worst Cars Ever Sold.^[18]
• Lemon!.^[19]
• Automotive Atrocities! The Cars We Love to Hate,^[20] whose cover the Pacer graces.
• Crap Cars.^[21] The author, a BBC Top Gear scriptwriter and Evo magazine journalist, rates the Pacer the third worst car out of 50.

It also features in several published lists solicited from the general public, e.g.:

• MSNBC.com's 2005 "least-loved american autos".^[22]
• Time.com's 2007 "50 Worst Cars of All Time".^[23]
• "The Most Questionable Car Designs of All Time", a 2007 non-scientific survey of policyholders with a major collector-car insurance company.^[24][25]

[edit] Famous owners

Pacers have been owned by American country music artist Conway Twitty, French actress and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot, American auto racer Richard Petty and 2008 U.S. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney.^[26]

[edit] Collectibility

Now old enough to be a "classic car", the Pacer has come to be regarded in some quarters as a 1970s design icon.^[27] (According to Business Week magazine the 1970s were infamous for disco, the Watergate scandal and some of the ugliest cars ever.) The distinguished motoring journalist and classic car expert Martin Buckley^[28] holds the view that the Pacer, like the Austin Allegro, was "so uniformly inept in almost all respects that it has passed into folklore and become perversely 'cool'."^[12]

Nevertheless, in spite of their bad reputations, cars of the 1970s era such as the Pacer are becoming collectors' items.^[24] Business Week reported that the rising values of so-called "nerd cars"^[29] - ugly 1970s-era cars^[30] - prompted the CEO of a major collector-car insurance company to buy a Pacer^[24] which has "inexplicably appreciated substantially beyond the $2,300 that he paid for it in 2004."^[30] He said: "In what can sometimes be a sea of automotive sameness, the AMC Pacer continues to turn heads even today."^[31]

The Pacer has been described as one of the formerly unloved cars from the 1970s that are enjoying a resurgence in both collectibility and auto restoration — especially among fans of cars from that era.^[32] The Pacer is one of several 1970s cars that were always thought of as cheap vehicles; therefore they were poorly maintained, which reduced their life expectancy.^[32] Also the heavy engines used in the car put more load on the front suspension than intended, which caused the rack & pinion steering to fail frequently on Pacers built in 1975.^[33][12]

One longtime collector-car expert says you will pay just about the same — around $20,000 — for a complete restoration, whether it’s on a $1,000 1978 AMC Pacer or a $5,000 1969 Chevrolet Camaro. When restored, the value of the Pacer may be about $4,000, compared with the Camaro’s $25,000.^[34]

Today the Pacer's originality - as well as its deficiencies - are appreciated, if not loved, by car hobbyists and serious collectors alike.^[31][29][35]

[edit] Ownership suppport

There are many active AMC car clubs that welcome Pacers. New, used and reproduction parts are available.

[edit] References

Inline

General

• Patrick Foster, "American Motors' Pacer: A Piece of Tomorrow" Hemmings Classic Car - March 1, 2005, Retrieved on: March 29, 2008.
• Bill Vance, "AMC Pacer" Canadian Driver, January 13, 2004, Retrieved on: March 29, 2008.

[edit] External links

• Nice Pacer pictures and big parts list
• amcpacer.com
• Classic American magazine (UK) Pacer article (Internet Archive copy)
• AMC Pacer specifications
• AMC Pacer at the Internet Movie Cars Database

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v • d • e American Motors road car timeline, United States market, 1954–1988
Type	1950s						1960s										1970s										1980s
	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Subcompact																	Gremlin									Spirit					Encore
Compact	Rambler				Rambler American												Hornet								Concord
	Jet																					Pacer								Alliance
Mid-size			Rambler Six					Classic						Rebel				Matador
				Rebel V8								Marlin									Matador Coupe
Full-size	Nash				Ambassador																														Premier
	Hudson
Sports															AMX
															Javelin
Crossover																											Eagle
SUV																	see timeline of Jeep models
Captive import	Metropolitan																									LeCar
																												Renault 18i/Sportwagon						Medallion
																													Fuego
Military vehicles						Mighty Mite												AM General trucks, Jeeps, and the HMMWV