They weren't a bad car. That 232 was built like a tank and will run forever. The transmission is a Chrysler 904, another nearly indestructible component. People just didn't like the look of them. I'm glad that you mentioned the larger passenger door. It was one of the only features of the Pacer that reviewers gave a huge thumbs up for next to the smooth drivability. It's surprising that it wasn't done with other cars. Party on JR! 🤘🏻
One detail you missed. The “hump” at the top of the drivers side door panel was not designed to be a door pull. You’ll notice, when fully rolled down, the drivers side window does not disappear into the door. It sticks up a few inches. Back then, the cool look for driving was to have your right hand on the wheel and you rested your left arm on the top of the door panel. On the Pacer, since the window doesn’t retract fully, you couldn’t rest your left arm there. To be able to drive in comfort, AMC designed the interior door panel to be taller so you could rest your arm there without having to balance it on the top edge of the rolled down window. Doing so would have left a painful temporary red mark on the bottom of your arm and after hitting a few bumps would have bruised you.
Always fun to hear a youngster talk about a 70’s car LOL. I love the reference to the “3.8 liter “…nobody ever referred to engine size by liter until the 90’s😂
They started to do so back then... the Gremlin X with the V8 said '5 liter' on the back end, and Cadillac described their 500 cube V8 as 8.5 liter. That was way before the 90's. But they sure have gone to it entirely since those days, nobody knows how many cubes their engine is anymore really.
@@riogrande163 If the rest of the world jumped off a cliff, would you jump off a cliff? I do like how the rest of the world says it's metric, but even outside the USA, imperial units persist.
JR a little back story on the Pacer. It was supposed to have a Wankel engine supplied by GM and GM canned the Wankel engine. AMC had to redesign the engine bay so it could accommodate the straight I6. This caused quite a few headaches for the engineers at AMC and caused a delay in getting the car manufactured. AMC was not happy that GM went back on their deal to supply a Wankel engine.
I have to compliment WatchJRGo on something. Even though the AMC Pacer was seen as kind of a nerdy car back in it's day, I have to say that it is incredibly refreshing to hear a UA-cam channel brag about the fact that he just bought the CLEANEST example of a car in the country. I get SO tired of all the jokers out there who play the copycat game and always brag about supposedly having just bought the CHEAPEST example of their car. Who wants a cheap s**t box? I would much rather see a video about a NICE car than a cheap one. Props to you, sir! Good luck with the Pacer.
The year was 1976, my father had just bought a brand new AMC Pacer - the first "new" car he had bought since his 1958 Cadillac... because he hated the instant depreciation, even though financially he could have bought a new car every year. This one impressed him... the aerodynamic design, the asymmetrical doors, and of course the "small car" rage was on. I was 16, had my drivers license, a pretty responsible "trained" driver (back when we had Drivers Education in high school!), and had been given permission to drive the new "family car" when it was necessary. That fateful day, I was driving safe, minding my own business in the far-right lane of a 4-lane city road, divided only by a middle turn lane..... when a 1955 Chevy BelAir race car (fiberglass front clip, open headers) was out taking a test drive. He was driving in the opposite direction, and went 'full bogey'... laying down a set of solid black lines on the road, tires smoking like crazy..... and lost control at probably 80 MPH. Smashed the Ford station wagon ahead and left of me, and shoved it right back into my lane... Totaled the AMC Pacer before it was 6 months old. Driver of the '55 had no insurance... my dad sued him for garnishment of wages, but never got much. I didn't get any grief from my parents, it was clear there was nothing I could have done. Dad didn't buy any more "new" cars until the day he passed, 30 years later.
At 14:34 “put car seats in”. Trust me, child cars seats were definitely not used in 1975. Kids piled in and rode wherever they could without any seatbelt usage.
My next door neighbor had one of those back in the late 80s. He moved to Frederick Oklahoma. Not sure if it's still around but I guess it wouldn't hurt to go to Frederick and look around and ask people. It was burgundy with the simulated paneling.
My mom and stepdad had an 81 Concord wagon, basically the 2wd Eagle and it was brown with the wood grain trim and it was awesome! Back in the 80s, Eagles were crazy popular as were the Spirits. AMC was the Subaru of its day because they offered so many slightly lifted, regular cars with AWD. It seems like overnight, AMCs just disappeared from the roads. They were a tiny company but did a lot of smart things to minimize their costs. I have so much respect for them.
I worked at an AMC dealership when these came out. This was at the height of the 55 MPH speed limit, so they were geared accordingly. A/C was still an option in those days, but was essential for a car with that much glass. AMC did make dealer-installable A/C unit. A lot of these came in to have this done. Also, the doors were heavy, and hard to keep in alignment.
Wow! That's a second Pacer I've seen this week. Maple motors on UA-cam. They have a Pacer with LS swap. What a difference. I myself I like the old AMC cars probably because I learned it to drive on a 19 68 rambler American with the straight six stick shift on the column with absolutely no options other than a radio and I loved that car. I was so sad when Dad decided to get rid of it. I tried looking for it for years but could never find it
Man, that is a clean almost 50 year old Pacer! The ads for the Pacer called it "the first wide small car", and you had excellent visibility with all of those windows! I remember one of the big car magazines (Road & Track, Car and Driver, Motor Trend... don't remember which one) tested their Pacer, and upon "panic braking", the car immediately went sideways! I guess that driver found out how easy it was to clean excrement from vinyl seats! The story was that the Pacer was designed with the Wankel rotary engine in mind (which GM had invested in), and at the last minute the deal was called off. AMC had no choice but to shoehorn their inline 6 cylinder (either the 232 or the 258) into the car, which changed the front end styling a bit. AMC was always good at turning chicken sh*t into chicken salad, and made it work. The fascination with a wide small car wore off in a few years, and I think that Wayne & Garth having a Pacer renewed interest in both the car, and Bohemian Rhapsody! Anyway, it's fun seeing young folks nowadays "discovering" the Pacer.
AMC wanted to put the Wankel rotary, but GM mothballed it at about the time that the Pacer went into production. That's why AMC wedged the 3.8L under the hood.
As a kid, we had a Pacer rental while on vacation in Hawaii. We went to Hana, and managed to get both families inside the Pacer, all nine of us. I can recall being wedged into the hatch with two teenage girls, which I quite enjoyed! Haven't seen a Pacer on the roads in decades, but I did see a Gremlin the other day.
Gm’s rotary engine was originally supposed to power the pacer. Gm shelved the rotary and amc had to shoehorn the 3.8l, thus the cab forward design and the monstrous transmission hump
Ok, need to clear up a couple things. First, congrats on a cool car! When AMC was designing the Pacer, it was intended to house the Wankel rotary currently in development at GM. GM canceled the program, so AMC had to work with the engines they had, meaning they had to shoehorn in the AMC six. This is why the car has some unusual dimensions-it was intended to be a much smaller car. Be very careful of those door panels-they’re quite fragile and good ones are hard to find. Be careful of the subframe bushings, new ones do not exist. Your car has obviously been painted-the hood badge is missing and the AMC emblem on back has been moved. I’d suggest having the glass tinted to help save the fragile plastics.
I know a guy who has a Pacer with a white interior and the exterior has been repainted Plymouth Plum Crazy (Purple). He has approximately 10 Pacers in various stages of restoration and lives in Pennsylvania.
Yes, that is an automatic choke, bi-metal strip that engine heats up to open, very simple and reliable. When I was growing up, my family owned many ramblers. Bought a new 1968 American for $4000, great economic car and value. We owned a classic, gremlin, javelin, pacer, and a couple more I can’t remember.
I took my wife's Gremlin in for service a day after the small town dealer received their first Pacer. I knew the owner of the dealership and asked me to take it as a loaner to get my impression of it. He told me that AMC had a marketing plan to sell them to MDs and dentists. I got lots of looks as no one had seen one. As it was a fairly cool day and had AC so I didn't notice the fishbowl cooker effect.
My Uncle sold these at Overland Park AMC Jeep on Metcalf back in the day. I remember going there as a kid and seeing all the Pacers, Gremlins and Jeeps.
You have to be missing your old shop! You had the coolest shop on UA-cam! I miss it. I was really wanting to see the upper level relaxing area I guess that's what you call it but anyway it would have been awesome!
Wow, I didn’t know that those were available with a 3-on-the-tree. That’s great to know. I want to get something with a 3-speed on the column, most likely a 70s F-100 but it’s great to know that the Pacer had them, too.
The model year for first Pacers was 1976, introduced in spring 1975. Built near Chicago area in Kenosha WI. The sold well the first year 117,000 hatchbacks left the factory, since were a "fad" with compact buyers. But, by summer 1976 they were "last year's news", sales slipped. Added wagon for '77 and V8 for '78, but still sales declined. Last model year was short run of 1980's, but last Pacer built in Dec. 1979.
When I was a lad my family had two Pacers and I ended up taking one to college! One was a coup and one was a station wagon and the birth had the 258 six. This brought back many memories.
This was the first family car that I have memories of, circa 1976... ours had the optional AMC indian weave upholstery, and air conditioning (it was in Texas). My grandpa swore by Nash, and my dad had to buy AMC, since Nash was part of the merger that created AMC.
The Pacer was built for traffic congestion, not fuel economy. The idea was that highways were getting more crowded, so build a smaller car that doesn't take up as much space on the road, is easy to maneuver in cities and parallel park, and has good outward visibility. AMC also decided to future-proof it for federal safety regulations by designing it to meet all the most stringent, worst case scenario, proposals NHTSA was considering for future years so they wouldn't have to constantly spend more R&D money every year to update it for new rules, it would already meet all of them from the start. The car was also supposed to have a Wankel rotary engine that AMC was partnering with GM to develop, which seemed like the future in the early 1970s. But, GM pulled out of the project and AMC couldn't afford to develop it on their own, so they had to get stuck using the engines they already had. It took them until the 1980s to figure out how to cut two cylinders off the I6 to make a 4, which was way too late for the Pacer
The advertising at the time of its introduction made a point of its *width* in pitching it’s new vision of a compact. It struck me as a spacious/stylish Pinto/Gremlin upgrade.
Speaking of the Pacer grille, it was part of an effort at developing a unified style concept for AMCs. Look at a 64 AMC Rambler American-- it's front is basically a 60s version of this, with the tunneled headlights and this clean style of grille. The first generation Hornets and Gremlins also had it, as did the Matador Coupe.
American Motors was like the automotive equivalent to the little engine that could. You can’t help but respect them. The Concord and Eagle were basically a Hornet but modernized, the same front end from the Concord was used on several cars with different body styles but each were unique but also uniquely AMC. If I remember correctly, one of the most popular new Jeeps, the 94 I’m wanting to say Grand Cherokee was designed by them and the Chrysler LH cars were, too. For a while, they sold some Renaults- the Alliance and Encore and maybe another and of course, they took great care of Jeep. Chrysler bought them specifically for Jeep but the continued to build the AMC Eagle for a few years and then created an Eagle brand within Chrysler for a while. My parents owned a 81 Concord. I remember buying parts for repairs being a real pain because they did source parts from the big 3 and sometimes those parts changed mid-model year. Still I loved the Concord. This was a great buy, JR. I would love to know the build date on the car because I was born in 1975. It’d be cool if it rolled off the assembly line on my birthday. Btw, there is no better 70s color you could’ve gotten than this one. I hope you enjoy your new car!
The pacer was designed to have a rotary engine. AMC was always on the edge of bankruptcy so development of the rotary was halted. You'll find parts from every manufacturer in it. One note on the interior size the head of AMC was tall and wanted to be able to sit in the backseat of the vehicles. It started with the Marlon. The Concord and Hornet were about the same price with the same performance. Thats why my mom wanted a Concord and not a Pacer. We lived in an AMC manufacturer town.
I had a '72 Hornet with the 232. The upgraded I-6 was a 258. There used to be a company that made all kinds of performance parts for those engines - headers, intakes for 4-barrel carbs etc. Never got to soup up my Hornet, no money at the time.
Pretty clean little Pacer. My family had a bunch of AMC cars growing up. The only new one was a Jeep J20. The others were used, Concords and other Passenger Cars. They all had inline 6 engines and ran for years. Looking forward to the driving videos. Thanks.
My aunt owned a Pacer. Back in the 70s I used to hop in back (there were no laws restricting seating) and remember looking out the bubble while she drove. Made me think of The Jetsons
AMC built some neat torquey engines. 232, 258 and the V8 was 304 as I recall. If the ride is good the springs all the way around must have been replaced. The electronic choke will fail but if you stick a big screwdriver down the carburetor's throat, you can get it started...oh wait, it will never get that cold where you are, never mind. The fishbowl can get really hot in the sun, so the air con was a bit over-built. As I recall. I'm sure the brakes are poor compared to what we can get now, but we'll see what you do.
Not gonna lie, that is a pretty cool ride. You will get all the attention. Never going to be fast, but it wasn't made to be. Can't wait for more Pacer content.
Wow, I remember the news of it coming out - it was supposed to have the GM rotary engine, but at the last moment - they had to use their 6 cylinder engine. I am surprised it didn't have AC, I thought that came standard on most 70's AMC cars - perhaps not. Innovations included the longer passenger side door to get in and out of the back seat - just didn't work well in crowded parking lots - the same as any other full size two door. The windows could not roll all the way down due to their size, hence the "handle like inside grab". I think it also came with rack & pinion steering which was sort of a first for this size of car. It sort of sold well the first 2 years of it's life, but after that - no-one wanted one. A couple of years later, they introduced the V-8 version with the station wagon like shape. AMC built some interesting looking cars, they usually were good quality, but I think this was one of their major flops that cost them dearly. Thanks for showing this car, as some pointed out - it should be included with any unique car built in the United States.
I just bought a 76 Pacer in March in Rogers, AR! Mine has the 258 inline 6. Not as clean as this one. Mine needs some carpet and seat repair but pretty much all there. But it's cool to see someone else appreciate these cars!
I remember a TV commercial at the time that was meant to show how roomy was the interior of the Pacer. They used a Pacer shell, with the back end gone. Then they drove a Chevy Nova right into the shell. It definitely made an impression.
Yes the tv ads for it bragged “the first WIDE small car.” They didn’t mention how overweight it was, or how the crude suspension protruded so much into the backseat area that it’s only rated (and only has seatbelts) for two. A Hornet fit 3 in the back. Oops!
YES, Body tech AMC/JEEP dlr 76-79 and remember AMC/JEEP having a recal for Pacer hinges wearing to soon.. A beefier hinge w/ larger pin bushing was the fix .. Painted and replaced quite a few hinges.. AH , Memories..
Back in the 80s, I brought an AMC Pacer Wagon for $120 as cheap transportation. Back then, it was a geeky car that most folks made fun of. However, It wasn't long before I really fell in love with driving it. It was the first car I owned that had AC in it. I loved its quirkiness. The car being a wagon had quite a lot of space. I wish I had never got rid of it to buy a "cooler" car. Today, it's still one of my most favorite cars I ever owned. I never heard anything bad ever said about them by the people who actually owned one, like myself. It was truly a great "Small-Wide" car
Oh, Man. My grandmother had a '79. Favorite memory was when my '66 mustang broke on Jr. Prom night and I had to make an emergency call to grandma to take the Pacer had a great time. That car was indestructable.
Wow! The Pacer is a very unique looking vehicle.. If id did not know any better the steering wheel looks like the one from a Ford Pinto. Pea Green is a sought after color..LOL. Awesome content!
Beautiful little car! I love the interior, the color, the windows. I wish they made cars with character today instead of making them all look alike. I'd love to own this car.
Growing up, mom had a '77 Hornet wagon. 70s AMCs are really under rated cars (and were even back in the day). Honestly a real clean 70s AMC would make an awesome platform for a "daily driver classic car" since they're dead simple and everything on them is easily fixed and they've got plenty of room under the hood for engine swaps of all sorts or even EV conversions. LS Swapped with Wilwood brakes and you'd have the ultimate sleeper. I think there's a few aftermarket companies (like American Performance Products) that have tons of resto-mod and upgrade stuff for these old AMCs .
Finally, an interesting car I grew up with. My first car was an early 70's AMC Hornet. Gold, white vinyl roof, and go fast stripes. When the Pacer came out, we thought it was from the future. It was the 70's. What did we know. Nice catch on the passenger side door. Thought you were going to miss that one. Looking forward to more videos on it.
Body tech AMC/JEEP dlr 76-79 .. Had a CJ7 w/ 304 .. It would scare me at times.Sold it and bought a Cherokee , bigger footprint.. .Drove a bunch af AMC/JEEP vehicles.. The pacer doors are so heavy , Jeep had a recall for hinges wearing quite soon .. Hinge pins wear from heavier door to hold up..I R and R'd a lot of hinges all painted.. AH Memories
Oh the memories growing up in the 70s with those cars.......I drove an orange Pinto station when I was working delivery for a local pharmacy....A friend took his parents Ford Granada mug bogging....Hilarious........My brother in law...His most prized possession was a Gremlin...
If the car is more of a green color, that color is called candy apple if not then the color is called golden jade metallic. Hard to tell on film. Pretty cool car. I wonder if you can order any parts for the engine internally speaking that would give it more power and still retain its originality? That would be pretty cool to see it upgraded. I know most people upgrade the carburetor to a 390 CFM two barrel. It's given a little more gusto in the fuel department. I don't know much else. Just promise us you will not go to burnout competitions with it and ruin it.
I had a 73 gremlin with a 258 3 spd stick. Would piss off all the popular hotter cars of the time, was surprisingly quick. I abused it for 100k mi. with minimal maintenance. Best car I ever owned.
I'm so excited! Love the Pacer! I grew up on Wayne's World and have always wanted to get a Pacer. This green fits it really well. Easily like a top 3 favorite of any car you've had on the channel.
I'd rather watch Pacer content all day over supercar crap.
Me too. Modern stuff sucks.
1000% agree
Amen! 👍👍👍
💯
Yep.
They weren't a bad car. That 232 was built like a tank and will run forever. The transmission is a Chrysler 904, another nearly indestructible component. People just didn't like the look of them.
I'm glad that you mentioned the larger passenger door. It was one of the only features of the Pacer that reviewers gave a huge thumbs up for next to the smooth drivability. It's surprising that it wasn't done with other cars.
Party on JR! 🤘🏻
The Windstar was given a longer driver's door to make up for the lack of a sliding door on that side.
I was surprise seeing the door difference in person, it really is easy to get in the back! 💯
U should see the size of the doors in the back of a r class Benz. Limos are jealous
When new with the 232, run 80 all day long. Forget what speedo buries at.
One detail you missed. The “hump” at the top of the drivers side door panel was not designed to be a door pull. You’ll notice, when fully rolled down, the drivers side window does not disappear into the door. It sticks up a few inches. Back then, the cool look for driving was to have your right hand on the wheel and you rested your left arm on the top of the door panel. On the Pacer, since the window doesn’t retract fully, you couldn’t rest your left arm there. To be able to drive in comfort, AMC designed the interior door panel to be taller so you could rest your arm there without having to balance it on the top edge of the rolled down window. Doing so would have left a painful temporary red mark on the bottom of your arm and after hitting a few bumps would have bruised you.
We used it as a door pull, there wasn't any other door pull in the door.
@@johnfriend862 its designed as a door pull
AMC Anything!
Attention locked in! ❤
Always fun to hear a youngster talk about a 70’s car LOL. I love the reference to the “3.8 liter “…nobody ever referred to engine size by liter until the 90’s😂
They started to do so back then... the Gremlin X with the V8 said '5 liter' on the back end, and Cadillac described their 500 cube V8 as 8.5 liter. That was way before the 90's. But they sure have gone to it entirely since those days, nobody knows how many cubes their engine is anymore really.
the rest of the world uses metric. get with the times
Even at the dealerships they referred to the 232 or the 258 straight sixes…especially in 1975😂
@@riogrande163 If the rest of the world jumped off a cliff, would you jump off a cliff? I do like how the rest of the world says it's metric, but even outside the USA, imperial units persist.
@@riogrande163NOPE
JR a little back story on the Pacer. It was supposed to have a Wankel engine supplied by GM and GM canned the Wankel engine. AMC had to redesign the engine bay so it could accommodate the straight I6. This caused quite a few headaches for the engineers at AMC and caused a delay in getting the car manufactured. AMC was not happy that GM went back on their deal to supply a Wankel engine.
The original safety car. Congrats on the Pacer. Next the cleanest AMC Eagle with 4WD?
Add some clear ceramic window film. Keep the stock look but cut down on the heat.
I have to compliment WatchJRGo on something. Even though the AMC Pacer was seen as kind of a nerdy car back in it's day, I have to say that it is incredibly refreshing to hear a UA-cam channel brag about the fact that he just bought the CLEANEST example of a car in the country. I get SO tired of all the jokers out there who play the copycat game and always brag about supposedly having just bought the CHEAPEST example of their car. Who wants a cheap s**t box? I would much rather see a video about a NICE car than a cheap one. Props to you, sir! Good luck with the Pacer.
"Party on, JR!"
"Party on, Gabe!"
Excellent!!
Schwiiiiing!!!
@@InsideOfMyOwnMind Party time...
The year was 1976, my father had just bought a brand new AMC Pacer - the first "new" car he had bought since his 1958 Cadillac... because he hated the instant depreciation, even though financially he could have bought a new car every year. This one impressed him... the aerodynamic design, the asymmetrical doors, and of course the "small car" rage was on.
I was 16, had my drivers license, a pretty responsible "trained" driver (back when we had Drivers Education in high school!), and had been given permission to drive the new "family car" when it was necessary.
That fateful day, I was driving safe, minding my own business in the far-right lane of a 4-lane city road, divided only by a middle turn lane..... when a 1955 Chevy BelAir race car (fiberglass front clip, open headers) was out taking a test drive. He was driving in the opposite direction, and went 'full bogey'... laying down a set of solid black lines on the road, tires smoking like crazy..... and lost control at probably 80 MPH. Smashed the Ford station wagon ahead and left of me, and shoved it right back into my lane...
Totaled the AMC Pacer before it was 6 months old.
Driver of the '55 had no insurance... my dad sued him for garnishment of wages, but never got much. I didn't get any grief from my parents, it was clear there was nothing I could have done.
Dad didn't buy any more "new" cars until the day he passed, 30 years later.
sad end...
@@compubert2yes😢
At 14:34 “put car seats in”. Trust me, child cars seats were definitely not used in 1975. Kids piled in and rode wherever they could without any seatbelt usage.
AMC is an important piece of automotive history, I wish I could find an old awd eagle with the wood paneling trim
My next door neighbor had one of those back in the late 80s. He moved to Frederick Oklahoma. Not sure if it's still around but I guess it wouldn't hurt to go to Frederick and look around and ask people. It was burgundy with the simulated paneling.
My mom and stepdad had an 81 Concord wagon, basically the 2wd Eagle and it was brown with the wood grain trim and it was awesome!
Back in the 80s, Eagles were crazy popular as were the Spirits. AMC was the Subaru of its day because they offered so many slightly lifted, regular cars with AWD.
It seems like overnight, AMCs just disappeared from the roads.
They were a tiny company but did a lot of smart things to minimize their costs. I have so much respect for them.
OMG It amazes me someone cared enough about it to save it this long.
I worked at an AMC dealership when these came out. This was at the height of the 55 MPH speed limit, so they were geared accordingly.
A/C was still an option in those days, but was essential for a car with that much glass. AMC did make dealer-installable A/C unit. A lot of these came in to have this done.
Also, the doors were heavy, and hard to keep in alignment.
Wow! That's a second Pacer I've seen this week. Maple motors on UA-cam. They have a Pacer with LS swap. What a difference. I myself I like the old AMC cars probably because I learned it to drive on a 19 68 rambler American with the straight six stick shift on the column with absolutely no options other than a radio and I loved that car. I was so sad when Dad decided to get rid of it. I tried looking for it for years but could never find it
Man, that is a clean almost 50 year old Pacer! The ads for the Pacer called it "the first wide small car", and you had excellent visibility with all of those windows! I remember one of the big car magazines (Road & Track, Car and Driver, Motor Trend... don't remember which one) tested their Pacer, and upon "panic braking", the car immediately went sideways! I guess that driver found out how easy it was to clean excrement from vinyl seats! The story was that the Pacer was designed with the Wankel rotary engine in mind (which GM had invested in), and at the last minute the deal was called off. AMC had no choice but to shoehorn their inline 6 cylinder (either the 232 or the 258) into the car, which changed the front end styling a bit. AMC was always good at turning chicken sh*t into chicken salad, and made it work. The fascination with a wide small car wore off in a few years, and I think that Wayne & Garth having a Pacer renewed interest in both the car, and Bohemian Rhapsody! Anyway, it's fun seeing young folks nowadays "discovering" the Pacer.
Looks amazing! Maybe ceramic tint the windshield and windows to keep the heat.down.
AMC wanted to put the Wankel rotary, but GM mothballed it at about the time that the Pacer went into production. That's why AMC wedged the 3.8L under the hood.
My dad had a Hornet with the 258 straight 6 and it moved. It was surprisingly quick for the 70s.
The AMC Pacer in the day was a fantastic car. I had a 1979 AMC Pacer wagon.
Love the Pacer!
🥈 apparently I do to now!
As a kid, we had a Pacer rental while on vacation in Hawaii. We went to Hana, and managed to get both families inside the Pacer, all nine of us. I can recall being wedged into the hatch with two teenage girls, which I quite enjoyed! Haven't seen a Pacer on the roads in decades, but I did see a Gremlin the other day.
Gm’s rotary engine was originally supposed to power the pacer. Gm shelved the rotary and amc had to shoehorn the 3.8l, thus the cab forward design and the monstrous transmission hump
I wonder if it is possible to swap an RX-7 engine and tranny to this car...
GM was also planning on putting their rotary into the 1975 Monza.
Ok, need to clear up a couple things.
First, congrats on a cool car!
When AMC was designing the Pacer, it was intended to house the Wankel rotary currently in development at GM. GM canceled the program, so AMC had to work with the engines they had, meaning they had to shoehorn in the AMC six.
This is why the car has some unusual dimensions-it was intended to be a much smaller car.
Be very careful of those door panels-they’re quite fragile and good ones are hard to find.
Be careful of the subframe bushings, new ones do not exist.
Your car has obviously been painted-the hood badge is missing and the AMC emblem on back has been moved.
I’d suggest having the glass tinted to help save the fragile plastics.
My grandmother drove one of these! With wood paneling. Lots of good memories, thanks for the trip down memory lane 😊
Love it!! What a great example of an undervalued American car.
I know a guy who has a Pacer with a white interior and the exterior has been repainted Plymouth Plum Crazy (Purple). He has approximately 10 Pacers in various stages of restoration and lives in Pennsylvania.
Yes, that is an automatic choke, bi-metal strip that engine heats up to open, very simple and reliable. When I was growing up, my family owned many ramblers. Bought a new 1968 American for $4000, great economic car and value. We owned a classic, gremlin, javelin, pacer, and a couple more I can’t remember.
I took my wife's Gremlin in for service a day after the small town dealer received their first Pacer. I knew the owner of the dealership and asked me to take it as a loaner to get my impression of it. He told me that AMC had a marketing plan to sell them to MDs and dentists. I got lots of looks as no one had seen one.
As it was a fairly cool day and had AC so I didn't notice the fishbowl cooker effect.
My Uncle sold these at Overland Park AMC Jeep on Metcalf back in the day. I remember going there as a kid and seeing all the Pacers, Gremlins and Jeeps.
Cool fine John! I've always liked them. I believe they were supposed to be the same width as a full size car.
Back in the 70's in aviation it was all about wide body aircraft. BUT AMC made the first and only wide body compact car.
You have to be missing your old shop! You had the coolest shop on UA-cam! I miss it. I was really wanting to see the upper level relaxing area I guess that's what you call it but anyway it would have been awesome!
My Mom had a brown Pacer with 3 on the tree. Brings back memories !
Wow, I didn’t know that those were available with a 3-on-the-tree. That’s great to know. I want to get something with a 3-speed on the column, most likely a 70s F-100 but it’s great to know that the Pacer had them, too.
The model year for first Pacers was 1976, introduced in spring 1975. Built near Chicago area in Kenosha WI. The sold well the first year 117,000 hatchbacks left the factory, since were a "fad" with compact buyers. But, by summer 1976 they were "last year's news", sales slipped. Added wagon for '77 and V8 for '78, but still sales declined. Last model year was short run of 1980's, but last Pacer built in Dec. 1979.
I have a green 1970 Hornet, AMC LOVED their earth tones.
I like the rear glass looks awesome
Thanks!
When I was a lad my family had two Pacers and I ended up taking one to college! One was a coup and one was a station wagon and the birth had the 258 six. This brought back many memories.
This was the first family car that I have memories of, circa 1976... ours had the optional AMC indian weave upholstery, and air conditioning (it was in Texas). My grandpa swore by Nash, and my dad had to buy AMC, since Nash was part of the merger that created AMC.
The Pacer was built for traffic congestion, not fuel economy. The idea was that highways were getting more crowded, so build a smaller car that doesn't take up as much space on the road, is easy to maneuver in cities and parallel park, and has good outward visibility. AMC also decided to future-proof it for federal safety regulations by designing it to meet all the most stringent, worst case scenario, proposals NHTSA was considering for future years so they wouldn't have to constantly spend more R&D money every year to update it for new rules, it would already meet all of them from the start.
The car was also supposed to have a Wankel rotary engine that AMC was partnering with GM to develop, which seemed like the future in the early 1970s. But, GM pulled out of the project and AMC couldn't afford to develop it on their own, so they had to get stuck using the engines they already had. It took them until the 1980s to figure out how to cut two cylinders off the I6 to make a 4, which was way too late for the Pacer
what a gem. really well taken care of!
Less on the other cars
and selfies videos AND
MORE on the ‘75 Pacer. CB
The advertising at the time of its introduction made a point of its *width* in pitching it’s new vision of a compact. It struck me as a spacious/stylish Pinto/Gremlin upgrade.
My Uncle had a yellow one,factory aluminum wheels,with black vinyl interior, buckets, and a 3-speed manual. It was pretty cool.
The original porche? 🤗😊
I always smiled seeing how much some of them looked so much like a pacer
Back in the day it was very roomie, fairly economical, the wagon version was a great family mule.
Speaking of the Pacer grille, it was part of an effort at developing a unified style concept for AMCs. Look at a 64 AMC Rambler American-- it's front is basically a 60s version of this, with the tunneled headlights and this clean style of grille. The first generation Hornets and Gremlins also had it, as did the Matador Coupe.
American Motors was like the automotive equivalent to the little engine that could. You can’t help but respect them.
The Concord and Eagle were basically a Hornet but modernized, the same front end from the Concord was used on several cars with different body styles but each were unique but also uniquely AMC.
If I remember correctly, one of the most popular new Jeeps, the 94 I’m wanting to say Grand Cherokee was designed by them and the Chrysler LH cars were, too.
For a while, they sold some Renaults- the Alliance and Encore and maybe another and of course, they took great care of Jeep.
Chrysler bought them specifically for Jeep but the continued to build the AMC Eagle for a few years and then created an Eagle brand within Chrysler for a while.
My parents owned a 81 Concord. I remember buying parts for repairs being a real pain because they did source parts from the big 3 and sometimes those parts changed mid-model year. Still I loved the Concord.
This was a great buy, JR. I would love to know the build date on the car because I was born in 1975. It’d be cool if it rolled off the assembly line on my birthday. Btw, there is no better 70s color you could’ve gotten than this one. I hope you enjoy your new car!
The pacer was designed to have a rotary engine. AMC was always on the edge of bankruptcy so development of the rotary was halted. You'll find parts from every manufacturer in it. One note on the interior size the head of AMC was tall and wanted to be able to sit in the backseat of the vehicles. It started with the Marlon. The Concord and Hornet were about the same price with the same performance. Thats why my mom wanted a Concord and not a Pacer. We lived in an AMC manufacturer town.
The Rotary motors were to be supplied by GM, but they [GM] canceled them at last minute. AMC was forced to shoe in their I6.
Coolest car you have ever had on you channel!
Groovy Man! Passenger door is a couple of inches longer than the driver's
I had a '72 Hornet with the 232. The upgraded I-6 was a 258. There used to be a company that made all kinds of performance parts for those engines - headers, intakes for 4-barrel carbs etc. Never got to soup up my Hornet, no money at the time.
Finally a cool car. Congrats!
My very first car was an Amc Spirit!! oh the memories of the interior and seats so similiar
Nice Pacer. I remember when they were new.
Bought a new Pacer in 1975. Same color as yours. As for traveling, we drove it from Charleston, SC to Cape Cod with no problems.
Very cool car, love it! Greetings from Milan, Italy!
Really enjoying the consistent videos & Gabe content!
Pretty clean little Pacer. My family had a bunch of AMC cars growing up. The only new one was a Jeep J20. The others were used, Concords and other Passenger Cars. They all had inline 6 engines and ran for years. Looking forward to the driving videos. Thanks.
Take it to Cars and Coffee. That'd be awesome! 👍
My mom liked these back in the day 😂 This and Cadillac Seville bustle butts.
My aunt owned a Pacer. Back in the 70s I used to hop in back (there were no laws restricting seating) and remember looking out the bubble while she drove. Made me think of The Jetsons
If "Bohemian Rhapsody" isn't played on its first drive I will send it back
The radio doesn't work 🫤
@@WatchJRGo better find a portable boombox chief 😂
Bluetooth speaker and a pile of licensing dough.
@@WatchJRGo You and gabe should dress up with wigs when you do the Bohemian Rapsody theme
@@nickgeorgiakakis7249this was in fact, discussed 😂
Awesome car! Love it. You need to do some “will it run” videos on some older “junk”.
I'm so jealous and so thrilled your keeping the Mac pacer on the road I had a "77" AMC Pacer wagon with a stick Enjoy!!!!
Good morning JR. You've got a great car. The 1975 AMC Pacer is a awesome car.
AMC built some neat torquey engines. 232, 258 and the V8 was 304 as I recall. If the ride is good the springs all the way around must have been replaced. The electronic choke will fail but if you stick a big screwdriver down the carburetor's throat, you can get it started...oh wait, it will never get that cold where you are, never mind. The fishbowl can get really hot in the sun, so the air con was a bit over-built. As I recall. I'm sure the brakes are poor compared to what we can get now, but we'll see what you do.
That’s pretty cool! Now you need a Gremlin X!
Oh hell yes!!!!! Back to the good stuff
Not gonna lie, that is a pretty cool ride. You will get all the attention. Never going to be fast, but it wasn't made to be. Can't wait for more Pacer content.
Wow, I remember the news of it coming out - it was supposed to have the GM rotary engine, but at the last moment - they had to use their 6 cylinder engine. I am surprised it didn't have AC, I thought that came standard on most 70's AMC cars - perhaps not. Innovations included the longer passenger side door to get in and out of the back seat - just didn't work well in crowded parking lots - the same as any other full size two door. The windows could not roll all the way down due to their size, hence the "handle like inside grab". I think it also came with rack & pinion steering which was sort of a first for this size of car. It sort of sold well the first 2 years of it's life, but after that - no-one wanted one. A couple of years later, they introduced the V-8 version with the station wagon like shape. AMC built some interesting looking cars, they usually were good quality, but I think this was one of their major flops that cost them dearly. Thanks for showing this car, as some pointed out - it should be included with any unique car built in the United States.
A/C was standard on the top line Ambassador, not "most AMC cars".
I totally love this!
I just bought a 76 Pacer in March in Rogers, AR! Mine has the 258 inline 6. Not as clean as this one. Mine needs some carpet and seat repair but pretty much all there. But it's cool to see someone else appreciate these cars!
I actually saw a Pacer with an older guy driving it last week in San Jose, CA. It was very clean too. A rare sight!
I remember a TV commercial at the time that was meant to show how roomy was the interior of the Pacer. They used a Pacer shell, with the back end gone. Then they drove a Chevy Nova right into the shell. It definitely made an impression.
Yes the tv ads for it bragged “the first WIDE small car.” They didn’t mention how overweight it was, or how the crude suspension protruded so much into the backseat area that it’s only rated (and only has seatbelts) for two. A Hornet fit 3 in the back. Oops!
A friend of mine girlfriend had one back in the early 80s
Had the 258 six with all the classic AMC rattling hatch and doors
YES, Body tech AMC/JEEP dlr 76-79 and remember AMC/JEEP having a recal for Pacer hinges wearing to soon.. A beefier hinge w/ larger pin bushing was the fix .. Painted and replaced quite a few hinges.. AH , Memories..
Back in the 80s, I brought an AMC Pacer Wagon for $120 as cheap transportation. Back then, it was a geeky car that most folks made fun of. However, It wasn't long before I really fell in love with driving it. It was the first car I owned that had AC in it. I loved its quirkiness. The car being a wagon had quite a lot of space. I wish I had never got rid of it to buy a "cooler" car. Today, it's still one of my most favorite cars I ever owned. I never heard anything bad ever said about them by the people who actually owned one, like myself. It was truly a great "Small-Wide" car
Party on Wayne!
Party on Garth!
Whoa!!!! Such a great car! I love the 70's pattern on the cloth seats.
Oh, Man. My grandmother had a '79. Favorite memory was when my '66 mustang broke on Jr. Prom night and I had to make an emergency call to grandma to take the Pacer had a great time. That car was indestructable.
Wow! The Pacer is a very unique looking vehicle.. If id did not know any better the steering wheel looks like the one from a Ford Pinto. Pea Green is a sought after color..LOL. Awesome content!
Nice Fish Bowl!
Nice shade of ‘puke’ green, love it 😂😂
Tint the windows JR. Check and see about aftermarket AC for the Pacer if you plan to keep it for awhile. I look forward to the driving around videos.
Beautiful little car! I love the interior, the color, the windows. I wish they made cars with character today instead of making them all look alike. I'd love to own this car.
Growing up, mom had a '77 Hornet wagon. 70s AMCs are really under rated cars (and were even back in the day). Honestly a real clean 70s AMC would make an awesome platform for a "daily driver classic car" since they're dead simple and everything on them is easily fixed and they've got plenty of room under the hood for engine swaps of all sorts or even EV conversions. LS Swapped with Wilwood brakes and you'd have the ultimate sleeper. I think there's a few aftermarket companies (like American Performance Products) that have tons of resto-mod and upgrade stuff for these old AMCs .
Finally, an interesting car I grew up with. My first car was an early 70's AMC Hornet. Gold, white vinyl roof, and go fast stripes. When the Pacer came out, we thought it was from the future. It was the 70's. What did we know. Nice catch on the passenger side door. Thought you were going to miss that one. Looking forward to more videos on it.
I had a 76 pacer with the 6 and a 3 speed on the floor. It ran and drove fine and ripped right along on the freeway !
Love that thing!
I had 2 Pacers. One was a 78, 258 4 speed. The other was a 80 station wagon with a 304 auto. Both cars were fun to drive.
Love the content :) Needs more exterior camera footage of you driving :) I never knew the pacer hood opened to the front like a vette or old jag
Body tech AMC/JEEP dlr 76-79 .. Had a CJ7 w/ 304 .. It would scare me at times.Sold it and bought a Cherokee , bigger footprint.. .Drove a bunch af AMC/JEEP vehicles.. The pacer doors are so heavy , Jeep had a recall for hinges wearing quite soon .. Hinge pins wear from heavier door to hold up..I R and R'd a lot of hinges all painted.. AH Memories
Oh the memories growing up in the 70s with those cars.......I drove an orange Pinto station when I was working delivery for a local pharmacy....A friend took his parents Ford Granada mug bogging....Hilarious........My brother in law...His most prized possession was a Gremlin...
If the car is more of a green color, that color is called candy apple if not then the color is called golden jade metallic. Hard to tell on film. Pretty cool car. I wonder if you can order any parts for the engine internally speaking that would give it more power and still retain its originality? That would be pretty cool to see it upgraded. I know most people upgrade the carburetor to a 390 CFM two barrel. It's given a little more gusto in the fuel department. I don't know much else.
Just promise us you will not go to burnout competitions with it and ruin it.
I had a 73 gremlin with a 258 3 spd stick. Would piss off all the popular hotter cars of the time, was surprisingly quick. I abused it for 100k mi. with minimal maintenance. Best car I ever owned.
When I was in grade school my principal had that same amc. I remember being drove home in it. Awesome old car. Good video
I'm so excited! Love the Pacer! I grew up on Wayne's World and have always wanted to get a Pacer. This green fits it really well. Easily like a top 3 favorite of any car you've had on the channel.
I just saw an LS swapped Pacer for sale and I'm so tempted to get it. Love this content!