Classic car question

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Hey SA:

Would you mind letting us know what you decide to do? I think I still have some old Ford books around here somewhere, one of which covers Pintos.
 
Thanks, everybody, for the info. I'd love to get this car, but it's apparently being sold by people who never answer their phone. It's not restored, but it looks to be in really good shape. The apparent defects are:

A cracked grille (chromed plastic--glue)

A 2-inch rust spot on the hood (can be retouched)

Chrome trim around back window has loose seam (reglue)

One flat tire

Mechanically, all I know is that nothing is pouring out of it and that it must run, because it's been moved to different positions around the lot where it's being sold. If I do manage to get in touch with the seller, my brother (who is more mechanically inclined than I) will come with me to look under the hood.

My favorite car is actually the AMC Pacer, and I used to see them all the time when I was in college (2001-2005). It seemed like everyone who wasn't driving Daddy's SUV was driving a Pacer or a Caprice Classic.
 
Have you got your Taurus checked out? A 1995 is still a fairly new car. Unless you cracked a rod in the engine or something like that I'm sure it's getting worth fixed. I would recommend getting the Pinto for a second car and not getting rid of your old one.

You need to check all the fluid levels before you start it up, this will tell you how it has been maintained and how much leakage there is (oil, antifreeze, transmission fluid).


I would count on replacing the tires, brakes, master cylinder, radiator/heater hoses,rubber fuel lines and fuel pump, alternator/voltage regulator/battery, spark plugs and wires.
I did all this to a 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis with more than 250,000 miles on it and it drives well, 50 miles a day, 7 days a week.
Especially I would replace all the charging system stuff first thing. This is the only thing that ever gave me trouble consistenly on Fords was problems with the alternator and voltage regulator. Most times the "ALT"ernator warning light does not work right so you don't know there's trouble till it's too late.
 
You know I'm going to second Chad's motion (the final decision is of course, up to you) and say it might be worth your while to fix. How many miles does it have? Is it the one with the 3.8 liter or the newer 3.0 liter engine. I forget if it was 95 or 96 when the Taurus/Sable got it's makeover. I have a 1997 Mercury Sable station wagon and I like it a lot, it has really served me well.
 
I love Pacers too. I was in USA as an exchange student in 1981 and saw Pacers for the first time. I read that they were designed for a Wankel rotary engine but AMC didn't have it developed in time so in went the ancient 6 cylinder motor. My favourite was the later one with the more station wagon shaped back, the earlier one with the sloping hatchback didn't look as good to me. There is only one Pacer in this country, it was imported for the Melbourne Motor Show but AMC pulled out of Australia shortly after (1975? 1976?) so the model was never released. On Pacers the right side door is longer than the left side to encourage rear seat passengers to exit on the kerb side, but in right hand drive Australia this "feature" is the wrong way round!
The Australian importer of AMC cars (They were all badged as Rambler here) quit AMC in the late 1970s as the Rambler Hornet and Rambler Matador were very slow sellers, they also dropped Triumph from UK and became Toyota Australia, I guess that was a good move...

Chris.
 
Havent' seen a Pacer or a Gremlin (even longer) in a loooong long time. To me they were hideous looking akin to "clown cars" The Pacer was touted for it's width wasn't it, with the ad showing a guy putting in a 6ft sub sandwich. Gremlins came in those horrible colors. ugh
 
My Taurus has about 150,000 miles on it and has just gotten a new air cleaner (shouldn't stall now, but we'll see) and $400 worth of brake work that I'm still paying off. I inherited it from my father, who bought it in early 1996. It's definitely driveable, but I never liked it, even when I was a kid. For the past couple of days I've been driving my mother's car, a gas-sucking Dodge Intrepid that occasionally kicks its computerized heater on to blow super-hot air in my face (which cannot be turned off until the car decides to).

I used to have a Plymouth Acclaim that I loved dearly--until the radiator blew up on the interstate. My automobile track record is not good.
 
I knew a woman who owned an automatic Pacer back in the 70's. She was all jazzed about it, until she discovered what horrible gas mileage it got, as well as getting very hot in the sun due to all the upper glass. She was also on the hefty side, and always trying to lose weight. I kept my mouth shut about the "wide ride" aspect of the Pacer, lol. She eventually dumped the Pacer and perhaps not coincidentally also lost a lot of weight.

I think the Pacer was featured in the movie "Wayne's World". It does have a kind of retro chic to it nowadays, but I'd much prefer a 21 window VW minivan.

I'm a bit surprised to hear the Intrepid guzzles gas. Perhaps it was the first generation model, with the older 3.3 liter motor? I have a 300M that gets reasonable mileage - up to 28 on the freeway, and usually around 18 or better for mixed city/highway lead foot driving. For a 250 hp car, that's not bad. Any non-hybrid car will get poor mileage in stop and go city driving. My automatic Neon drops from an average 25 mpg in mixed city/highway to 16 mpg when I only drive it five miles each day in town. But then, it refuses to shift into 3rd gear until the transmission is completely warmed up.
 

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