The Unfortunate History of the AMC Pacer

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My High School drama teacher had a Pacer for her commuter car. She commuted 40 miles one way a day. She said she bought it because it was a safe car.

The kids at school called it her pregnant roller skate.
 
Nice that people can see the real Pacer story, excellent video.

I drove AMC cars for 33 years and find them to be quite durable. Never had to retire one that had less than 200,000 miles, except the last one, a 1965 American, which was retired due to 47 salty New Jersey winters finally eating it away.

AMC pioneered many things that all automakers use today, like unibody construction, one piece door openings, and if you look at a Pacer you'll notice it has no rain gutters, the doors go into the roof, just like most new cars today.

Much innovation came from the independent automakers, and they were the last independent we had.

Ken D.
[this post was last edited: 5/11/2015-11:26]
 
Made in my hometown of Kenosha WI where I currently live. Our only brand new car when I was growing up was a '69 Rambler American. My Dad bought me my first car in 1976, a '75 Gremlin X. I've also had a '71 Ambassador station wagon, a '73 Matador and an '80 Concord. The Concord was junk but I'd give anything to have my Gremlin back. This photo shows the AMC plant from 52nd St in Kenosha on the right. There were two huge AMC plants in town, the old Simmon's factory at the lakefront and this one.

pumper-2015051119314708946_1.jpg
 
Its nice to see that someone has preserved Fred MacMurray's VW Squareback, but I can assure you when I saw him driving it, it didn't look anything like this pristine example. It was the original Tan paint and REALLY dirty and somewhat ratty looking. I saw him driving it in 1976 or 77 during our last drought. It was on Wohler Rd. near the old Gay nude beach, which was very close to his ranch. I think to him this car was just a way to get from point A to point B.
 
Enjoyable video even though I was never an AMC fan. I couldn't see past the odd factor in their designs and at that time when they were new I was more interested in the big boats. 
 
~Pumper

Thanks for the memories Pumper!

One of my aunts had a Gremlin that she drove for about 12 years.  I have such great memories riding in that car.  She was a fun aunt to grow up with!

One of my memories entailed the A/C controls.  I never had the nerve to do it but....  on the cool selection there was a selection if you turned the knob all the way to the right that was "desert only".  I wanted to so bad to know what that would do.  I asked my aunt and she told me to never turn it to that position.

Can you answer the question for me?  What did "Desert Only" mean?  As I kid had all types of imaginations through my head.  Ice would fly out?  We would all freeze to death in a short time?  LOL!  What did this control point mean as far as the A/C controls?

Thanks Pumper!

Brent
 
Remember as a child our parents drove us to various places and to our summer camp cottage in a Rambler station wagen.At that time a good "soccer Mom" car?Then later the Rambler was replaced with an International Travelall-Us kids called it the "Uglyall"But it was a another good "soccer Mom" car for that time.Despite its ugly looks and wimpy 4 cyl motor the thing did the job.Guess that car could also be considered an early SUV?It could go off road rather well.
 
I think the "Desert Only" put the compressor into constant run mode for maximum cooling. Due to the low humidity in desert areas freezing up of the condenser was not an issue. In more humid climates it was. Most people took the warning a little stronger than was meant. If the condenser freezes up, the flow of air to the cabin vents is reduced considerably until the condenser unfreezes.
 
After my 70' Cougar died, I ended up with a 74' Gremlin. Pure BOL. Not even an AM radio. 232 Cu in Six. It did have a heater though. It was a cheap car that was needed for cheap transport. Pea soup green with a black interior.

I knew a couple of people who had Gremlins. We used to joke about where our Gremlins would leave us stranded. Mine was somewhat reliable. If it was going to have a problem, it'd let me know ahead of time. By 1977 the tops of the front fenders had rusted through, a month later the passenger side floorboard did the same.

The car met it's end while I was driving on a long stretch of freeway near downtown MSP where there isn't any shoulder to pull off onto. The red Oil warning light came on. I checked the oil not an hour before and there was oil in it. So rather than stop in a lane on the freeway during rush hour, I headed for an exit. By the time the car made it to the very first parking spot, the engine was smoking and the "Temp" warning light was also on. I checked the engine, and sure enough it had oil in it. It must have been the oil pump that died. So off to the junk yard it went, with 84K miles on it. And for some reason the junkyard seemed very happy to take it in.

Now around 1969 or so I do remember that AMC had that Rambler American that was a special edition.Red, White & Blue inside and out, racing stripes and their 390 engine in it. Those didn't last too long. They were snapped up pretty quickly.

A friend of mine had a 69' AMC AMX. Only 2500 of those were built that year. His was a day glow lime green color called "Big Bad Green". He had the car in the early 90s. He did a lot of restoration to it. It also had a 390 in it. The thing that got him was something about the front end having a "Sagging trunion". I've never heard of that part before but he said it's a common problem with AMC cars and parts are scarce to find. He eventually sold it to acquire a down payment on a house.
 
My grandfather had a Rambler American (blue) and my mother had a Marlin (white with red accents). They never thought they were bad cars. My grandfather could work on them easily so they were economical to keep in good running condition.

In 1973 when my mother wanted a new car, I remember test driving the Gremlin - a deep purple - and since that was my favorite color, I wanted that car. She ended up buying a Plymouth Duster in light blue. A couple of years later, my grandfather would trade his Rambler in on an Impala and that was the end of our family's AMC days.

The adult leader of our youth group at church had a brand new orange Pacer. Fun car all around. We drove it to a regional church youth something in Grand Island, NE about three hours from here. Very memorable trip, I can still see that car in the parking lot of the convention center - you couldn't lose it if you wanted to. Easily spotted from a great distance with it's bright color and distinctive shape.
 
A friend in high school had a Gremlin which I thought was so very cool. I was "stuck" with a stodgy old 1969 Delta 88 455 4-barrel, LOL. I get quite a laugh out of that, now. Further 70's car news: I survived riding regularly in a Ford Pinto!
 
One of my car pools for school used to pick me up in a draughty Chevette. The most memorable thing about that car was the roach clip that was attached to the rear view mirror.
 
During my college years Pintos, Mavericks, Monte Carlos, and Mustangs with an occasional Corvette were the most common cars on our campus. If you saw a Camaro, chances were it had license plates from a northern state on it.

The oddball was owned by my first flight instructor. He had a VW Type III sedan. Which is the coupe version of the Squareback. It seemed pretty reliable for him.

Now in storage in our garage:

whirlcool-2015051222180907271_1.jpg
 
A friend of mine in HS had a Pacer. I drove it a few times. It was smooth and quiet, even on really bad roads. Nothing seemed to unsettle it. It was good in the snow, too. The only downside was was that all that glass heated the interior REALLY quickly. The passenger side door being 4" longer really did make it easier to get in and out. I remember reading somewhere that the Wankel engine the car was designed for was originally planned to be transversely mounted w/FWD.

My dad was all set to buy a Pacer Wagon in '79. IIRC gas prices jumped and he got a new job a good bit further away so he wanted something with better gas mileage. He got a Plymouth Horizon (pic below). That year the Horizon had the same engine and transmission the Rabbit had. That was a great car.

warmsecondrinse++5-15-2015-21-14-42.jpg
 
I liked those too..

I had a few opportunities to rent those Omni/Horizons when car rental companies offered them as an economy choice. They handled nicely and had plenty of get up and go.

But a friend of ours was a mechanic at the local Plymouth dealer and he thought they were junk. The main problem with those VW engines he said were that you needed a bunch of special tools to access all the areas of the engines. And they were not easy to work on. But when they were marketed you sure did see a bunch of them on the road.

Another car I rented and liked was the Plymouth Acclaim. I thought it was a smooth and quiet car for a very reasonable price. But they weren't around but for a few years.
 
Sadly, American auto makers had a hard time coming up with a good, lightweight engine and Rambler's aluminum engines were the butt of many jokes, but even in the 70s with clear signs that gasoline would never again be as cheap as it had been for decades, even little cars and engines were still heavy and large engines were still being put in small cars. My 78 beautiful Monte Carlo had a 6 cylinder engine and was a much better car in many ways than the 8 cylinder model, but when it was new, the ignition module failed 3 times and the car had to be towed to Chevrolet garage. They finally somehow got it fixed and it never failed again. One morning, I opened the door and the whole car was filled mist from the oil in the air conditioner released through a hole in the evaporator. Fortunately there was an excellent garage in Greenbelt that replaced the evaporator but a few years later at 8 years of age, there were things failing that pointed toward the end, even though it was still a beautiful car. I think by then my father had switched to Toyotas and I followed. It was sad, but American cars were not known for durability. They kept garages busy and the economy ran on their being replaced at regular intervals.
 
>Sadly, American auto makers had a hard time coming up with a good, lightweight engine

Was it a "hard time?" Or was it just a lack of interest? A case of "we've always done things this way" inertia?

I seem to recall reading that Henry Ford's take on small cars was "small cars=small profits" or some such thing.

In any case, with the engineering resources at the largest car companies, you'd think they could have done a better job. Tom's 78 Monte Carlo may not be the worst downsizing effort to roll out of Detroit...I've heard stories of cars that were so bad the dealers wouldn't take the car they'd sold back in as a trade.

>I think by then my father had switched to Toyotas and I followed. It was sad, but American cars were not known for durability.

My parents knew someone who bought a Japanese car during 70s or maybe very early 1980s. It was a reaction to high gas prices, of course. But that person was thrilled to realize years later that the car was X years old, with Y miles on it, and--unlike all the American cars owned to that point with similar age/miles--still had all its original parts. Detroit probably lost a customer forever when that realization hit.
 
>being replaced at regular intervals.

And I speculated that may be one reason why Detroit cars had issues with long term durability: the "system" had the expectation of the car being replaced regularly. With that model, a car company is encouraged to make a fairly decent product for the short term--keep the buyer happy for the 2 years he or she has it--but long term durability is less of an issue.
 
I had an '92 Acclaim bought used in '94. I was very happy with it. The only thing I didn't like was that it had no traction control/limited slip available. It had the 2.5(6?) 4 cylinder engine option. It was basically a stripper with a/c. It was't the fastest car, but it got good gas mileage and cruised quietly at 70 m.p.h. No problems or complaints. It wasn't exciting at all, but everything worked well. I do recall there was a lot of legroom in the back. For those unfamiliar with the car, it occupied the same market slot the Dodge Dart did 20 years earlier.

Fast forward 10 years. I needed exactly that type of car again. It seemed to me at the time that that market slot had been abandoned by American manufacturers. I bought an '03 Hyundai Elantra which did the job very well.

In between I had a '96 Oldsmobile 88 which was a babied cream-puff I bought used. It was perfect for the roads of Florida where I was living at the time. However, when I moved back to NYC, the car aged very quickly and there was one problem after another. It was time to start looking for a replacement. One day the transmission shifted into neutral and decided to stay there. Cost to fix it was nearly double the worth of the car.

I called my local Smart Car dealer where I had a deposit down for one of the first to be sold in the area. I explained what happened and that I needed it NOW. sadly, there was none to be had. That led me to the Elantra.
 
Back around 1976 one of my co-workers bought a Pacer. I think it was her first car, and initially she loved it. But then the mechanical problems started showing up, and I think the automatic transmission finally failed and she got rid of the thing. But she sure was high on that car for the first few months.

 

I had to bite my tongue however, when she enthused about how wide it was. Cause she was sort of wide herself, LOL.

 

Re: the Chrysler buyout of AMC. As the story goes, Chrysler engineers were amazed when the got inside AMC and saw how a relatively small team was able to produce so many different models. The secret, which Chrysler adopted, was platform engineering, where the same team design and engineering teams produced models for the various divisions, instead of each division having its own team or "silo". This was seen later in Chrysler's use of the same basic platform in various models from Plymouth to Dodge to Chrysler. Example: Plymouth Breeze, Dodge Stratus, Chrysler Cirrus. Same basic platform, with different trim and options befitting each rung of the corporate ladder.Today we see the same basic platform underpinning the Plymouth Challenger, Dodge Charger, and Chrysler 300.

 

It was a very economical and practical approach. Most car companies do it today, but back then it was unusual for an American car company. When platform engineering was coupled with Chrysler's enthusiastic embrace of computer aided design, the company was also able to produce new models much quicker than its rivals, and by the late 1990's had earned a reputation as the world's most profitable car company. Then along came the Mercedes "merger" and it all went to hell.

 
 
Back in my day, AMC was EVERYWHERE! The first family car was a two door Rambler American, in green--once got hit in the rear when I was a baby, a few months old, much like 40-years-later, my Honda Civic getting rear-ended w/ my daughter at 10-months-old in the back seat (and the driver behind me in a Licnoln MK X SUV taking right off!)

 

And I would see at least one Ramb. Am. station wagon, in blue...!

 

The neighbors right across the street had an AMC Pacer, silver w/ black vinyl, (bucket seats, automatic floor shift, radio that was just AM, w/ an FM-converter, added-on) and in an accident, the man driving in somehow pounded his fist right through the dashboard... The car and he, both survived... 

 

I remember how that car sounded needing a new muffler, too; right while I was riding in it--and I rode in it just as frequently as in their 1970 Chrysler Newport 4 door hardtop...  That car DID get hot inside--and I think the A/C also broke (it didn't work in the Chrysler, either) and it's a shame the Wankel Rotary Engine proposed for the Pacer got left on the drawing board...  Remember the 'removable' hood sitting on the lawn when the Mobile Mechanic (The Tune-Up Man) would service the car--and got down & dirty w/ the neighbors next to 'em's Mercury Marquis; taking the wheels off o' IT, once to do brakes, alignment, etc...!

 

I crashed into my friend's grandparents' Hornet hatchback, with my bike, shattering the tail light while they were visiting... It was parked in the driveway right over the side walk while I was riding my bike (heard a SMACK!) and some red plastic from the tail light which wrapped around the rear of the car went everywhere, but didn't go inside to 'fess up about it (that is really NOT a place to put your car if you want it SAFE in our--or ANY--neighborhood!)...

 

And there were other neighbors who had a Hornet station wagon (burnt orange, tan interior) w/ a luggage rack, reclining front seats, and all but at least tinted glass and air conditioning and maybe a radio that wasn't just AM w/ only the single front speaker... We went with one of them when he took their dog to the vet to be put to sleep, just for Tippy to take one last crap in there, on the floor... It was a neat car and when they gave it to their daughter, it had an add-on A/C, just for the thing to die a few years later, & have to be junked...

 

Oh, Yaeh! A book on AMC, AMERICAN MOTORS: THE LAST INDEPENDENT, it's called! At one library I somehow found my self driving miles to go to--it's an interesting, MUST READ!!!!

 

 

-- Dave

[this post was last edited: 5/18/2015-14:29]
 
Crashed into the Hornet tail light, w/ my bike!

Ooops, that was actually a 'TINKLE!' that I heard...! (It got way too late--the SIX HOURS to tweak up my post just flew past by, in no time!)

 

But, this friend of mine's dad (the Hornet was the property of the PATERNAL grandparents) WORKED for AMC--hence they had an Ambassador (which reportedly got stolen--and I barely remember even that car) and replaced by a more modest brown 4-door Matador with a tan interior (remember flipping open the gas tank door) which we rode in, a time or two...

 

The Mom drove a red Gremlin with a black interior and I remember how dark it was inside of it--and with the way the windshield had the first band of tint across the glass that I noticed, gave me the impression of THAT being where Air Conditioning came from; it was on every A/C car I've ridden in--and plain windshields (with the exception of my Grandpa's Ranchero truck seemed to be A/C-less)...

 

Hard to believe me, my friend, and each of our sisters piled in the back seat of that car without any of us ever having to ride in the hatchback or next to Mother in the front seat!

 

There were cousins who's family had a non-metallic, bright red, Jeep--just when a JEEP was some canvas top war-era, and post-era General Purpose Vehicle, and was a one-product-line, labeled the CJ-6... (Well, there was the Cherokee, the first true SUV, along with the Willys Overland, Ford Bronco, etc., too!)

 

As for where the Father was employed: It was actually the big, tall, American Motors building in Southfield, which when the company was acquired--or ownership TAKEN OVER--by Renault, became American Center, then actually be labeled Chrysler Corporation (and the Eagle brand becoming a subsidy, along the way)--just for that tower to be no more....

 

(And now I can imagine them puttering around in a Renault Alliance, and maybe a Fuego--just to be relieved when it was "OK" to drive an Eagle, then a Jeep!)

 

 

-- Dave

[this post was last edited: 5/19/2015-13:11]
 
the Renault Fuego......seemed every dealer and mechanic was talking about that car.....from the introduction of the Turbo to the little Penguin that popped out of the dash when the AC was selected.....it was, lets say, different!

Chryslers/Plymouth/Dodge Omni/Horizon, in 4 door, or TC3/O24 2 door styles.....were nicely featured vehicles......I only got to drive ones that were either built with the 2.2 or 2.5 4cyl......or the bad ass GLH Turbo....GLH=goes like hell....team it to a 5 speed, and you had a fun little car.....

those 2.2/2.5 engines were tough little power plants.....of course I always preferred the Turbo versions.....
 
RHD AMC Cars

In old parts books you'll see on some part numbers there is a reference as to if the car is Right Hand Drive or Left Hand Drive. Someone once told me that AMC built cars for the postal service in Australia. How true that was I don't know.
 
According to Wikipedia AMC made its vehicles available in Oz via Australian Motor Industries (AMI), from about 1960 until the mid-seventies. The NSW government used the Matador and Rambler as official cars in the early seventies, apparently. In 1963 AMI were also the first company to build Toyotas outside of Japan.

US vintage vehicles have a strong following of enthusiasts over here. Lots of clubs and plenty of meets all over the country for admirers of American motoring. One of my favorite shows on our community tv channel is 'Classic Restos' - it's an Ozzie show that feature all types of vintage and collectable vehicles from trucks to bikes here, in NZ and they frequently travel to the States to showcase collections and national get togethers there.

Here is a special from NZ

post was last edited: 5/20/2015-05:53]
 
American Motors

I rode in a few AMCs in my time and was around several others. In the early '70s our next door neighbor had a Rambler (I think a '63 or '64) that he tried to use to pull a huge rock out of a hole in his backyard. He did not succeed, but the show was entertaining.

A family friend had a red Gremlin ('74 I think) that we kept for her while she was travelling one summer. She liked the car and it served her well.

A friend's mother had a beige '73 Hornet 2 door hatchback with the 232 six and 3 speed stick on the floor. I rode in that one a lot - it was somewhat sporty and seemed like it was a pretty good car for them (second car to their Buick LeSabre.)

When I was in Cub Scouts ('76-'78) one of the den mothers had a purple '68 Javelin SST with the 343 V8. That was a very cool car (and it sounded good too.) I only rode in that one a couple of times.

Around the same time, other family friends bought a '77 Pacer DL Wagon with the 258 six (yes - they made a slightly longer wagon version with pop out vent windows for the back seat passengers). They loved that one so much that they ordered a '79 Pacer Wagon Limited (leather seats and thick carpeting, power windows and locks, etc.) At about 50K miles they decided to trade the '79 in for an '81 Pontiac "Bonneville G" (same as a LeMans). On delivery day they went to the Pontiac dealer to sign the papers and the '79 Pacer threw a rod right there in the parking lot (unusual behavior for a well maintained 258.) Ironically, they still had the '77 as a second car and it had been largely trouble free.

The Pacers, Hornets, Gremlins and Concords don't do much for me, but I do like the looks of a lot of the '63-'69 Ramblers as well as the Marlins, Rebels, Javelins, AMXs, Ambassadors, Matadors (up to '73 only on the coupes - after that they got fat and ugly) and even the later Spirits. It is too bad that the last of the original independent US automakers didn't survive.

Andrew S.
 
One of my sister's friends had a Pacer, purchased at the urging of her husband for its futuristic attributes.  She took it into the dealer not long after the purchase because it would make a clunking sound when rounding a turn.  They told her the clunk was normal.  She told them that if the clunk was normal, she didn't want the car anymore.  I've forgotten what she replaced it with, but that was the end of her relationship with the Pacer.

 

Rambler made a few other attempts at being perceived as something other than an econo-box marque.  The Marlin was the first, and it sort of looked like an Edsel and a Henry J. had a baby.  The big bulky Javelin came along but never garnered much credibility.  My aunt had a red one with racy trim and she was in her 50s by then.  Enough said.  Then there was the ("That's a") Matador.  Not the boxy one that looked like a police cruiser, but the one that looked like it belonged in the garage of the Jupiter II -- if the J-II had a garage.   You have to wonder what AMC was thinking, or if they were thinking at all.

 

I thought the Levi's upholstery was an interesting idea, but I don't know how well it held up.  We all know that a pair of Levi's can wear out over time in areas where they're under stress.  I suppose patching would add character, but probably not a good idea to do iron-ons.

 

Back around 1980 I helped a friend revive an ashy green '61 Rambler American that needed a new driveshaft (the old one had literally fallen off).  It had a recently rebuilt engine, and he was told by the owners, who he knew, that if he could get if off the driveway he could have the car.   It smelled musty inside from having sat for a couple of years, but damned if it didn't start right up after we put the new driveshaft on and were ready to take it for its test run through the neighborhood.  We felt like thieves on that maiden drive, riding around in a car that was free!

 

It was a fun car that made lots of joyrides and party runs to Santa Cruz, San Francisco and Russian River, and it held its own keeping up with traffic on area freeways.   Those were the days.
 

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