AMC Pacer
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The AMC Pacer was a two-door compact car produced in the United States by the American Motors Corporation between 1975 and 1980, although design started in 1971. Its unusual, bulbous look and differently-sized doors still make it an easily recognized icon of the 1970s.
Contents |
Genesis
Designed to appear futuristic, the shape was highly rounded with a huge glass area, very unusual for its time. It was also very wide for a small car, almost as wide as an American full-size car. Americans, it was assumed, were accustomed to large cars and to get them into a compact, it had to feel roomy inside.
One of its unusual features was that the passenger-side door was four inches longer than the driver's side, the rationale being to encourage rear-seat passengers to enter the car from the safer side. It was also among the first production cars in the U.S. to feature rack-and-pinion steering.
AMC's chief stylist Richard A. Teague began work on the car as early as 1971, anticipating an increased demand for smaller vehicles in the 1970s. In the mid 70s the U.S. government mandated some serious safety improvements for the 1980 model year, including 50 mph front end crash testing, 25 mph side crash testing, 30 mph rollover, 10 mph front and 5 mph rear bumpers. The Pacer was designed to meet these requirements, and also included a new windshield safety glass that broke into small round beads instead of sharp edges and a plastic sandwich that stretched to keep passengers in the vehicle. GM, Ford, and Chrysler convinced the government that the new safety rules could not be met by a financially viable production car instead of designing new vehicles that could meet them. To be fair, meeting the new requirements would have required totally redesigning every vehicle in their inventory, a very costly move. Some of the safety features were pulled out of the actual production version of the Pacer after the requirements were revised (reduced). For example, the original Pacer had a roof bump between the front and rear, intended for the roll bar, which was deleted from the production model. The Pacer's safety features were not advertised well and very few people were willing to buy one for its safety. The extra weight of the Pacer, which was caused in part by these features and because of all the heavy glass, hurt its fuel economy. Production models managed 16 mpg city, although on the highway it could get 26 mpg or better, depending on driving habits and transmission used.
The one unique design feature that survived into all cars today is the aerodynamics. The Pacer had a drag coefficient of only .32, which was outstanding for a fairly large car, especially at the time. Part of this design was the elmination of rain gutters with the top of the doors blending into the roof for better aerodynamics. This was criticized as potentially allowing rain in on the front seat, but is now standard on all current cars, none of which now have rain gutters. This was before the fuel crisis or the flood of small foreign imports into the US market, so development was rather forward-thinking for the time.
Teague's original design featured a Wankel rotary engine which would be purchased from General Motors, who were at the time seriously intending wide-scale use of rotaries in production cars. The fuel crisis and up-coming emissions legislation in the US killed off the GM rotary. GM cancelled development in 1974, unable to make their version meet upcoming late 70s emissions levels in an acceptable period of time (others were having trouble with emissions too, but Mazda finally solved the problem). Fuel efficiency of the rotary was no better than existing engines of the same power level. While the rotary was more compact and lighter than contemporary piston engines, and potentially cheaper to build, GM felt there was no compelling reason to spend the money required to tool up for producing an engine that needed to have a car designed around it for any significant advantage over existing engines. Although power output of the Wankel design is rather high for displacment (there is some dispute over how rotary displacement is calculated), power output is at high RPMs. Americans, who were used to low-revving, high torque engines, would have to get used to a totally different way of driving with rotary powered vehicles.
GM's rather sudden cancellation of the rotary left the Pacer, which was designed around the rotary, without an engine. AMC had sunk too much money and effort into the design to scrap it, so the Pacer was hastily reconfigured to accept AMC's existing I-6 engine, necessitating a complete redesign of the firewall to keep the long engine within the sleek envelope of the body.
Contrary to popular myth, the Pacer was not widened six inches 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. Rear and mid engine layouts were explored, but the AMC found that Americans at the time were not comfortable with the front wheel drive layout, preferring more the traditional and familiar rear wheel drive. The car was designed from the start to be as wide as period mid-size (and some full-size) sedans mainly for comfort and to give the impression of being in a much larger car — at least from the front seat.
Production
In its first year of production, the Pacer sold well, with 145,528 units. It was an American designed and built compact car, and that was enough. Competition was not too stiff from other American manufacturers, most of whom had been blindsided by the oil crisis and the sudden demand for compact, economy vehicles (some to the extent that they had to import cars from their European subsidiaries or affiliates), while many buyers did not desire a foreign-built vehicle (they were also quite expensive). Unfortunately for AMC, Pacer sales fell rapidly after the first two years, however, and production ceased after a short run of 1980 models (mainly to use up leftover 1979 parts) with a total of 280,000 cars built. Improved competition and resistance to the Pacer's unusual styling are often cited as the reasons for this outcome.
The Pacer's drawbacks, aside from controversial looks, included a lack of cargo space when carrying a full load of passengers (because of its short wheelbase and sloped glass) and a lack of power; the Pacer was rather heavy and the AMC straight six quite old and underpowered. In 1976, a 4.2 L High Output engine was offered, which helped the performance at the then-unacceptable cost of much higher fuel consumption. A 5.0 L V8 was offered in 1978, but by then the Pacer was thought outmoded, and it did little for sales.
A station wagon body style was offered from 1977, with increased cargo capacity and a less unusual design. Some models featured simulated wood-grain panelling on the lower bodysides and the rear door.
Sadly, the "small but wide" formula did not translate well in export markets where true compact cars were plentiful and accepted. The idea of a "compact" car with a 4.0 L engine is generally considered as a bizarre concept to a non-American. Though the Pacer was acclaimed in 1975 by many American automobile reviewers, in Britain, when Autocar and Motor magazines looked back at their 90-year history in the late 1980s, the AMC Pacer was singled out as the worst car they had tested. One infamous headline read: We drive the AMC Pacer — and wish we hadn't.
At the time of the Pacer's introduction in 1975, reviewers referred to it as a "fishbowl on wheels" or a "jellybean in suspenders" because of its unconventional styling.
Movie and TV appearances
Pacers made a number of movie, TV and commercial appearances, largely out of being a 1970s icon and being commonly considered an ugly or weird-looking car. The best known was the Mirthmobile in the popular 1992 comedy Wayne's World and its sequel, which also featured a Pacer convertible and a stretch Pacer limousine. Pacers also feature in:
- A blue Pacer was seen in the Sylvester Stallone movie Cobra (1986).
- The 1997 movie Good Burger has a custom-modified version of the Pacer named "Burgermobile".
- A Pacer was also featured on an edition of MTV's "Pimp My Ride" program, and Eminem drives one in a scene in the video for The Real Slim Shady.
- The 1976 French comedy L'aile ou la cuisse? has one of the principal actors (Coluche) driving a Pacer.
- John Denver drove a red Pacer station wagon in the movie Oh God! with George Burns.
- The character "C.A.R.R.," a talking, sentient car from the TV show Stroker and Hoop very strongly resembles an AMC Pacer.
- The character Cole from the 90s TV show Martin often spoke of the Pacer he drove.
Today
The Pacer is not yet a highly priced collectible, though many now have a "classic" status at 25 years old or more. The maximum value listed for any Pacer in the N.A.D.A. appraisal guide is almost $7,000 USD for a 1977 Pacer station wagon in perfect condition. The cars do have a cult following, especially among fans of 1970s popular culture.