American Motors was an automaker that would think out of the box as needed to stay relevant. A case-in-point is the oddball 1970-77 Gremlin, while another is the 1975-80 Pacer. The latter was an upside-down bathtub-shaped compact that had more glass area than even a Cadillac. With just 36,000 original miles, this ’80 Pacer wagon has been a part of a private collection and the seller no longer has room for it. Located in Lake Elsinore, California, this last-year edition is available here on craigslist for $16,500. Thanks for the heads-up on this one, Pat L.
Design work on the Pacer dated back to 1971 when the idea was to build a small car with a big car feel. At that time, it was called “Project Amigo” and what finally emerged was a vehicle that was as wide as a full-size car, had a body surface area that was 37% glass, and was the first modern, mass-produced, U.S. automobile that used a “cab-forward” platform. The car’s unusual shape would earn it a lot of nicknames, like “The Flying Fishbowl” or it being described as the 1970s answer to “George Jetson’s mode of transportation”.
About 280,000 Pacers were built over six model years, with production winding down before the calendar turned over to the new decade, so the 1980 Pacers had the smallest numbers. The seller indicates that only 500 station wagons like his/hers were built for that model year, though other sources say it’s closer to 1,300. Either way, not many survivors are likely left and in the condition of this seller’s automobile.
Having been used little over the past 42 years, this Pacer is in good shape and looks like a turnkey car – one that you could drive anywhere. There is no evidence of rust or body damage, and the blue paint is nice as the result of one repaint some time ago. Its matching plush fabric interior looks to be in equally good shape, though perhaps a tad faded. The car is well-equipped with an AM/FM radio (long before the days of satellite radio), factory air conditioning, Magnum 500 wheels with period-correct, low mileage tires, roof rack, and tinted glass.
This Pacer has a 258 cubic-inch inline-6 sandwiched under the hood, paired with a Chrysler-supplied automatic transmission, power steering, and power front disc brakes. For those wanting to keep the car in California, we’re told it will pass the stringent emissions standards of that state. The carburetor has been rebuilt and a new fuel pump is in place. If you were looking for your first classic car to show off, it’s doubtful that many folks at Cars & Coffee wouldn’t have comments to share about this automobile!
Go ahead and laugh, I knew people that had Pacers, and LOVED them. They would have easily bought another, if they could have found one. Few cars generate the buzz of a Pacer, a wagon, even better, not quite as geeky looking. Oh sure, Hollywood had it’s fun with them, but truth is, they were great cars. They were comfy, dependable, and we laugh at the “fishbowl” moniker, but there wasn’t a car that offered better visibility. Dynamite heat and A/C, AMC just didn’t have the fan base of the big 3, or it would have been an even bigger hit. Great find.
I needed a car in the early eighties and picked up a Pacer wagon. That was one of the few cars that never left me stranded. No matter how cold it was it ALWAYS started on the first try. It never hesitated, sneezed or stalled. I put a boat load of miles on that car and my sister finished it off by nodding off and kissing a telephone pole. Junked it and a few months later I saw it in a parking lot. A young girl said she saw me looking at the car. I told her it used to be mine. Her brother in law bought it from the scrap yard and fixed it so it’d pass inspection. She said it still ran great!
With those windows, it had to have “Dynamite heat and A/C”.
Not only Wayne’s World, but the principal from The Breakfast Club drove one.
It seems that whenever someone in a movie drove one, they were portrayed as kinda geeky lol. Makes me want one even more!
In where in the film exactly was a AMC PACER ever shown or mentioned? Or are you referencing a special edition of the movie with all the cuts?? I’m just asking.
I assume you are asking about The Breakfast Club.
There is a scene where they briefly show Principal Vernon at home, and in the driveway is a yellow Pacer with black vinyl top…I think it was The Breakfast Club. Now you got me second guessing myself lol.
https://jalopnik.com/celebrate-valentines-day-the-right-way-in-the-waynes-wo-1848386641
Thanks Sam nice clip.
the two things I remember about Pacer’s – the gigantic transmission hump and the tendency for the doors to sag…
Another weird thing about those big doors was the passenger door was longer than the driver’s side to make you load at the curb. The driver’s seat didn’t tilt forward.
That was an ingenious design. (Not so much for overseas, however)
Perfect for the pups 🐶 in the back wagon. Ours liked to look out the window all the time.
COOL CAR!!! However does it show “scam” in its ad? Seems……How would you protect yourself from being scamed? with CL….
Speaking of CL, when someone sends in a car like this AMC, does the sender and BF for that matter, happen to look further? I saw a Lincoln MK3, a 280Z, a 76 Corvette, 56 Ford, two VW’s, 64 Rambler, 60VW, 39 Plymouth, 83 Rabbit Conv, 70 elcamino, 76 Ford truck, 81 Jeep pickup, 70 Mustang conv, 31model A, 81 VW bus, 67 Pontiac, 65 ElCamino, 69 Thunderbird…I stoped there….?????
What about the ad indicates a scam? The guy provides a lot of information, including his phone number. Prefers calls to texts, etc. The car is not priced at a too-good-to-believe price. Seems legit to me.
Great cars, then and now. Not my cup of tea but, then again, I’m sure that goes both ways. I would gladly drive this every day for basic transportation if it wasn’t so valuable nowadays. I love AMC’s, I have recently owned a Rebel Machine and a SC/360 Hornet, both 4-speeds, so I’m not just a fairweather fan.
only 1 ta have (waggy) in my mind & w/correct engine. I’d wanna ‘no hood bump’ model tho.
Change out the non-matchin interior (B4 covid I saw 1 of the typical vendors had 1 roll left of the ‘apache’ uplhostery) & geta matchin rug (1 of the4 colors in the seats or the bule exterior), etc. Like this paint enuff…Auto & Air is OK too, there must Ba BW 4 speed (ie OD) for it tho?
I’ve said it, before and I’ll say it again…”GOD, I MISS AMC!”
A guy I worked with swore he got a V-8 from the factory in this car when he ordered it that way. Was wondering if the experts on here can verify you could order a V-8 with this car?
But he also told me he had a V-8 Gremlin as well. Or is it like the Vega, you could put a V-8 in there, but have to beef everything else up to handle it.
You could in fact get a 5.0/304 V8 in both the Gremlin and the Pacer
…as long as it was a ’78, ’79, or 1980 Pacer with the raised hood.
Yes, its totally true, and boy, did they have the set- up…the Vega had a similar set- up in the front……the a.m.c 8 cylinder was an amazing engine…so well designed you could run it for awhile with no head gaskets!!! as good as a chevy 327, better since the distributor was right in front, and not set back like chevy muscle on the firewall…you still had to beef everythiong else, I remember a dana or jeep rear fit pretty well….the pacer front- x member and a-arms were serious:a lot like novas, but without those stupid, heavy -as-hell half -frame rails
Can tell the valve cover has been repainted, due to the wrong AMC blue. Metallic was pre ’73. SMH
I owned one and loved it…until the rack-and-pinion steering broke and I ran into a tree.
That rack and pinion was the easiest to rebuild that I’ve ever seen.
My girlfreinds mom had one. It was also a wagon and she would lend it to us sometimes. We were so greatful to have this car and not have to walk during the cold winter months.
Yeah, it was different alright but had a decent heater and was a very comfortable car to take to the cabin. Yup, these cars always bring a smile to my face.
I never owned one but I always liked the styling. And there is nothing wrong with have a lot of glass.
I never owned one but I always liked the styling. And there is nothing wrong with have a lot of glass area
This would be cool to have and drive around, but not at that price.
I’ve owned two, both 75s. I drove one for years until it succumbed to Vermont salt. That one was a 258 with 3 on the tree. It rode and drove great. The second was for parts, specifically the front suspension. I used it under a 46 Chevy pickup. It fit under there like it had been made for that 46 frame. That was in the early 90s and the people I sold it to are still driving it and have done nothing except grease it like they should.
Yes!!…i’ve seen a whole bunch of these front ends going into old trucks lately….I’m curious: you welded it in first, or worked the rear -end and front end at the same time? An amc engine or chevy?…yeah, i remember easy to find in the early 90’s in new england here.
I welded it in, took some short pieces of 2×4 tubing, put them on the outside of the frame and slid that down inside the front suspension. Perfect fit.
https://jalopnik.com/celebrate-valentines-day-the-right-way-in-the-waynes-wo-1848386641 …..Wayne’s World
I didn’t realize production was so low on the wagons ,they do have much better lines than the run about in my opinion .No one has mentioned when they first came out AMC was caught by surprise ,they couldn’t build em fast enough ,then when every Mormon family in the country had one ….they were like last weeks fish and they sat on the lot forever .As I am showing folks around my collection our Pacer wagon draws interest in that young folks have never seen such ,I tell them about the ad campaign showing a group of sandwich chefs packing into one and assembling a sandwich looked about 20 foot long as they pulled it out the tailgate upon their destination Then I left the reverse opening hood and ours has not the 6 or the rare V8 ….but the electric motor along with a bank of batteries totaling 21 including those under the rear floorboard 20 6V and 1 12V for lights and radio it is equipped with 3/4 ton truck springs and of the hundreds I have shown it to I think only one has known what I always point out to them is THE HEATER ,it has a gasoline heater that usually produces a rather confused look on their face .Here in Texas no one has ever seen one .
There is a limited amount of information around the internet about the “Change of Pace” build by EVA …Electric vehicles of america one source I read over 100 were built and then elsewhere I read perhaps just a dozen Should anyone have information about them I would appreciate it if you would share
Back in the “day” had anyone ever told me a Pacer would be priced for 16,500 I would have called the guys with the long sleeve shirt that ties in the back I have sold Nashes,Ramblers,AMCs of all sorts BUT of the 1,000s of autos I sold back in my Tote the Note days I only ever sold ONE Pacer in the mid 80s and I remember it well white with a maroon top and interior front end was so worn out you could hardly keep it between the fence rows and I had to replace the long door as it fell off on a text drive I took a really rough 57 Chevy pick up for the down payment ( still have parts of it ,with the old pacer door in the back) never saw the feller again ,he never made even the first payment ….and I never went looking for him ,I kinda worried it might show back up I like to have NEVER gotten rid of that car …No telling what kinda beating that car took to get that worn out
The best part of this nerd-mobile was the front suspension…..i was a solid a.m.c. guy, and you could take the front clip and use it for V-8 conversions especially since by the 1990’s , 8 cylinder amc compacts were very rare- if you took the time and trouble to install, you would have something that held the road like a chevelle or a truck, but light and fast as sheet- offa -shingle……I’m only sorry i didn’t pull more pacer front clips off and store them, someone should remake a modified pacer clip for aftermarket…I liked ’em better than the mustangII /pinto fr ends.
WOW! Thats a lot of feedback for a pacer. All i wanted to write was :ugliest cars ever-As i bite my Toung, Its a matter of taste. Not my cup of tea but look at all the response. I rode in one one time. All the glass-felt i was on stage or somthing. There was something ackward about the front seat. I think it was a bench-felt like i was sitting on a couch. She gave me a ride to pick-up a car i bought day before.I went from riding in a pacer to driving home a 1970 cuda 440 they had in a garage for a few years. Much better drive.
As a former owner of a 1975 Pacer for six years, I feel the need to respond to your comment. My take on it’s styling is pure genius (with the exception of the high roof line). The front end was stunningly simplistic. The seats were very supportive, and comfortable (even in the base model). The car started when it was -25 below on it’s first try, after a blizzard. In another snowstorm it plowed through over 6″ of snow on unplowed city streets for over four miles without snow tires. I didn’t stop, and luckily timed all the traffic lights perfectly. I was able to make it within one block of my home before getting stuck. When the thermostat went out at a stop sign, I was 30 yards from a service station in a residential neighborhood. I could go on, and on about why I loved this car.
I did test drive a 1972 Cuda by myself. I couldn’t wait to get out of it. All I remembered was that it was loud, and I felt claustrophobic sitting in it. I guess we both should have spent more time in each vehicle, but we probably felt it would be a waste of time.
here’s ur lowered roofline, “european”, simply fantastic…
https://pholder.com/amc-pacer