DRIVING My New AMC Pacer In 2024 Is TERRIFYING

If you've ever wanted to Party On in a fishbowl, this is the car for you. I bought this 1975 AMC Pacer sight unseen from a Facebook auction and now it's time to see what I bought.
Tech Channel: ‪@TechThrowback‬
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Common Questions:
What motorcycle do I ride? A few. Ducati 1198, Honda Goldwing, Honda Grom, Honda Ruckus
What do I do for a living? Make KZbin videos.
Can you wheelie? No, I suck.
Are you fast? Sort of. I suck mostly though.
Where can I keep up with you off the bike?
Instagram: WatchJRGo
Facebook: WatchJRGo (or JRGo, FB hates my branding)
Do you go to school? College, for 2 classes.
Why do you ride so dangerously? What do mean? I was doing 25.
Do you go to the track? Of course, hopefully there will be videos in the future.
Do you play video games? No, but I might stream N64 Goldeneye at some point. Twitch: WatchJRGo
Are you afraid the police will watch your videos and arrest you? Something something evidence something something warrants and due process of law
#AMCPacer #Pacer #WaynesWorld

[@scooterwoodley195]

Aunt Carol (RIP), your beloved car is on KZbin!

[@yeahright302]

who the hell is aunt carol???

[@michaelcoonce6694]

I find it amusing when you young guys drive old cars. i actually find these cars more interesting then your audis and minis

[@adamsmith9636]

You are so right . I went to a Cars and Coffee in Dayton Ohio yesterday and my favorite car there of course besides my85 Celica GTS convertible was a 1968 Dodge Dart 270 4 door in MINT condition

[@jgcampbell59]

Well familiar with the Pacer... my roommate in college had a Pacer station wagon sport edition...

[@thomashowlett8295]

And far easier to tinker with in your garage or driveway.

[@motocrossedful]

my uncle (veteran of 3 wars highest ranking NCO in the Navy) who suffered from really bad arthritis, drove a Pacer from San Diego to New Jersey during peak summer with 3 speed on the column and no air conditioning. Uncle Joe had no pretensions whatsoever.

[@alanhumphrey4198]

Poor fellow!!😢😢

[@chillbill5773]

Uncle Joe got to rear admiral and bought property in Del Mar with an ocean view. He also built a tv from scratch with a kit. Dude was pretty badass

[@Benjerri]

Despite its reputation, but this car has a character , unlike most cars today , in which from 30 feet away , it is hard to distinguish an Audi from a Hyundai

[@Paul_Wetor]

Yes! They are all different, yet all exactly the same.

[@sludge8506]

Wow, very sharp, benji, I guess old guys can’t see very well. The eyes are the second thing to go.

[@davidbrownell1129]

Remember that AMC advertised the new Pacer as the first Wide Small car. And, for grins, park your Pacer alongside a Porsche 928S and you’ll see who might have inspired the styling of the other. The Germans were paying attention to AMC at that time.

[@user-fo9ri5dy7b]

Correct you are I noticed the 924 made the AMC Pacer look like a 924 let somebody had over inflated with an air hose

[@nosetdirection]

I would like a Gremlin with the Levis package.

[@tommost1]

A friend of mine had one in high school... I thought it was stupid then but now who knows?

[@albertcoburn5674]

Had a Levi's a Gemlim X. A 304 International Truck motor. All of 104 HP.

[@albertcoburn5674]

Thst car was originally engineered to have Mazda Rotory in it. Rotor engines are very powerful dirty engines. The deal with Mazda dell through. So they only had the inline 6 cyl to put in it. Boys and Girls, engines in the mid seventies were choked and strangled to death. If you had to live through it, like I had to, it was a sad time.

[@uncletoby-]

The Levi’s package was available on the Pacer and the Hornet too.

[@seed_drill7135]

Not Mazda, Monza. From GM. GM killed it before it went into any production cars.

[@bmh67wa]

I wouldn't do anything to that car except tune it up and replace the shocks and check all of the suspension and steering bushings and replace any that are bad. There should be several with grease fittings. I wouldn't be surprised if it needs some lube. I see that it has typical Pacer rust issues. Not uncommon to see that a few years after they were new. AMC did a terrible job with rust protection. It still looks great for a 50 year old car though.

[@johnasbury4997]

Those old shocks are shot. New gas shocks , tires and rag joint in the steering would really help this turdallic

[@beforebefore]

So would an LS swap... or maybe a Tesla swap.

[@ZEPRATGERNODT]

@@beforebefore That’s the sound of someone under 40. That car shouldn’t haven’t anything done to it that can’t be undone. That’s a survivor car and not a beater. Too clean to go F up.

[@21Piloteer]

@@beforebefore Yawn

[@johnasbury4997]

@beforebefore I'm just saying general maintenance first then get wild . The pacer front end is used in a bunch of hot rod builds . I know it will Handle better and drive better

[@beforebefore]

@@ZEPRATGERNODT Actually, I'm at the other end of the spectrum... 65... and drove one when it was new when I was 16. My dad bought it new, I totaled it. (actually, someone in a '55 Chevy drag car was out "testing" on a city street, doing a full power run, smoking the tires, lost control, hit the car in front of me head-on, pushed him back into me... fiberglass body parts everywhere from the '55.) The AMC Pacer ain't worth keeping original... there's nothing special about it that would ever be collectible... other than the fishbowl look. Just a collection of parts from the different big-3 manufacturers, out together in an attempt to get market share from a company fighting a losing battle. Now, on the other hand... the Javelin AMX... definitely.

[@beforebefore]

The "whiff of coolant"... check the passenger carpet... it's old, expect a heater core failure.

[@tommost1]

One of the biggest surprises of my life was when my 62 Ramblers heater core broke and sprayed me with coolant... which turned out to not be cool at all. Oh and the time the suspension trunnions broke off and the left front wheel rolled away into a ditch. But then there also was the time one of the brake lines popped as I was rolling down a hill towards a stop sign and the brake pedal went to the floor.

[@danielulz1640]

62 Rambler had dual circuit brakes, so you would not have lost all brakes by blowing one line. ​@@tommost1

[@tommost1]

@@danielulz1640 you're right, I just looked it up and 62 was the first year for dual circuit brakes. It happened in 1973 so details are foggy but I distinctly recall the pedal going to the floor. Take my word, that leaves an impression. The car was the unholy union of parts off a 61, 62 and 63 so maybe I misremember the body year. That car was a total POS but I drove it 50,000 miles through 5 years of college and sold it for more than had in it because it ran and somehow passed state inspection. I wish I could say that of all the car's I've ever owned.

[@danielulz1640]

I thought that you might have misrembered the year model of the car. If the brake pedal just went splat, then it was not dual circuit brakes. LOL. I had something similar happen with my 70 Ambassador. It blew a front wheel cylinder. There was still some pedal and the rear brakes did slow the car down, but not enough to prevent me from hitting the back of a new Pontiac. Obviously, that was quite a few years ago. ​@@tommost1

[@kensmith5694]

It could even be a case where it was repaired. The smell lingers. Also it is worth checking for coolant leaks when hot. You can have one in the head gasket that leaks the coolant out at the very back near where the heater's inlets are behind the windshield

[@ricoolivier]

Driving slow cars fast is more exciting than very fast cars fast!

[@Devastator0]

Man, I can't believe that in all of the time that car has existed that someone didn't get the windows tinted and retrofit A/C to it.

[@kd8opi]

Wayne’s World (1993) is closer in time to the this Pacer (1975) than this 2024 podcast is to Wayne’s World.

[@danieldaniels7571]

Holy shit, I'm old

[@kd8opi]

@@danieldaniels7571 Right there with you bro.

[@ccacace1]

Simplicity at it's best. Very cool car. It is totally unpretentious and it's in great shape to boot. To me that's a keeper. Good video!

[@migraineman33]

In excellent shape? Yes. Awful to drive? Also yes. (Have I actually driven one? Unfortunately, also yes.)

[@kevinkay8115]

Believe it or not carberated vehicles were driven in the winter for years and we're very dependable doing so if properly set up.

[@craigjohnson3603]

I never had a problem with carbureted cars but had auto shop in my high school taught by a genius mechanic.

[@alanm2842]

those straight 6 cylinder engines did not need to turn over verry fast and they would start. that 1 barrel carburetor will work verry good in the winter, i know i drove a 1975 gremlin for 35 years.

[@wsbill14224]

People commonly removed the heat riser from the exhaust manifold to the carb in an effort to increase HP then they wondered why it ran like shit in winter.

[@tommost1]

To me the biggest problem was getting the automatic choke ser up. You were outside in the freezing cold, you made the adjustment and then hopefully it worked the next day. Rinse and repeat. My dad was the neighborhood go-to guy fir starting recalcitrant cars. Neighbors would trudge over saying it won't start. Half of them had dead batteries so he'd jump them, for the rest of them his secret was a shot of model airplane engine fuel which (at the time) contained nitromethane.

[@bikeman1x11]

true but EFI is an huge improvement- my 73 Montego started with no issues but my moms 79 malibu hated the cold weather

[@cameronlovesevolve]

"im gonna turn in sharp" dont do it dont do it dont do it!! 😂😂😂😂

[@illfreeze]

Nice 70s pacer haircut

[@Skalamusa]

His barber is a butcher.

[@starkyslp16]

Lol. I cut my own hair it it comes out better than that!

[@nazcaplain]

I wouldn't cut my hair that short for anything other than a $250,000 / year executive position or a shot at being an astronaut. JR: grow some goddam hair sir!

[@tomcat630]

1970's hair was long, only older or military men had buzz cuts. For 70's HS kids, short hair cuts were a punishment.

[@mattdecker6791]

I think it looks great!

[@FarrellMcGovern]

Speaking of Pacers and possibly tipping over... Back in the 1980s, I was coming back from a party at about 6 am on a Sunday morning on the Queensway in Ottawa here, there was not another soul on the road. There is this slight hill in Kanata that the highway goes over just before you go down in the the valley around the city of Ottawa. There was five of us in the AMC Pacer that the driver, Vince was in the process of rebuilding, so the back seat, for example, didn't have any seatbelts. He run the local co-op/DIY garage. So as we were coming over the top of that hill, we could see a car rapidly gaining on us. We were doing around 100 kph (~60 mph), so this car must have been doing at least 140-150 kph to be closing on us rapidy. We could see they were not changing lanes to the left to pass us, and our driver was sure that if we didn't change lanes, they would rear-end us. So we got into the left lane, the car went zooming past us on the right...and then make a sharp left hand turn directly in front of us! I don't know how he did it, but our driver managed to avoid hitting this drunk (we learned later), and we ended up in a flat spin and travelling about a football field length down the road and into the grassy medium. I am sure that if we had been a car that was not as wide as the Pacer was, we would have rolled. Our next concern was the other driver, as they had skidded off the shoulder easily 200 yards into a field, We pull a half u-turn to get facing the correct way, and as we were doing that, the other driver restarted their car, then with tires spitting grass spun around, got back ont the road and started speeding away from us. Our driver, as you might guess, was pissed, and decided to follow the other car so we could at least their their license plate number. I am sure we hit speeds in excess of 150 kph (~90 mph) catching up to them. They other car was probably doing only doing about 130-140 because bits of their car was dragging on the ground, and they were swaying back and forth across the road. We got off at the next exit after getting their plate number, and went to the nearest police station. They took down our information, (our driver didn't mention the speeds we might have been travelling at to catch up with the drunk 🙂), and it turnout out that they couldn't do much about it since there was no collision, and it would be just a we said, they said type thing. But the drunk had a drunk driving record already, and wasn't supposed to be driving...so they went to the person place, and found them passed out, smelling of alcohol in their car in their driveway. They didn' say if they arrested the person, but they did say they would not be danger on the road anymore. So maybe the Pacer we were in had upgraded suspension...but as I said, I am sure that we would have rolled in another car, and as we didn't have any seatbelts in the back seat, we would have been either jelly, or ejected if it had rolled.

[@samking6335]

Wow!

[@RobertBrown-o9j]

I was lucky enough to joyride around in this bulbous beauty for 10 years. It's not a race car, that's for sure, but people smile and take pictures when they see you go by in it. It's a feel good kind of car. Seriously, though, don't race anybody unless they're on foot.

[@HoJoGoGo]

Swap in a 190 HP 4.0L I6 out of a 95-2006 Jeep. Should bolt right in using the same motor mounts. For more fun, find a 1995 to 2000 2WD Cherokee and get the 4 speed automatic as well. And some of the heat rejecting tint would help with all that glass.

[@16driver16]

What's wrong with the 91-94 4.0 H.O.? Or THE 91-94 AW4? Only difference is the head studs as far as I know

[@HoJoGoGo]

I think 95 was the first year of OBD-II diagnostics for that drive train, but I could be wrong. Easier to deal with.

[@16driver16]

@@HoJoGoGo indeed. I remember cycling the ignition and counting CEL flashes... I assumed you'd be using the pacer electronics.

[@n84434]

That's what I'm talking about!

[@seed_drill7135]

I don’t think it will fit in a ‘75. That’s why they added the hood bulge in later years.

[@ThriftMachine]

Your haircut looks like the Pacer, roof on top windows on the side's

[@yeahright302]

yeah bad either way!!!lol

[@riverexplorer]

You have an automatic, that was an option. The base model had a three speed on the floor…which mine had. Mine had the larger 258 cid 4.2L inline 6 and was still slow as dirt. The brakes were pretty lame, too. But, it was a different and fun car!

[@srmackin]

They designed it to be powered by then-in-development GM rotary engine

[@user-fo9ri5dy7b]

I remember that factor about the car I suppose it really would have damaged the gas mileage the performance with depend on which engine they use the rx3 engine forget it never been in an rx4 but the RX-7 seem to be adequately powered

[@therealniksongs]

​​@@user-fo9ri5dy7bwhich Mazda engine does not matter as it was never going to have a Mazda engine. But if the Pacer had gotten the GM rotary as originally planned, it would have been lighter and much better balanced front to rear. Both performance and handling would have been substantially better. At the time there were both two rotor and four rotor Corvettes under development. Gives you an idea of what GM thought of the rotary's performance potential. My wife had a 74 RX4. A dumpy sedan built like a truck (Mazda had always been a truck maker) but the engine was amazing. Not quick off the line as it wasn't a torquer but smooth as silk...like a turbine and would rev up to 8000rpm... could reach 130 mph. But only got about 13-14 mpg.

[@brandonbman5921]

A base Pacer sucked in ‘75. Not shocked 50 years later it still sucks. 😂😂

[@rickreese5794]

Come on maaan🤪🤷🏿‍♂️

[@jeffrogers2180]

I suspect you weren't born till 40 years after it was built... It didn't suck.

[@EJBert]

@@jeffrogers2180 Oh yeah, I was driving back in its heyday and it was a joke back then! Not quite Yugo status but bad. There is a good reason why AMC isn't around anymore! In fairness I'm sure the shock are worn!

[@jeffrogers2180]

@@EJBert dude, it wasn't competing against today's cars, it was competing with the Vega and the Pinto, and compared to them it was not a turd.

[@bikeman1x11]

@@jeffrogers2180 all 70's a,erican cars had vague sterring an floaty ride except maybe vettes

[@mitchellgildea254]

If you're not gonna play Bohemian Rhapsody, at least play "I Can't Drive (55)" by Sammy Hagar

[@johntilson2535]

More like "I couldn't drive (55) even if I wanted to!"🤣

[@whatareyoudoingyouidiot342]

If he played Queen, this video would get demonetized faster than that Pacer could get to 60 MPH.

[@pdennis93]

Or ode to my car by Adam Sandler

[@user-ht1xu4gv2u]

Party on wayne

[@rafaelfiallo4123]

I can't make 55....

[@robertjohnson4401]

Next driving evaluation to do is a 60 Ford Falcon. After that evaluation, the Pacer will look good.

[@10cpaul]

Gabe and JR are great together!!! we all have that buddy that we banter and crack one another up like they do!

[@beastchug]

They are fantastic together. I liked it better when I thought Gabe was his brother. Brother's from another mother is still a good thing, but my mind just processed it better when they were family.

[@targetglen]

@@beastchug haven't seen Josh in years. He's got a similar dry wit to Gabe.

[@speedyg2577]

It may not be Wayne and Garth but still watching Pee Wee Herman driving a Pacer just as epic.

[@victorvilla5524]

You could retrofit it with ac by using Early Classic Air ac kit. The coolant smell might be overflow from the reservoir tank after getting warmed up

[@melodydawn]

I actually dig your Pacer, who cares what others think

[@Mister_H]

Same here I love it. I’m praying JR doesn’t mess with its awesome original design and style.

[@glassvial]

My guess was 16s before you revealed the numbers, looks like I was dead on. If you're planning on keeping this thing, you might want to put fixing the brake lights high on your priority list!

[@bytes311]

I've been daily driving my restored 76 Pacer for 3 years now. It's no different than driving any other classic on the road today. Maintenance and upkeep is key.

[@rvs8425]

What an awesome car! Love the interior, large windows, soft suspension, relaxed steering. This is a perfect cruiser.

[@GeFeldz]

I had a Mercedes 220D 1976 (first year W123 chassis) and the official 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) directly from the owner's manual was 28 seconds =) Big heavy car, 2.2 liter 58 hp NA diesel and a 4 speed manual. No problem pulling a trailer with a snowmobile at 75 mph, though =D

[@brentmiller3479]

Hey J.R. Did you pay for that hair cut or did you loose a BET! LOL!😆

[@jaredbingham229]

I bet he cuts his own hair, while riding in a pacer

[@KringleNation]

Your 0-60 and 1/4 mile times are actually impressive given that Road & Track tested the car when new and turned a 15.8 sec. 0-60 time and 20.3 sec. 1/4 mile. The Curbside Classic web site has a copy of the full review.

[@MrGamman3yt]

Whats worse, that or the turning radius? plus, it's not a fwd, so why is it so bad? woud love a resto mod

[@FransvandenBergeMuziekschuur]

What a spacious vehicle. Even big dudes have enough room.

[@VacFink]

Heater core - its a good looking car. Shocks and a rag joint and its going to find a happy home when you done having fun.

[@beardoe6874]

There has to be an anti-sway bar you can add to that. I would change out the points, get new spark plugs (and probably wires), double check the base timing and advance, check compression while you have the spark plugs out, put in a new air filter, check the carb for full throttle, functioning accelerator oump and good fuel pressure. Lastly make sure the exhaust isn't plugged up. I know that's a lot but if a couple things are off you could pick up a lot 0-60. The Holley EFI idea will probably be better and save gas but if you do that, I would look for a bigger inch AMC 6. I'm not sure if the Jeep 4.0 is the same block but that was a 190 hp engine in the WJ Grand Cherokee and it's possible to bore and stroke to 4.6 or 5 liters. There are lots of them out there in junkyards too and they are known to go 300,000+ miles. So if you go EFI, go big too, that might actually get 0-60 in to single digits.

[@therealboofighter]

That would be an interesting swap.

[@tommost1]

Get the engine running right BEFORE the Holley swap.

[@therealboofighter]

A totally impracticable but fun swap would be a Wankle. If I remember correctly that is what AMC wanted to put in when they designed the car.

[@BSGSV]

That car is a meme from your childhood. For me, it was a common car on the road from my childhood. My best friend's dad owned one. Back in the 70's they were considered ultra modern and basically spaceships on the road.

[@Rmasters33]

A new set of shocks could do a lot for the wallowing. OE shocks of that era were good for about 5,000 miles.

[@EmmyPierz-ek7hi]

New mid-70’s vehicles equipped with the cheapest chinsiest shocks lasting 6 months, if you were lucky.CB

[@FalconXE302]

Thing with these cars, they were made to run on super leaded... which was around 100 octane In Australia... probably about 97 Mon in the USA. You do need to run it on the best high octane you can buy to get it to run the best. It doesn't surprise me that it did so much better on the high octane.

[@kc9scott]

In the US, 1975 was the first year for catalytic converters. ALMOST all cars got them that year. I don’t doubt that higher octane would help.

[@edwardkantowicz4707]

High octane and STP definitely helps. Depending on the model, some AMCs like the '76 Hornets built in Brompton Ontario Canada WERE definitely built without catalytic converters. I owned one, and the emissions staff would always accuse me of modifying it, until I showed them the owner's manual, and my Chilton manual. The car always passed, but there was always this initial accusation. I believe the design was grandfathered in and exempt because it had a PCV valve, and something else additional which I forget the name of. Despite the marque "American Motors", many were built in Canada, and shipped to the States.

[@therealniksongs]

If the Pacer were about the size of the contemporary VW Scirocco and with a rotary engine, today we would be remembering this terrific little performance car....I had a '73 Gremlin X with the 258 and three on the floor and replaced it with a '76 Scirocco 4speed, which I miss to this day. Most fun you could have with 76 hp, motorcycles excepted. Because it only weighed 1870 lbs. The Pacer had to be double that.

[@geraldshoemaker2345]

One contributor to the "floaty" ride could be modern radial tires. The original base models were bias ply tires with stiffer sidewalls. Replace the shocks and add a "sway bar". Considering the age, i would also suggest a suspension refresh with new tie rod ends, ball joints, etc. Lastly, be careful about modern fuels with ethanol. The fuel system may not be able to take it.

[@Cartier_specialist]

If you're keeping it add vintage air to it. I've heard a bunch of positive things about it. 0-60 should be 18 seconds.

[@williamegler8771]

Contemporary road tests at the time quoted 0 to 60 for the base 232 and 3 spd automatic at 14.8 seconds and a drag-limited top speed of 102 mph.

[@johnpluskota8016]

Heater core leaking is my guess.

[@sleepyhollow783]

It is not a base model. It is an automatic transmission car. That is at least one major option for the time. Cloth seats & carpeting likely other options. Hope the mods can be kept fully reversible. The point of an old car is for the experiance of an old car. The good bad & ugly. You want modern, go get a modern car. Trashing this historically whole one is just sad. Dam sad. If the Pacer was one already trashed with mods it would be slightly different. But this one had been perserved for 50 years. Shame.

[@danielulz1640]

Carpet and cloth seats were standard equipment, but the automatic and radio were optional at extra cost. You are correct about comparing the Pacer to today's cars, it must be compared to its peers. The speedo is probably off because of the odd wheels and tires, go back to stock and it should be fine. Agreed, don't mess with it, it is an amazing surviver. Probably just needs a full tune up, shocks and a carb clean.

[@Danman1972]

A blistering pace at 16 seconds to 60! Oh yeah, she's a runner. ;-) For the coolant smell you might see if its leaking at the heater core.

[@gunnyg8665]

Check the passenger side carpet.... you probably have a leaking heater core.

[@markbanash921]

Avocado - the official color of 1970s kitchen appliances

[@EmmyPierz-ek7hi]

Plus Mustard Yellow And Burnt orange!! CB

[@brianmatthews9697]

@@EmmyPierz-ek7hi I believe it was sunset gold, but how about rose pink. There was a brown too.

[@davids8493]

Those hubcaps look great! 😁

[@Robsav-yx6vi]

Lots of fun . Thanks for making me smile yet Again. Howdy To buddy Gabe

[@rickreese5794]

She’s one of a kind😊

[@funnyside6]

Back in the '70s we called it 255 air. Both windows down and driving 55 mph.

[@edrannou3914]

Make sure all the screws in the carb are tight, especially the two that hold the top half and bottom half together. They go in from the bottom pointing up. My friend serviced Hornets owned by a driving school that always had this problem.

[@xsiveone]

The idea of the Pacer was to give you the wide spacious interior of a domestic car with the compact size and economy of an import. This is what the malaise era was about.

[@new2000car]

The backseat is so small it can only hold 2 people. The rear hatch area is small as well. This thing weighs as much as the matador but with half the room, and worse mileage. Roomy front seat area. So the marketing department lied through their teeth at the time.

[@oncewaslost1982]

Head the channel in this direction. Weird clean old cars. Love this thing!

[@toguro1009]

I have experienced the Pacer. In mid 80’s Mom blew the engine up in the Monte Carlo so we rented a Pacer from Ugly Duckling.

[@ZEPRATGERNODT]

I remember the Ugly Duckling day. In 1987 I had to rent from Ugly Duckling when my car broke down. I drove a rented Ford Granada for a week back and forth from Riverside to Griswolds in Fullerton to train for Circuit City.

[@rkohnke1]

Ugly duckling, I have thought of that company in years. The one by us usually had a couple of Pacers and a couple of Chevettes on hand that nobody would rent.

[@matthewnelko]

Pretty much only rich people had A/C in their cars in 1975. Most of us commoners didn't have A/C in our cars until the 1980s.

[@billmcmahon2211]

The radio was probably optional. The brick was your cruise control. Just put it on the gas when you're on thehighway.

[@tomcat630]

For sure extra cost and not "deleted" if no radio in one new.

[@dawnemmons4308]

I loved my fishbowl on wheels! Keep her she is cool!

[@theMick52]

That car is the exact same color that my first car was! I had a 1974 Mustang in the a similar puke green with white vinyl interior. It had 30,000 miles when I got it. Obviously a granny car only to grocery store and church on sunday! I miss that little turd! Just imagine all those rich people asking their butlers... Was that a pacer? As the green bubble slips on bye!

[@MikeJohnson-ld9rn]

Love the getting back together with Gabe . You guys seem to play off each well .

[@americanrambler4972]

That motor in the Pacer is performing right and proper to spec! I am totally blown away you cracked 60 mph in under 20 seconds! You have the China clipper standard steering option. About 7.2 turns lock to lock. Perfect for the old school AMC buyer who was too cheap to pay for any add ons and thought power steering was just a fancy option and not needed. 3 turns of the steering wheel to go around a corner was perfectly fine for him. If the steering is sloppy floppy, then there are probably some sloppy parts in the suspension and steering parts. The Pacer came with rack and pinion steering which was tight even if slow when new. I love this clean plain version you’ve got ahold of. I wonder if a new Chrysler Hurricane inline 6 would fit under the hood?

[@kclefthanded427]

AMC was about to receive a rotary engine from GM until they canceled it at the last minute. With no engine or money to engineer a new one, they have to find what they have in stock and make it fit, that was also a nightmare when assembling

[@user-bv3cl2cl8b]

Had a 232 in my 1969 rambler SW. Great memories. Ran like a scalded dog with a two barrel Weber and a HEI 75 Chevy Nova distributor. Drank the gas.

[@Bill_Hartnett]

I already like this series more than the expensive cars!. When you deicide to get rid of it. I'm 1st in line (cause we all know you will). Just don't take too much outta me JR.

[@tomcat630]

The expensive cars put me to sleep. zzzzzz

[@nhartigan72]

Sweet! When I was a kid my mom had both a brown one & a smurf blue one (before Wayne's World). They were at times embarrassing & wonderful. Loved laying in the back during road trips as if being in a fish bowl surrounded in glass. Be careful honking that horn. I remember one morning on the way to school, the horn stuck on. I hit the floorboard & had my mom let me out a few blocks away from the school 😅

[@kennethcohagen3539]

I worked with a young guy who built a 430 cubic inch BBC and put it in a Pacer. The car rolled over on its roof the very first time he ran it at the drags. The car stood up off the line, hit the rear bumper on the ground and that was that!

[@MtnBadger]

In '75 my parents were shopping for a new car. They tried everything including... The Pacer. 😊 It drove "okay" but, my mom said it was like riding in a fish bowl and she hated it. 😆 We lived in the east bay area and the summer saw 112°+f. weather, she said it was like being "par-boiled." 😊 And it came with relatively small tires which everyone immediately swapped out which is why the speedo was never right. Everything else was also too small (at 15 I was already north of 6', as was dad with mom a close call) or too expensive or boxy, etc. sooo... They said screw it and bought a '75 Caddy Coupe Deville. 😆 "Look, Ma... No Pacers here."

[@69Dartman]

Wow, running that pig flat out I see, what a cool car 👍

[@paulstein7369]

We put a police 401 in a pacer wagon in the late 70's. Bolted right in. Woodgrain, leather, power windows, locks, bucket seats, tilt wheel. Fun ride.

[@lvsqcsl]

We're not singing about Wayne's World or Bohemian Rhapsody? You could drive the Pacer around in circles and have "Real Slim Shady" playing.

[@Koolicyde]

I love that you have to go to a neighborhood to find a curvy road in Kansas.

[@eddiemerribaker]

I drove a 1975 Pacer from Chico, California to Dayton, Ohio waaay back in the day. I floored it the whole way at 90 mph, which was its top speed.

[@annareismith6843]

I will not forget someone yelling TELEPHONE POLE as we are doing the Wayne's World song thing going down the road in town that was curvy, and we almost died. I was a stoner living as a male back then with very long hair and head banging to the song in my 1975 Vega GT. We would have hit the pole if not for my very fast reaction to turn back to the road. I got followed out of town by a sheriff. He did not pull us over. He only made sure we left town. I did some crazy things in my young adult years. My father had an 1975 AMC Pacer I drove to school when my car was broke down. I hated that car, though it was a good car and had power brakes and steering.

[@JoeOrber]

“Mostly in black-and-white and pretty uneventful” was a fantastic line lol 😂

[@oldtvnut]

My sister bought a new Pacer way back when. At 5' 3", she liked the visibility. The one thing I remember about it was that it would not keep front end alignment, so I'm not surprised about your comment that it has no return to center force.

[@mrj-charles6383]

Some 5% tint on the back windows probably help it out tremendously.

[@GeFeldz]

13 seconds to 60 is WAY too optimistic. I'm guessing at least 16.

[@GeFeldz]

I didn't even cheat =D

[@williamegler8771]

Contemporary road tests for the 232 6-cylinder and 3 spd automatic quotes a 0 to 60 time of 14.8 seconds and a drag-limited top speed of 102 mph. One magazine said that the ideal cruising speed on the highway was between 70 and 75 mph. The performance figures are hardly extraordinary today but they were perfectly acceptable for the time when this vehicle was built.

[@GeFeldz]

@@williamegler8771 Okay, I wasn't denigrating the car, just pointing out that 13 seconds seems way too optimistic.

[@new2000car]

@@williamegler8771the amc hornet with this 232 6 cylinder did 0-60 in 10 seconds, that was acceptable (certainly not extraordinary at the time). Almost 15 seconds people then called it a dog. Like a vega automatic or pinto automatic, people at the time hated.

[@craigdowney6438]

I tried doing the full throttle launch in my dads old 77 ford 351. from a stoplight I floored it- - it backfired about 10 times and covered the cars behind me in oily fog!

[@wilpotocki2453]

I drove a 1975 Pacer in Northern Wisconsin and it was the best winter car. Great traction. Summers were not too hot it was a great car

[@fastsilverado]

The rims make it cool. They are perfect.

[@thereissomecoolstuff]

JR I want to buy it. Tell me how to reach you. Don’t blow it up. It’s a survivor.

[@JonBlondell]

I test drove one of these when it first premiered, I liked it! Of course, my car was a 61 Corvair!

[@DonVDBorgh]

Perhaps it's was named a Pacer because it was thought it would set the pace of traffic 🤣. You could name it The Green Jelly Roll.

[@Guitarzan42]

I had a '75 AMC Matador with an inline 6. It wasn't a race car, but it was fully loaded and got me where I was going.

[@TheAwkwardBanana]

I love the driveby shots. What a cool car.

[@jerrylittle7797]

I appreciate Gabe wearing the proper PPE (safety glasses) while riding in that Pacer. Safety First!

[@1crustyoldmsgtretired870]

I can't remember exactly, but isn't the passenger side door longer than the driver's?. Pacers were definitely weird on the outside. Inside they were just the usual old AMC stuff. You need to keep in mind that when that car was made, a 0-60 time under 10 seconds was considered "fast" lol

[@pitsnipe5559]

Yes, it was. Nice feature.

[@uncletoby-]

The passenger side door was 4” longer than the drivers door.

[@lcheaton1130]

if you two had a couple girls in cutoff jean shorts, a 12 pack of pull tab beer cans, an 8 track player, and a fist full of quaaludes, you guys would look about 110% like a couple of 70's regular dudes that just stepped out of a time machine. I love how you bounce in unison going down the road too, reminds me of all 70's car chase shows.

[@renesagahon4477]

It’s nice to know there are other people besides me who,like the pacer and gremlin. I think there cool looking cars. Thanks for doing this road test

[@bobmccaslin2040]

MY FRIEND KEN AND I DROVE A NEW AMC PACER back in 1977 (test drive) in the summer, and we COOKED in there! Corners were a wallow-fest 😅 Bob from Spokane Valley, WA USA

[@markbrinton6815]

My mom owned one and it was the car in which I got my drivers license. It drove excellent.

[@n84434]

Looks like JR signed up. OOO RAH!

[@GrotrianSeiler]

JR has the gift of being a great host/presenter, regardless of the subject matter. Always good videos.

[@thomasryan8218]

Back awhile ago Jay Leno had a guy on he met at a cars and coffee that had an Pacer station wagon with a LS.

[@alanhumphrey4198]

Didnt know they ever did a Pacer wagon...😮😮

[@douglaswright5689]

I tried one of these out in 1978. It was a good handling car and much faster than what you got. Also got good mpg.

[@markwarren7959]

Schwing!! Party on Wayne. Party on Garth.

[@michaelchevreaux7780]

Also Bad At That Same Time Were The Chevette, Chevy Vega, And Ford Pinto.

[@alanhumphrey4198]

Be sure to add Yugo...😢😢😢

[@kerrylewis2581]

Love the Pacer. I'd love to hear the comments from people at Cars and Coffee

[@rEdf196]

I was 11 to 12 years old when the Pacer peaked in popularity. My neighbours and parents friends had new Pacers. At the time I considered it a game changer for its 360 degree high visibility. I rode in them as a teenager, The interior got excessively hot in the summer sun. But like the Chevy Vega, and Pinto, The Pacer eventually got an awful lot of hate from their owners. 70's AMC cars in general did have a cheaped out , slap-on tacky styling aesthetic that didn't age well.