THE WORLD OF AMC
.......Page II.......
Here is the story about my PACER('s).
The Beginning...
Way back in 1976, when I was but 9 years old, my father bought a brand new car. It was a showroom model, right off the showroom floor! It was an AMERICAN MOTORS PACER! But back then, I had no clue that they would be the automotive "icon" that they are now! This particular PACER was two-tone white and blue. (With the blue on the lower body.) It's features were basic...a 232 in-line 6, a 4 speed manual transmission, bucket seats, blue interior, and air conditioning. It served the family well, with trips north to Maine and south to Florida. Now, fast forward about 7 years, to when I turned 16. The PACER was given to me from my parents. For a young person getting their drivers license, it typically doesn't matter what kind of car you get. New, used, or whatever. So needless to say, I was pretty proud to have the PACER to "sport" around in! As luck would have it, I saw an ad in the local paper for "2 AMC PACER parts cars". So my addiction was getting worse...After acquiring these little "treasures", I was going to make a really nice car out of three!! Then it happened!! One day as I was on my way to town to meet a friend, I got way-layed by an old man in an old farm truck!!! DEVASTATION!! :-( Needless to say, it totaled my little machine!
(Note:I was not injured at all in the mishap.)
(Note: This is the exact location and position of the car when it stopped!!)
So there I was, sadly holding on to 3 parts cars. Family & friends tried to talk me into getting rid of all the "junk" I had, but it was futile!! Once it gets in your system, you can't get it out!! :-)
As I was thinking how to go about finding another PACER, I remembered maybe seeing one in the nearby town of Hendersonville. Sure enough, there was. Luck was with me again... I bought this one with the insurance money I got from the wreck. For $600, this wasn't too bad a deal. At least I had a good supply of parts!!!
The Next Beginning...
This 2nd "drivable" 1976 PACER had a medium blue paint job with a black interior. It also had the 232 in-line 6 cylinder. But it had a automatic transmission (column shift).
As these pictures suggest, this car was in reasonably good condition. Although the engine and transmission seemed to be in need of some overhaul. After talking it over with my father, we decided to rebuild the engine and transmission out of the blue & white one. This seemed a better idea because he knew what kind of condition that drivetrain was in!! So it was interesting, to say the least, converting an automatic to a manual... (Later, I would get many comments about the double shift levers!! Some thought the floor shift was a "4 wheel drive" lever!!)
This picture was taken earlier than the previous two. I had desided to paint the hood, upper doors, and front of the roof black. It turned out pretty good, but after a while, the black paint got dull. It didn't look too good, so I sanded it off! (Note: Notice two of the parts cars behind the blue one!) I drove the PACER a couple years (into my 1st marriage). When my wife & I found out we were to have a baby, we decided to get a bigger vehicle. Something with 4 doors. That decision led me to my next AMC product!!!
A 1982 AMC EAGLE Wagon!!
For EAGLE, click to go on toPAGE III
PACER: The 3rd Beginning...
WELL, WELL, WELL... As you might have expected, I have yet to lose that "giddy" feeling of driving down the road in one of the most (if not THE most!) unique looking autos of our time. Now it is time to introduce the 3rd in the series of "bubble" cars that I have owned!!!
My best friend, who was attending Appalachain University in Boone, N.C., knew that I was in the market for another PACER. Always on the look-out for me, Steve phoned me one day saying that he had spotted a 1978 PACER wagon for sale in Boone.
He agreed to go find out about it for me and let me know the details. A couple weeks later, Steve came by with a video of the wagon. From the looks of the wagon, it seemed to be in restorable shape. It also had a 304 V-8 in it! So we worked out a weekend to meet him in Boone and go check it out! When my wife, Brenda, and I got to Boone and met Steve, he led us to the Pacer wagon.
After talking with the owners about it, I found out that it had "minor" transmission problems. With the owners permission, Steve and I took it on a drive up the road and back. As we went up the hill, the car would barely go. I knew we had to get the car back to the owners driveway and quick! As we were turning around in a church parking lot, there was a tremendous cloud of white smoke coming out from under the car. Transmission fluid was running out of the front of the transmission... at a high rate of speed! After getting the car back to where it belonged, I told the owners that I would have to pass on the deal.
They totally understood, which told me, they knew the transmission was in really bad shape. *SIGH* Oh well, I guess it was not meant to be. Or so I thought.....
After we left where the wagon was, my wife and I was following Steve over to see his appartment. About 2 miles from the wagon, Brenda suddenly yells, "I JUST SAW A PACER!". Knowing that it just couldn't be, "Yea, right, No way" I said. You just don't see PACERS that close to each other! But she said she knew what she saw! Well, after seeing Steve's place, on our way to eat, we passed back by where she saw the car. YUP! There it was! Sitting in the grass next to the driveway, was a 1978 PACER! No "for sale" signs were in the windows, so we didn't know if it was or not. After stopping and asking to look at the car, I asked the owner if he would consider selling the car. He said he had about 6 cars and couldn't drive them all, so he told me to make him an offer. "Well," I said, "I was going to buy that wagon up the road for $200, would you take $200 for it?" After what I thought was an eternity, he said "Sure". WOO-HOO!!! I had me a PACER!
This picture is after we got the car back to our house in Asheville. You can probably see all the nasty build-up of grunge coating the car. We couldn't even see through the windows!
Now a bit about the PACER... 258-6 cylinder w/2 barrel carb; power steering; manual brakes; 3 speed automatic-column shift; air conditioning; cloth bucket seats; British Bronze paint; luggage rack; two-piece hubcaps(all 4!!); brown dash/tan interior; and D/L badging.
For more PACERSTORY, click to go on toPART 2
.......Page II.......
Here is the story about my PACER('s).
The Beginning...
Way back in 1976, when I was but 9 years old, my father bought a brand new car. It was a showroom model, right off the showroom floor! It was an AMERICAN MOTORS PACER! But back then, I had no clue that they would be the automotive "icon" that they are now! This particular PACER was two-tone white and blue. (With the blue on the lower body.) It's features were basic...a 232 in-line 6, a 4 speed manual transmission, bucket seats, blue interior, and air conditioning. It served the family well, with trips north to Maine and south to Florida. Now, fast forward about 7 years, to when I turned 16. The PACER was given to me from my parents. For a young person getting their drivers license, it typically doesn't matter what kind of car you get. New, used, or whatever. So needless to say, I was pretty proud to have the PACER to "sport" around in! As luck would have it, I saw an ad in the local paper for "2 AMC PACER parts cars". So my addiction was getting worse...After acquiring these little "treasures", I was going to make a really nice car out of three!! Then it happened!! One day as I was on my way to town to meet a friend, I got way-layed by an old man in an old farm truck!!! DEVASTATION!! :-( Needless to say, it totaled my little machine!
(Note:I was not injured at all in the mishap.)
(Note: This is the exact location and position of the car when it stopped!!)
So there I was, sadly holding on to 3 parts cars. Family & friends tried to talk me into getting rid of all the "junk" I had, but it was futile!! Once it gets in your system, you can't get it out!! :-)
As I was thinking how to go about finding another PACER, I remembered maybe seeing one in the nearby town of Hendersonville. Sure enough, there was. Luck was with me again... I bought this one with the insurance money I got from the wreck. For $600, this wasn't too bad a deal. At least I had a good supply of parts!!!
The Next Beginning...
This 2nd "drivable" 1976 PACER had a medium blue paint job with a black interior. It also had the 232 in-line 6 cylinder. But it had a automatic transmission (column shift).
As these pictures suggest, this car was in reasonably good condition. Although the engine and transmission seemed to be in need of some overhaul. After talking it over with my father, we decided to rebuild the engine and transmission out of the blue & white one. This seemed a better idea because he knew what kind of condition that drivetrain was in!! So it was interesting, to say the least, converting an automatic to a manual... (Later, I would get many comments about the double shift levers!! Some thought the floor shift was a "4 wheel drive" lever!!)
This picture was taken earlier than the previous two. I had desided to paint the hood, upper doors, and front of the roof black. It turned out pretty good, but after a while, the black paint got dull. It didn't look too good, so I sanded it off! (Note: Notice two of the parts cars behind the blue one!) I drove the PACER a couple years (into my 1st marriage). When my wife & I found out we were to have a baby, we decided to get a bigger vehicle. Something with 4 doors. That decision led me to my next AMC product!!!
A 1982 AMC EAGLE Wagon!!
For EAGLE, click to go on toPAGE III
PACER: The 3rd Beginning...
WELL, WELL, WELL... As you might have expected, I have yet to lose that "giddy" feeling of driving down the road in one of the most (if not THE most!) unique looking autos of our time. Now it is time to introduce the 3rd in the series of "bubble" cars that I have owned!!!
My best friend, who was attending Appalachain University in Boone, N.C., knew that I was in the market for another PACER. Always on the look-out for me, Steve phoned me one day saying that he had spotted a 1978 PACER wagon for sale in Boone.
He agreed to go find out about it for me and let me know the details. A couple weeks later, Steve came by with a video of the wagon. From the looks of the wagon, it seemed to be in restorable shape. It also had a 304 V-8 in it! So we worked out a weekend to meet him in Boone and go check it out! When my wife, Brenda, and I got to Boone and met Steve, he led us to the Pacer wagon.
After talking with the owners about it, I found out that it had "minor" transmission problems. With the owners permission, Steve and I took it on a drive up the road and back. As we went up the hill, the car would barely go. I knew we had to get the car back to the owners driveway and quick! As we were turning around in a church parking lot, there was a tremendous cloud of white smoke coming out from under the car. Transmission fluid was running out of the front of the transmission... at a high rate of speed! After getting the car back to where it belonged, I told the owners that I would have to pass on the deal.
They totally understood, which told me, they knew the transmission was in really bad shape. *SIGH* Oh well, I guess it was not meant to be. Or so I thought.....
After we left where the wagon was, my wife and I was following Steve over to see his appartment. About 2 miles from the wagon, Brenda suddenly yells, "I JUST SAW A PACER!". Knowing that it just couldn't be, "Yea, right, No way" I said. You just don't see PACERS that close to each other! But she said she knew what she saw! Well, after seeing Steve's place, on our way to eat, we passed back by where she saw the car. YUP! There it was! Sitting in the grass next to the driveway, was a 1978 PACER! No "for sale" signs were in the windows, so we didn't know if it was or not. After stopping and asking to look at the car, I asked the owner if he would consider selling the car. He said he had about 6 cars and couldn't drive them all, so he told me to make him an offer. "Well," I said, "I was going to buy that wagon up the road for $200, would you take $200 for it?" After what I thought was an eternity, he said "Sure". WOO-HOO!!! I had me a PACER!
This picture is after we got the car back to our house in Asheville. You can probably see all the nasty build-up of grunge coating the car. We couldn't even see through the windows!
Now a bit about the PACER... 258-6 cylinder w/2 barrel carb; power steering; manual brakes; 3 speed automatic-column shift; air conditioning; cloth bucket seats; British Bronze paint; luggage rack; two-piece hubcaps(all 4!!); brown dash/tan interior; and D/L badging.
For more PACERSTORY, click to go on toPART 2
The Beginning...
Way back in 1976, when I was but 9 years old, my father bought a brand new car. It was a showroom model, right off the showroom floor! It was an AMERICAN MOTORS PACER! But back then, I had no clue that they would be the automotive "icon" that they are now! This particular PACER was two-tone white and blue. (With the blue on the lower body.) It's features were basic...a 232 in-line 6, a 4 speed manual transmission, bucket seats, blue interior, and air conditioning. It served the family well, with trips north to Maine and south to Florida. Now, fast forward about 7 years, to when I turned 16. The PACER was given to me from my parents. For a young person getting their drivers license, it typically doesn't matter what kind of car you get. New, used, or whatever. So needless to say, I was pretty proud to have the PACER to "sport" around in! As luck would have it, I saw an ad in the local paper for "2 AMC PACER parts cars". So my addiction was getting worse...After acquiring these little "treasures", I was going to make a really nice car out of three!! Then it happened!! One day as I was on my way to town to meet a friend, I got way-layed by an old man in an old farm truck!!! DEVASTATION!! :-( Needless to say, it totaled my little machine!
(Note:I was not injured at all in the mishap.)
(Note: This is the exact location and position of the car when it stopped!!)
So there I was, sadly holding on to 3 parts cars. Family & friends tried to talk me into getting rid of all the "junk" I had, but it was futile!! Once it gets in your system, you can't get it out!! :-)
As I was thinking how to go about finding another PACER, I remembered maybe seeing one in the nearby town of Hendersonville. Sure enough, there was. Luck was with me again... I bought this one with the insurance money I got from the wreck. For $600, this wasn't too bad a deal. At least I had a good supply of parts!!!
The Next Beginning...
This 2nd "drivable" 1976 PACER had a medium blue paint job with a black interior. It also had the 232 in-line 6 cylinder. But it had a automatic transmission (column shift).
As these pictures suggest, this car was in reasonably good condition. Although the engine and transmission seemed to be in need of some overhaul. After talking it over with my father, we decided to rebuild the engine and transmission out of the blue & white one. This seemed a better idea because he knew what kind of condition that drivetrain was in!! So it was interesting, to say the least, converting an automatic to a manual... (Later, I would get many comments about the double shift levers!! Some thought the floor shift was a "4 wheel drive" lever!!)
This picture was taken earlier than the previous two. I had desided to paint the hood, upper doors, and front of the roof black. It turned out pretty good, but after a while, the black paint got dull. It didn't look too good, so I sanded it off! (Note: Notice two of the parts cars behind the blue one!) I drove the PACER a couple years (into my 1st marriage). When my wife & I found out we were to have a baby, we decided to get a bigger vehicle. Something with 4 doors. That decision led me to my next AMC product!!!
A 1982 AMC EAGLE Wagon!!
For EAGLE, click to go on toPAGE III
PACER: The 3rd Beginning...
WELL, WELL, WELL... As you might have expected, I have yet to lose that "giddy" feeling of driving down the road in one of the most (if not THE most!) unique looking autos of our time. Now it is time to introduce the 3rd in the series of "bubble" cars that I have owned!!!
My best friend, who was attending Appalachain University in Boone, N.C., knew that I was in the market for another PACER. Always on the look-out for me, Steve phoned me one day saying that he had spotted a 1978 PACER wagon for sale in Boone.
He agreed to go find out about it for me and let me know the details. A couple weeks later, Steve came by with a video of the wagon. From the looks of the wagon, it seemed to be in restorable shape. It also had a 304 V-8 in it! So we worked out a weekend to meet him in Boone and go check it out! When my wife, Brenda, and I got to Boone and met Steve, he led us to the Pacer wagon.
After talking with the owners about it, I found out that it had "minor" transmission problems. With the owners permission, Steve and I took it on a drive up the road and back. As we went up the hill, the car would barely go. I knew we had to get the car back to the owners driveway and quick! As we were turning around in a church parking lot, there was a tremendous cloud of white smoke coming out from under the car. Transmission fluid was running out of the front of the transmission... at a high rate of speed! After getting the car back to where it belonged, I told the owners that I would have to pass on the deal.
They totally understood, which told me, they knew the transmission was in really bad shape. *SIGH* Oh well, I guess it was not meant to be. Or so I thought.....
After we left where the wagon was, my wife and I was following Steve over to see his appartment. About 2 miles from the wagon, Brenda suddenly yells, "I JUST SAW A PACER!". Knowing that it just couldn't be, "Yea, right, No way" I said. You just don't see PACERS that close to each other! But she said she knew what she saw! Well, after seeing Steve's place, on our way to eat, we passed back by where she saw the car. YUP! There it was! Sitting in the grass next to the driveway, was a 1978 PACER! No "for sale" signs were in the windows, so we didn't know if it was or not. After stopping and asking to look at the car, I asked the owner if he would consider selling the car. He said he had about 6 cars and couldn't drive them all, so he told me to make him an offer. "Well," I said, "I was going to buy that wagon up the road for $200, would you take $200 for it?" After what I thought was an eternity, he said "Sure". WOO-HOO!!! I had me a PACER!
This picture is after we got the car back to our house in Asheville. You can probably see all the nasty build-up of grunge coating the car. We couldn't even see through the windows!
Now a bit about the PACER... 258-6 cylinder w/2 barrel carb; power steering; manual brakes; 3 speed automatic-column shift; air conditioning; cloth bucket seats; British Bronze paint; luggage rack; two-piece hubcaps(all 4!!); brown dash/tan interior; and D/L badging.
For more PACERSTORY, click to go on toPART 2
(Note: This is the exact location and position of the car when it stopped!!)
So there I was, sadly holding on to 3 parts cars. Family & friends tried to talk me into getting rid of all the "junk" I had, but it was futile!! Once it gets in your system, you can't get it out!! :-)
As I was thinking how to go about finding another PACER, I remembered maybe seeing one in the nearby town of Hendersonville. Sure enough, there was. Luck was with me again... I bought this one with the insurance money I got from the wreck. For $600, this wasn't too bad a deal. At least I had a good supply of parts!!!
The Next Beginning...
This 2nd "drivable" 1976 PACER had a medium blue paint job with a black interior. It also had the 232 in-line 6 cylinder. But it had a automatic transmission (column shift).
As these pictures suggest, this car was in reasonably good condition. Although the engine and transmission seemed to be in need of some overhaul. After talking it over with my father, we decided to rebuild the engine and transmission out of the blue & white one. This seemed a better idea because he knew what kind of condition that drivetrain was in!! So it was interesting, to say the least, converting an automatic to a manual... (Later, I would get many comments about the double shift levers!! Some thought the floor shift was a "4 wheel drive" lever!!)
This picture was taken earlier than the previous two. I had desided to paint the hood, upper doors, and front of the roof black. It turned out pretty good, but after a while, the black paint got dull. It didn't look too good, so I sanded it off! (Note: Notice two of the parts cars behind the blue one!) I drove the PACER a couple years (into my 1st marriage). When my wife & I found out we were to have a baby, we decided to get a bigger vehicle. Something with 4 doors. That decision led me to my next AMC product!!!
A 1982 AMC EAGLE Wagon!!
For EAGLE, click to go on toPAGE III
PACER: The 3rd Beginning...
WELL, WELL, WELL... As you might have expected, I have yet to lose that "giddy" feeling of driving down the road in one of the most (if not THE most!) unique looking autos of our time. Now it is time to introduce the 3rd in the series of "bubble" cars that I have owned!!!
My best friend, who was attending Appalachain University in Boone, N.C., knew that I was in the market for another PACER. Always on the look-out for me, Steve phoned me one day saying that he had spotted a 1978 PACER wagon for sale in Boone.
He agreed to go find out about it for me and let me know the details. A couple weeks later, Steve came by with a video of the wagon. From the looks of the wagon, it seemed to be in restorable shape. It also had a 304 V-8 in it! So we worked out a weekend to meet him in Boone and go check it out! When my wife, Brenda, and I got to Boone and met Steve, he led us to the Pacer wagon.
After talking with the owners about it, I found out that it had "minor" transmission problems. With the owners permission, Steve and I took it on a drive up the road and back. As we went up the hill, the car would barely go. I knew we had to get the car back to the owners driveway and quick! As we were turning around in a church parking lot, there was a tremendous cloud of white smoke coming out from under the car. Transmission fluid was running out of the front of the transmission... at a high rate of speed! After getting the car back to where it belonged, I told the owners that I would have to pass on the deal.
They totally understood, which told me, they knew the transmission was in really bad shape. *SIGH* Oh well, I guess it was not meant to be. Or so I thought.....
After we left where the wagon was, my wife and I was following Steve over to see his appartment. About 2 miles from the wagon, Brenda suddenly yells, "I JUST SAW A PACER!". Knowing that it just couldn't be, "Yea, right, No way" I said. You just don't see PACERS that close to each other! But she said she knew what she saw! Well, after seeing Steve's place, on our way to eat, we passed back by where she saw the car. YUP! There it was! Sitting in the grass next to the driveway, was a 1978 PACER! No "for sale" signs were in the windows, so we didn't know if it was or not. After stopping and asking to look at the car, I asked the owner if he would consider selling the car. He said he had about 6 cars and couldn't drive them all, so he told me to make him an offer. "Well," I said, "I was going to buy that wagon up the road for $200, would you take $200 for it?" After what I thought was an eternity, he said "Sure". WOO-HOO!!! I had me a PACER!
This picture is after we got the car back to our house in Asheville. You can probably see all the nasty build-up of grunge coating the car. We couldn't even see through the windows!
Now a bit about the PACER... 258-6 cylinder w/2 barrel carb; power steering; manual brakes; 3 speed automatic-column shift; air conditioning; cloth bucket seats; British Bronze paint; luggage rack; two-piece hubcaps(all 4!!); brown dash/tan interior; and D/L badging.
For more PACERSTORY, click to go on toPART 2
The Next Beginning...
This 2nd "drivable" 1976 PACER had a medium blue paint job with a black interior. It also had the 232 in-line 6 cylinder. But it had a automatic transmission (column shift).
As these pictures suggest, this car was in reasonably good condition. Although the engine and transmission seemed to be in need of some overhaul. After talking it over with my father, we decided to rebuild the engine and transmission out of the blue & white one. This seemed a better idea because he knew what kind of condition that drivetrain was in!! So it was interesting, to say the least, converting an automatic to a manual... (Later, I would get many comments about the double shift levers!! Some thought the floor shift was a "4 wheel drive" lever!!)
This picture was taken earlier than the previous two. I had desided to paint the hood, upper doors, and front of the roof black. It turned out pretty good, but after a while, the black paint got dull. It didn't look too good, so I sanded it off! (Note: Notice two of the parts cars behind the blue one!) I drove the PACER a couple years (into my 1st marriage). When my wife & I found out we were to have a baby, we decided to get a bigger vehicle. Something with 4 doors. That decision led me to my next AMC product!!!
A 1982 AMC EAGLE Wagon!!
For EAGLE, click to go on toPAGE III
PACER: The 3rd Beginning...
WELL, WELL, WELL... As you might have expected, I have yet to lose that "giddy" feeling of driving down the road in one of the most (if not THE most!) unique looking autos of our time. Now it is time to introduce the 3rd in the series of "bubble" cars that I have owned!!!
My best friend, who was attending Appalachain University in Boone, N.C., knew that I was in the market for another PACER. Always on the look-out for me, Steve phoned me one day saying that he had spotted a 1978 PACER wagon for sale in Boone.
He agreed to go find out about it for me and let me know the details. A couple weeks later, Steve came by with a video of the wagon. From the looks of the wagon, it seemed to be in restorable shape. It also had a 304 V-8 in it! So we worked out a weekend to meet him in Boone and go check it out! When my wife, Brenda, and I got to Boone and met Steve, he led us to the Pacer wagon.
After talking with the owners about it, I found out that it had "minor" transmission problems. With the owners permission, Steve and I took it on a drive up the road and back. As we went up the hill, the car would barely go. I knew we had to get the car back to the owners driveway and quick! As we were turning around in a church parking lot, there was a tremendous cloud of white smoke coming out from under the car. Transmission fluid was running out of the front of the transmission... at a high rate of speed! After getting the car back to where it belonged, I told the owners that I would have to pass on the deal.
They totally understood, which told me, they knew the transmission was in really bad shape. *SIGH* Oh well, I guess it was not meant to be. Or so I thought.....
After we left where the wagon was, my wife and I was following Steve over to see his appartment. About 2 miles from the wagon, Brenda suddenly yells, "I JUST SAW A PACER!". Knowing that it just couldn't be, "Yea, right, No way" I said. You just don't see PACERS that close to each other! But she said she knew what she saw! Well, after seeing Steve's place, on our way to eat, we passed back by where she saw the car. YUP! There it was! Sitting in the grass next to the driveway, was a 1978 PACER! No "for sale" signs were in the windows, so we didn't know if it was or not. After stopping and asking to look at the car, I asked the owner if he would consider selling the car. He said he had about 6 cars and couldn't drive them all, so he told me to make him an offer. "Well," I said, "I was going to buy that wagon up the road for $200, would you take $200 for it?" After what I thought was an eternity, he said "Sure". WOO-HOO!!! I had me a PACER!
This picture is after we got the car back to our house in Asheville. You can probably see all the nasty build-up of grunge coating the car. We couldn't even see through the windows!
Now a bit about the PACER... 258-6 cylinder w/2 barrel carb; power steering; manual brakes; 3 speed automatic-column shift; air conditioning; cloth bucket seats; British Bronze paint; luggage rack; two-piece hubcaps(all 4!!); brown dash/tan interior; and D/L badging.
For more PACERSTORY, click to go on toPART 2
As these pictures suggest, this car was in reasonably good condition. Although the engine and transmission seemed to be in need of some overhaul. After talking it over with my father, we decided to rebuild the engine and transmission out of the blue & white one. This seemed a better idea because he knew what kind of condition that drivetrain was in!! So it was interesting, to say the least, converting an automatic to a manual... (Later, I would get many comments about the double shift levers!! Some thought the floor shift was a "4 wheel drive" lever!!)
This picture was taken earlier than the previous two. I had desided to paint the hood, upper doors, and front of the roof black. It turned out pretty good, but after a while, the black paint got dull. It didn't look too good, so I sanded it off! (Note: Notice two of the parts cars behind the blue one!) I drove the PACER a couple years (into my 1st marriage). When my wife & I found out we were to have a baby, we decided to get a bigger vehicle. Something with 4 doors. That decision led me to my next AMC product!!!
A 1982 AMC EAGLE Wagon!!
For EAGLE, click to go on toPAGE III
PACER: The 3rd Beginning...
WELL, WELL, WELL... As you might have expected, I have yet to lose that "giddy" feeling of driving down the road in one of the most (if not THE most!) unique looking autos of our time. Now it is time to introduce the 3rd in the series of "bubble" cars that I have owned!!!
My best friend, who was attending Appalachain University in Boone, N.C., knew that I was in the market for another PACER. Always on the look-out for me, Steve phoned me one day saying that he had spotted a 1978 PACER wagon for sale in Boone.
He agreed to go find out about it for me and let me know the details. A couple weeks later, Steve came by with a video of the wagon. From the looks of the wagon, it seemed to be in restorable shape. It also had a 304 V-8 in it! So we worked out a weekend to meet him in Boone and go check it out! When my wife, Brenda, and I got to Boone and met Steve, he led us to the Pacer wagon.
After talking with the owners about it, I found out that it had "minor" transmission problems. With the owners permission, Steve and I took it on a drive up the road and back. As we went up the hill, the car would barely go. I knew we had to get the car back to the owners driveway and quick! As we were turning around in a church parking lot, there was a tremendous cloud of white smoke coming out from under the car. Transmission fluid was running out of the front of the transmission... at a high rate of speed! After getting the car back to where it belonged, I told the owners that I would have to pass on the deal.
They totally understood, which told me, they knew the transmission was in really bad shape. *SIGH* Oh well, I guess it was not meant to be. Or so I thought.....
After we left where the wagon was, my wife and I was following Steve over to see his appartment. About 2 miles from the wagon, Brenda suddenly yells, "I JUST SAW A PACER!". Knowing that it just couldn't be, "Yea, right, No way" I said. You just don't see PACERS that close to each other! But she said she knew what she saw! Well, after seeing Steve's place, on our way to eat, we passed back by where she saw the car. YUP! There it was! Sitting in the grass next to the driveway, was a 1978 PACER! No "for sale" signs were in the windows, so we didn't know if it was or not. After stopping and asking to look at the car, I asked the owner if he would consider selling the car. He said he had about 6 cars and couldn't drive them all, so he told me to make him an offer. "Well," I said, "I was going to buy that wagon up the road for $200, would you take $200 for it?" After what I thought was an eternity, he said "Sure". WOO-HOO!!! I had me a PACER!
This picture is after we got the car back to our house in Asheville. You can probably see all the nasty build-up of grunge coating the car. We couldn't even see through the windows!
Now a bit about the PACER... 258-6 cylinder w/2 barrel carb; power steering; manual brakes; 3 speed automatic-column shift; air conditioning; cloth bucket seats; British Bronze paint; luggage rack; two-piece hubcaps(all 4!!); brown dash/tan interior; and D/L badging.
For more PACERSTORY, click to go on toPART 2
A 1982 AMC EAGLE Wagon!!
For EAGLE, click to go on toPAGE III
PACER: The 3rd Beginning...
WELL, WELL, WELL... As you might have expected, I have yet to lose that "giddy" feeling of driving down the road in one of the most (if not THE most!) unique looking autos of our time. Now it is time to introduce the 3rd in the series of "bubble" cars that I have owned!!!
My best friend, who was attending Appalachain University in Boone, N.C., knew that I was in the market for another PACER. Always on the look-out for me, Steve phoned me one day saying that he had spotted a 1978 PACER wagon for sale in Boone.
He agreed to go find out about it for me and let me know the details. A couple weeks later, Steve came by with a video of the wagon. From the looks of the wagon, it seemed to be in restorable shape. It also had a 304 V-8 in it! So we worked out a weekend to meet him in Boone and go check it out! When my wife, Brenda, and I got to Boone and met Steve, he led us to the Pacer wagon.
After talking with the owners about it, I found out that it had "minor" transmission problems. With the owners permission, Steve and I took it on a drive up the road and back. As we went up the hill, the car would barely go. I knew we had to get the car back to the owners driveway and quick! As we were turning around in a church parking lot, there was a tremendous cloud of white smoke coming out from under the car. Transmission fluid was running out of the front of the transmission... at a high rate of speed! After getting the car back to where it belonged, I told the owners that I would have to pass on the deal.
They totally understood, which told me, they knew the transmission was in really bad shape. *SIGH* Oh well, I guess it was not meant to be. Or so I thought.....
After we left where the wagon was, my wife and I was following Steve over to see his appartment. About 2 miles from the wagon, Brenda suddenly yells, "I JUST SAW A PACER!". Knowing that it just couldn't be, "Yea, right, No way" I said. You just don't see PACERS that close to each other! But she said she knew what she saw! Well, after seeing Steve's place, on our way to eat, we passed back by where she saw the car. YUP! There it was! Sitting in the grass next to the driveway, was a 1978 PACER! No "for sale" signs were in the windows, so we didn't know if it was or not. After stopping and asking to look at the car, I asked the owner if he would consider selling the car. He said he had about 6 cars and couldn't drive them all, so he told me to make him an offer. "Well," I said, "I was going to buy that wagon up the road for $200, would you take $200 for it?" After what I thought was an eternity, he said "Sure". WOO-HOO!!! I had me a PACER!
This picture is after we got the car back to our house in Asheville. You can probably see all the nasty build-up of grunge coating the car. We couldn't even see through the windows!
Now a bit about the PACER... 258-6 cylinder w/2 barrel carb; power steering; manual brakes; 3 speed automatic-column shift; air conditioning; cloth bucket seats; British Bronze paint; luggage rack; two-piece hubcaps(all 4!!); brown dash/tan interior; and D/L badging.
For more PACERSTORY, click to go on toPART 2
PACER: The 3rd Beginning...
WELL, WELL, WELL... As you might have expected, I have yet to lose that "giddy" feeling of driving down the road in one of the most (if not THE most!) unique looking autos of our time. Now it is time to introduce the 3rd in the series of "bubble" cars that I have owned!!!
My best friend, who was attending Appalachain University in Boone, N.C., knew that I was in the market for another PACER. Always on the look-out for me, Steve phoned me one day saying that he had spotted a 1978 PACER wagon for sale in Boone.
He agreed to go find out about it for me and let me know the details. A couple weeks later, Steve came by with a video of the wagon. From the looks of the wagon, it seemed to be in restorable shape. It also had a 304 V-8 in it! So we worked out a weekend to meet him in Boone and go check it out! When my wife, Brenda, and I got to Boone and met Steve, he led us to the Pacer wagon.
After talking with the owners about it, I found out that it had "minor" transmission problems. With the owners permission, Steve and I took it on a drive up the road and back. As we went up the hill, the car would barely go. I knew we had to get the car back to the owners driveway and quick! As we were turning around in a church parking lot, there was a tremendous cloud of white smoke coming out from under the car. Transmission fluid was running out of the front of the transmission... at a high rate of speed! After getting the car back to where it belonged, I told the owners that I would have to pass on the deal.
They totally understood, which told me, they knew the transmission was in really bad shape. *SIGH* Oh well, I guess it was not meant to be. Or so I thought.....
After we left where the wagon was, my wife and I was following Steve over to see his appartment. About 2 miles from the wagon, Brenda suddenly yells, "I JUST SAW A PACER!". Knowing that it just couldn't be, "Yea, right, No way" I said. You just don't see PACERS that close to each other! But she said she knew what she saw! Well, after seeing Steve's place, on our way to eat, we passed back by where she saw the car. YUP! There it was! Sitting in the grass next to the driveway, was a 1978 PACER! No "for sale" signs were in the windows, so we didn't know if it was or not. After stopping and asking to look at the car, I asked the owner if he would consider selling the car. He said he had about 6 cars and couldn't drive them all, so he told me to make him an offer. "Well," I said, "I was going to buy that wagon up the road for $200, would you take $200 for it?" After what I thought was an eternity, he said "Sure". WOO-HOO!!! I had me a PACER!
This picture is after we got the car back to our house in Asheville. You can probably see all the nasty build-up of grunge coating the car. We couldn't even see through the windows!
Now a bit about the PACER... 258-6 cylinder w/2 barrel carb; power steering; manual brakes; 3 speed automatic-column shift; air conditioning; cloth bucket seats; British Bronze paint; luggage rack; two-piece hubcaps(all 4!!); brown dash/tan interior; and D/L badging.
For more PACERSTORY, click to go on toPART 2
My best friend, who was attending Appalachain University in Boone, N.C., knew that I was in the market for another PACER. Always on the look-out for me, Steve phoned me one day saying that he had spotted a 1978 PACER wagon for sale in Boone.
He agreed to go find out about it for me and let me know the details. A couple weeks later, Steve came by with a video of the wagon. From the looks of the wagon, it seemed to be in restorable shape. It also had a 304 V-8 in it! So we worked out a weekend to meet him in Boone and go check it out! When my wife, Brenda, and I got to Boone and met Steve, he led us to the Pacer wagon.
After talking with the owners about it, I found out that it had "minor" transmission problems. With the owners permission, Steve and I took it on a drive up the road and back. As we went up the hill, the car would barely go. I knew we had to get the car back to the owners driveway and quick! As we were turning around in a church parking lot, there was a tremendous cloud of white smoke coming out from under the car. Transmission fluid was running out of the front of the transmission... at a high rate of speed! After getting the car back to where it belonged, I told the owners that I would have to pass on the deal.
They totally understood, which told me, they knew the transmission was in really bad shape. *SIGH* Oh well, I guess it was not meant to be. Or so I thought.....
After we left where the wagon was, my wife and I was following Steve over to see his appartment. About 2 miles from the wagon, Brenda suddenly yells, "I JUST SAW A PACER!". Knowing that it just couldn't be, "Yea, right, No way" I said. You just don't see PACERS that close to each other! But she said she knew what she saw! Well, after seeing Steve's place, on our way to eat, we passed back by where she saw the car. YUP! There it was! Sitting in the grass next to the driveway, was a 1978 PACER! No "for sale" signs were in the windows, so we didn't know if it was or not. After stopping and asking to look at the car, I asked the owner if he would consider selling the car. He said he had about 6 cars and couldn't drive them all, so he told me to make him an offer. "Well," I said, "I was going to buy that wagon up the road for $200, would you take $200 for it?" After what I thought was an eternity, he said "Sure". WOO-HOO!!! I had me a PACER!
This picture is after we got the car back to our house in Asheville. You can probably see all the nasty build-up of grunge coating the car. We couldn't even see through the windows!
Now a bit about the PACER... 258-6 cylinder w/2 barrel carb; power steering; manual brakes; 3 speed automatic-column shift; air conditioning; cloth bucket seats; British Bronze paint; luggage rack; two-piece hubcaps(all 4!!); brown dash/tan interior; and D/L badging.
For more PACERSTORY, click to go on toPART 2
After talking with the owners about it, I found out that it had "minor" transmission problems. With the owners permission, Steve and I took it on a drive up the road and back. As we went up the hill, the car would barely go. I knew we had to get the car back to the owners driveway and quick! As we were turning around in a church parking lot, there was a tremendous cloud of white smoke coming out from under the car. Transmission fluid was running out of the front of the transmission... at a high rate of speed! After getting the car back to where it belonged, I told the owners that I would have to pass on the deal.
They totally understood, which told me, they knew the transmission was in really bad shape. *SIGH* Oh well, I guess it was not meant to be. Or so I thought.....
After we left where the wagon was, my wife and I was following Steve over to see his appartment. About 2 miles from the wagon, Brenda suddenly yells, "I JUST SAW A PACER!". Knowing that it just couldn't be, "Yea, right, No way" I said. You just don't see PACERS that close to each other! But she said she knew what she saw! Well, after seeing Steve's place, on our way to eat, we passed back by where she saw the car. YUP! There it was! Sitting in the grass next to the driveway, was a 1978 PACER! No "for sale" signs were in the windows, so we didn't know if it was or not. After stopping and asking to look at the car, I asked the owner if he would consider selling the car. He said he had about 6 cars and couldn't drive them all, so he told me to make him an offer. "Well," I said, "I was going to buy that wagon up the road for $200, would you take $200 for it?" After what I thought was an eternity, he said "Sure". WOO-HOO!!! I had me a PACER!
This picture is after we got the car back to our house in Asheville. You can probably see all the nasty build-up of grunge coating the car. We couldn't even see through the windows!
Now a bit about the PACER... 258-6 cylinder w/2 barrel carb; power steering; manual brakes; 3 speed automatic-column shift; air conditioning; cloth bucket seats; British Bronze paint; luggage rack; two-piece hubcaps(all 4!!); brown dash/tan interior; and D/L badging.
For more PACERSTORY, click to go on toPART 2
After we left where the wagon was, my wife and I was following Steve over to see his appartment. About 2 miles from the wagon, Brenda suddenly yells, "I JUST SAW A PACER!". Knowing that it just couldn't be, "Yea, right, No way" I said. You just don't see PACERS that close to each other! But she said she knew what she saw! Well, after seeing Steve's place, on our way to eat, we passed back by where she saw the car. YUP! There it was! Sitting in the grass next to the driveway, was a 1978 PACER! No "for sale" signs were in the windows, so we didn't know if it was or not. After stopping and asking to look at the car, I asked the owner if he would consider selling the car. He said he had about 6 cars and couldn't drive them all, so he told me to make him an offer. "Well," I said, "I was going to buy that wagon up the road for $200, would you take $200 for it?" After what I thought was an eternity, he said "Sure". WOO-HOO!!! I had me a PACER!
This picture is after we got the car back to our house in Asheville. You can probably see all the nasty build-up of grunge coating the car. We couldn't even see through the windows!
Now a bit about the PACER... 258-6 cylinder w/2 barrel carb; power steering; manual brakes; 3 speed automatic-column shift; air conditioning; cloth bucket seats; British Bronze paint; luggage rack; two-piece hubcaps(all 4!!); brown dash/tan interior; and D/L badging.
For more PACERSTORY, click to go on toPART 2
Now a bit about the PACER... 258-6 cylinder w/2 barrel carb; power steering; manual brakes; 3 speed automatic-column shift; air conditioning; cloth bucket seats; British Bronze paint; luggage rack; two-piece hubcaps(all 4!!); brown dash/tan interior; and D/L badging.
For more PACERSTORY, click to go on toPART 2