This is a picture of my 1976 Pacer D/L in 6P "Firecracker Red" that I had the pleasure of owning. It was purchased in 1979 with 24,000 miles on it. The car was owned by a retired couple who bought new cars every couple of years, and had traded it in on a new car. It was one of the first major purchases after my wife and I were married.

It was heavily optioned for it's time. Remember, this was the '70's. The car as optioned had: D/L package with individual reclining seats in berry "Basketry Print" fabric, 258 six two barrel, automatic transmission, power steering and power disc brakes, air conditioning, tinted glass, side door glass vent windows, black vinyl roof, luggage rack, rear wiper option, light group, visibility group, and a cool AM/FM Stereo radio, with not just two, but four speakers. Back then, not too many people had cars with air conditioning and stereo radios in our part of the country, so it was like hitting the "Big Time!"

This is the car that in my mind represented the Perfect Pacer. It was the standard by which I had set, and was seeking some twenty years later when I was searching once again for that special Pacer. When we traded this car in for a brand new '81 AMC Concord, I told my wife that someday I would regret trading in this little gem...I was right, I wished I hadn't.

Note rear wiper option, and AMC dealer mudflaps. If you look through the Pacer's windshield, you will also see the rear view of a two dr. AMC Matador coupe, which was my parent's car at the time.