When Plymouth launched its groundbreaking "Forward Look" cars back in 1957, its ads declared, "Suddenly it's 1960." When AMC's futuristic Pacer bowed in 1975, Motor Trend proclaimed, "Suddenly it's 1980," calling the Pacer the most revolutionary American car in 15 years.

Certainly, the Pacer looked like nothing else. Stubby but wide, with massive glass area, asymmetric doors, and compound curves, it was more like a prop from Star Trek than any contemporary American automobile. But the Pacer was designed for a future that never came, and the failure of the real world to match up with the vision of its original design proved the Pacer's undoing.

The Pacer was conceived early in 1971 as "Project Amigo," under the direction of AMC VP of product development Gerald (Gerry) Meyers. Its novel styling was the work of designer Bob Nixon, under the direction of AMC Advanced Styling director Chuck Mashigan and styling VP Richard A. Teague.

When Project Amigo began, Meyers took a hard look at the future of the automobile. In 1971, that was an open question; the federal safety and emissions standards on the table for 1980 were draconian, and some Detroit automakers claimed they were impossible. The proposed crash standards included requirements for 50 mph (80 km/h) front impacts and rollover accidents, a requirement that nearly led to the demise of all American convertibles after 1976. Meanwhile, the upcoming emissions standards threatened to make the conventional four-stroke internal combustion engine obsolete.

Traffic conditions were also changing. Major metropolitan areas were already seeing substantial increases in urban sprawl and congestion. The car of the future, Meyers concluded, would have to be smaller, easier to maneuver, and better suited to heavy traffic. Despite its compact size, it would still have to carry full-sized adults, and provision would have to be made for the crash protection demanded by the pending federal regulations.

FUTURE SHOCK

With all this in mind, the peculiar design of the Pacer becomes easier to understand. Designed for crowded urban freeways, it was relatively short: 171.5 inches (4,356 mm) long, on a 100-inch (2,540 mm) wheelbase, six inches (152 mm) longer than the Gremlin. It had massive windows and a very low beltline for better visibility, abetted by 5,615 square inches (3.6 m²) of glass, more than 50% more glass area than the typical compact car of its era. Its smooth curves cut aerodynamic drag; drag coefficient was 0.32, a credible figure even by modern standards, and night and day better than most of its contemporaries. To allow decent room for adults, it was 77.3 inches (1,963 mm) wide, wide enough that AMC officials later parked a Chevy Vega inside a Pacer model to demonstrate its dimensions. Unlike Gremlin, it was also a true hatchback, with fold-down rear seats to expand its luggage capacity.

Bob Nixon, who developed the design, said the early Project Amigo studies were far less roly-poly than the eventual production car. Gerry Meyers insisted on making it wider, and incorporating provisions necessary to meet the proposed 1980 crash standards, including a roll bar passing through the B-pillars and across the roof. Nixon felt the changes ruined the design, but Meyers insisted. Ironically, the proposed crash standards were never actually enacted, and the production Pacer did not have a roll bar. Nonetheless, the fact that structure was designed to accommodate the roll bar and other crash-protection features made it bulkier and heavier than it otherwise would have been.

With front-wheel drive proliferating in small European cars, it would have been logical for the "Urban Concept," as Project Amigo became known, to be FWD, as well. Gerry Meyers told the press that AMC considered front-wheel drive, but rejected it because research showed that American buyers considered it too new and too sophisticated. That may have been true -- the Mini had never been a big seller in the U.S., and the VW Golf was still in the future when the Pacer was conceived -- but the real reason was that AMC did not have the money to develop a front-wheel drive powertrain. Even without FWD, the project was expensive, costing $60 million to develop, a lot of money for cash-strapped American Motors.

As a result, the Urban Concept had a conventional RWD layout, with a Hotchkiss drive live axle. The prop shaft, rear axle (borrowed from the intermediate Matador), driveshaft tunnel, and differential hump cut sharply into rear seat room and comfort, and they added further to the the car's increasingly ponderous mass.


The owners of this 1975 Pacer X have dubbed it the "Mirth Mobile." This car's front vent windows were optional; the standard Pacer had no quarterlights. The Pacer X package is mostly trim, although it does include bucket seats (instead of a bench) and a floor shifter. A handling package, including a front anti-roll bar, was a useful extra. (Photo © 2006 Gremmie; used by permission)

THE WANKEL THAT WASN'T

AMC's greatest hope -- and greatest letdown -- was the new car's engine. It was designed not for a conventional piston engine, but for a two-chamber Wankel rotary engine. The rotary engine was a cause célèbre in the late sixties and early seventies, when it briefly seemed like it would eventually replace the Otto-cycle (four-stroke, spark-fired) engine. Named for Dr. Felix Wankel, who had been developing the concept since the 1920s, the rotary engine uses roughly triangular-shaped pistons, spinning in a fixed housing. The rotation of the piston completes the same cycle (intake, compression, ignition, and exhaust) as an Otto-cycle engine. A Wankel engine is lighter and more compact than a piston engine of the same output, with fewer parts and smoother operation. Unfortunately, the inherently inefficient shape of the Wankel's combustion chambers makes it thirstier than a comparable piston engine. Worse, although the rotary engine produces fewer oxides of nitrogen than a reciprocating engine, its hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions are higher. Moreover, the rotor seals take a real pounding in high-mileage operation, and finding sealing materials both durable enough and cheap enough for passenger-car use was a problem.

AMC did not have the money to develop a rotary engine of its own, but in the early 1970s, General Motors licensed the Wankel design from Curtiss-Wright and NSU-Wankel, which controlled the patents, with the intention of using it in the forthcoming H-body Chevrolet Monza and a new mid-engine Corvette. AMC, in turn, signed an agreement with GM to purchase rotary engines for use in the Pacer, and spent about $2 million on a license that would eventually have allowed them to manufacture their own. Unfortunately, GM's Wankel program suffered considerable development problems, and was finally canceled before it ever reached full production. AMC officials briefly considered buying rotary engines from Comotor, a joint venture between Citroën and NSU to manufacture a two-rotor Wankel for the ill-fated Citroën GS Birotor, but the engine proved to be too expensive for American Motors, and the idea was abandoned.


The Pacer D/L and Limited models had relatively lavish interiors, with plush vinyl or cloth/vinyl bucket seats. The center console was optional. There was also a Levi model, with blue denim, brass rivets, and Levi's trademark red stitching.

With their intended engine now gone, AMC was forced to substitute its well-tried inline-six, which dated back to 1964. It was a last-minute improvisation; a hole had to be cut in the firewall to fit the big six in the engine compartment. The rear two cylinders were hidden by the cowl, making it look like a four-cylinder engine at a casual glance. The six weighed about 500 lb (227 kg), almost twice as heavy as the Wankel originally intended for the car.

SUDDENLY IT'S 1980

Although the styling for Project Amigo was completed in January 1972 and road testing began late in 1973, the delays in the engine department meant that full production didn't begin until January 1975. Along the way, it acquired a name: Pacer.

The Pacer went on sale on February 28, 1975. The base model started at $3,299, $149 more than AMC's early projections, $200 more than a 1975 Ford Maverick, and a considerable $500 more than a Ford Pinto. Adding power steering, automatic, front disc brakes, radio, and other accessories would quickly push the tab to about $4,000, which was as much as a typical intermediate of the time. There were also two plusher Pacer models: the D/L ($289 more than the base car), which added wheel covers, upgraded trim, woodgrain trim, and individual front seats; and the sporty X ($339 above the base car), which added bucket seats, a sport steering wheel, a floor shifter, and different trim and badges. With every available option, the sticker hovered around $5,700, as much as some full-sized cars.

The Pacer offered a choice of two engines. The base engine was 232 cu. in. (3.8 L), initially rated at 100 net horsepower (75 kW); a bigger, 258 cu. in. (4.2 L) version was available at extra cost. Initially, the big engine carried the same horsepower rating as the 232, albeit with substantially more torque, but some time after introduction, AMC re-rated the engines at 90 hp (67 kW) and 95 hp (71 kW), respectively.

Reviewers were positive about the Pacer's unique styling and concept, but its objective performance disappointed. Car and Driver's June 1975 test car, with the big six and automatic, needed more than 16 seconds to reach 60 mph (97 km/h), with a top speed of only 84 mph (135 km/h). Average fuel economy was a disheartening 17 mpg (13.8 L/100 km). Other testers returned similar figures.


The 90-mph (145-km/h) speedometer is realistic; few Pacers were fast. Woodgrain trim was part of the D/L package. Note the unusual fuel gauge -- with a vertical needle that moves horizontally across the gauge face -- and the tiny little tachometer, which at this size is more of a novelty item than a useful instrument; in D/Ls, this space is normally filled by a clock. The owner has also added the X's gauge cluster, which is down at the base of the dash, where it is in no danger of distracting the driver.

The poor fuel economy and mediocre acceleration were both direct results of the Pacer's weight. It may have been compact in terms of overall dimensions, but the big engine, bulky RWD powertrain, and massive glass area -- the Pacer's windows alone weighed about 150 lb (68 kg) -- made the Pacer more than 500 lb (227 kg) heavier than the Gremlin. With air conditioning and automatic, a well-equipped Pacer tipped the scales at more than 3,400 lb (1,545 kg). For all that mass, it still had a cramped rear seat, and cargo space was poor unless the seat was folded down.

The Pacer was not particularly impressive in other dynamic areas, either. It had slow, clumsy steering, with handling that was anything but nimble. The standard drum brakes were inadequate, and the optional front discs ($47) were only a partial fix, hampered by rear wheel hop and erratic wheel lockup.


The other side of the Mirth Mobile. The Pacer's passenger door is 3.5 inches (89 mm) longer than the driver's door, to make it easier for rear-seat passengers to get in and out. (Photo © 2006 Gremmie; used by permission)

Despite all these drawbacks, the Pacer sold relatively well at first -- about 72,000 in the first partial model year, more than 117,000 for 1976. As with the Gremlin before it, the Pacer's unusual appearance probably helped it more than it hurt.

ONWARD AND DOWNWARD

For 1976, AMC added a more powerful version of the 258 cu. in. (4.2 L) six to the options list, with a two-barrel carburetor and 120 net horsepower (90 kW). The bigger engine cut 0-60 mph (0-97 km/h) times to less than 14 seconds, a more reasonable figure. At mid-year, a new four-speed manual transmission became optional, improving performance, if not fuel economy.

By then, the bloom was off the rose. Car and Driver's Stephan Wilkinson wrote in May 1976 that he wanted to like the Pacer, but its execution did not match the boldness of its conception. The public's enthusiasm seemed to be cooling at a similar rate. AMC responded by adding a new body style for 1977, a compact station wagon (or estate, for our British readers). It was 3.5 inches (89 mm) longer than the regular Pacer, with a reshaped roof and tail. It was only a little heavier than the standard coupe, so it had similar performance, but it had much more versatile cargo room, along with slightly more conventional proportions. Buyers evidently found the wagon more palatable than the hatchback coupe; it accounted for 65% of sales in 1977 and 1978.


Compared to the standard hatchback coupe, the wagon looks fractionally more normal, and was certainly more practical. AMC sold just under 38,000 wagons in 1977, compared to about 20,000 coupes. Woodgrain trim was included with the D/L package.

The Pacer got a new front end for 1978, featuring a genuinely hideous eggcrate grille. The Pacer X was dropped, the D/L trim package became standard, and the six-cylinder engines were supplemented by an optional V8, AMC's familiar 304 (5.0 L), with 130 net horsepower (97 kW). The V8 gave peppier performance, but added even more weight, the last thing the Pacer needed, and it dragged fuel economy down even further. Unsurprisingly, V8s accounted for only about 10% of Pacer sales. (This was not the first time a V8 had been seen under Pacer hoods: Carl Green Enterprises built a number of V8 Pacer X models throughout the model run, usually using the 401 cu. in. (6.6 L) AMC V8 also found in the Javelin and Matador. Like the V8 Gremlin, the V8 Pacers were real sleepers.)

Despite the wagon and the V8, sales dropped sharply after 1976, and never recovered. By 1979, they were down to around 10,000 units, more than 70% of which were wagons. Only 1,746 were sold in the final 1980 run, with production ending in December 1979. AMC had had plans for a 1981 Pacer, but with its precipitous sales decline in its final years, there seemed little point. Total U.S. production was 280,858; AMC also sold an unknown number of Pacers in Mexico through Vehículos Automotores Mexicanos between 1976 to 1979, some of which had a 282 cu. in. (4.6 L) version of the six, rated at 174 hp (130 kW).


A 1978 Pacer D/L wagon, showing the revised nose with its unfortunate-looking eggcrate grille. Sales for the facelifted model were dismal, totaling only 33,192 in three model years. (Photo © 2011 Christopher Ziemnowicz; released to the public domain by the photographer)

ALTERNATE FUTURES

However futuristic the Pacer may have looked when it first appeared, its thunder was stolen by the arrival of the real car of the future: the Volkswagen Golf, known in America as the Rabbit. The Rabbit was a lightweight, monocoque hatchback, with fashionably angular styling, penned by Italy's Giorgetto Giugiaro. With MacPherson strut front suspension, a transverse four-cylinder engine, and front-wheel drive, it was vastly more space efficient than the Pacer, offering nearly as much useful interior room in a car 16 inches (406 mm) shorter and fully 1,200 pounds (545 kg) lighter. Despite having a much smaller engine than the Pacer, the Rabbit's light weight gave it superior performance and significantly better fuel economy. It was also nimble and fun to drive in a way the clumsy Pacer simply couldn't be. The Pacer was quieter and rode better, but at a similar price -- only about $30 cheaper than the Rabbit in 1975 -- it came across as a poor second choice. AMC's dilemma was made worse the following year with the debut of the Honda Accord, which matched the Rabbit for packaging efficiency and economy, and would soon surpass it for build quality.


This wagon's color, Sun Orange, is an authentic AMC color. It was the seventies; what can we say?

If the Pacer had followed its original plan, would it have done better? If AMC had been able to buy the aborted GM Wankel, the Pacer would have been lighter, certainly, but probably no more economical. Given GM's track record, the new engine might have proved troublesome; compare the record of the Chevrolet Vega's aluminum-block four in this same period. The AMC six may have been heavy and relatively anemic, but it was at least reasonably dependable. Even with the Wankel engine and the thinner, lighter glass Teague had hoped to use, the Pacer would still have been nearly 800 pounds (360 kg) heavier and far clumsier than the Rabbit or Accord.

In a sense, all car designers are futurists, since they're working on vehicles that will not see the light of day until at least two or three years after the fact. Styling and design a delicate balancing act: your designs must be advanced enough that they don't quickly look dated, but not so radical as to scare away the public. Radically styled and engineered cars can sometimes succeed, but they have to work well; it's not enough to be merely good enough. The Pacer was good enough in some areas, sadly deficient in others, superb in none, and that proved its undoing.

The same could be said of American Motors. Throughout its history, AMC had tried again and again to offer clever niche products to enable it to survive against the Big Three, but those products had also produced niche-market revenues, dooming each subsequent offering to be a little less than it promised. As the Pacer wound down, American Motors was embarking on a problematic marriage to the French automaker Renault, which ultimately did neither company any favors. Renault eventually sold AMC to Chrysler in 1987, at a considerable loss. Chrysler undoubtedly benefited from AMC's engineering talent, and some AMC-designed products (like the ZJ Grand Cherokee) proved to be very successful, but by the late 1990s, little remained of American Motors except the Jeep brand.

THE UNLIKELY ICON

AMC still has a lot of fans, as does the Pacer. Charlie and Debbie, the owners of the blue cars in the photos, are two such enthusiasts. Charlie has owned the Pastel Blue Gremlin since it was new. He told us, "This Gremlin was my first new car, purchased it at the age of 21 in 1975. I had gone to the local dealer to buy a Javelin, but was told that 74 was the last year they were made...On my way out, I saw this Gremlin on the show room floor and it was an immediate 'had to have.'" A few year ago, while scouring eBay for Gremlin parts, he discovered the Pastel Blue Pacer for sale. Debbie had wanted a Pacer for year, he said, and the fact that it was the same color as his Gremlin (and the same color as the Pacer in the movie Wayne's World) was perfect. "The guy selling it lived less than two hours away from me," he said. "He had bought it to restore, but was injured at work and was placed on disability. I got the sense the wife made him sell it. I figured if we were ever going to buy a Pacer, that would be the one! Well, we won the bid and my wife got her Pacer for Christmas. (I loved watching the expression on people's faces when my wife told them what she got for Christmas.)"

Not a lot of Pacers survive intact, and unlike more popular cars like the Ford Mustang, no reproduction parts are available (although mechanical parts for its engine and driveline are easier to come by). The Pacer has flirted with collectible status for years, but it remains decidedly a special-interest car, a symbol of a future that -- perhaps fortunately -- passed us by.

# # #

Our principal sources for this article were Wolfgang A. Mederle's "AMC Pacer History" (1998, American-Motors.de, http://www.american-motors.de/en/pacer/history/, accessed 11 October 2007) and Jeni Panhorst's The Pacer Page (May 2000, http://www.amcpacer.com/, accessed 11 October 2007). We also consulted "AMC gambles $60-million on a new compact," Business Week, 20 January 1975, pp. 76-78; Michael Lamm, "First-Hand Report: Driving AMC's brand-new Pacer," Popular Mechanics, February 1975 (Vol. 143, No. 2), pp. 106, 148; Karl Ludvigsen, "Suddenly it's 1980: American Motors' new Pacer is the freshest, most creative, most people-oriented auto to be born in the U.S. in 15 years," Motor Trend, February 1975 (Vol. 27, No. 2), pp. 35-39, 97; Don Sherman, "AMC Pacer," Car and Driver, February 1975, pp. 22-25, 81; Ron Wakefield, "American Motors PACER: Surprising new car from the smallest of the Big Four," Road & Track, February 1975, pp. 39-44; "American Motors Pacer: The world's biggest small car?" Road & Track, April 1975, pp. 35-39; William Jeanes, "AMC Pacer: A small car for people who don't think they like small cars," Car and Driver, June 1975, pp. 71-76; "Two New Small Cars," Consumer Reports, June 1975, pp. 406-409; Stephen Wilkinson, "Double Barrel Pacer: AMC finds more firepower," Car and Driver, May 1976, pp. 72-74; "AMC Pacer Station Wagon is a Styling Coup!" Popular Mechanics, October 1976, pp. 96-97, 176-178; "AMC Pacer Wagon: Kenosha's Small Car Grows Up," Road & Track, February 1977, pp. 46-47; and Patrick Foster, "American Motors' Pacer: A Piece of Tomorrow," Hemmings Classic Car, March 2005, pp. 64-67. For a subsequent revision, we also consulted Patrick Foster, "Bob Nixon: AMC's Master of Design," Hemmings Classic Car, April 2009, pp. 48-51.

This article's title was suggested by the popular expression "high, wide, and handsome." We weren't able to uncover the origins of this phrase, but it dates back to at least the late 19th century. It was notably featured in Ned Jordan's 1923 ad for the Jordan Playboy, "Somewhere West of Laramie," which is one of the most famous (and most influential) pieces of copy in advertising history.

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