Hey, there are cars that we don’t have to understand to love, right? Take this 1978 AMC Pacer wagon for example. It has the entire drivetrain from a 1990s Ford Thunderbird Super Coupe. That means it has a supercharged 3.8L V6, independent rear suspension, and whatever Ford transmission the engine was bolted to, maybe an AOD or something. The seller claims that the thing scoots down the road pretty well and from all the photos we have seen of the car, it looks to have been very well constructed. BangShifter Ray Hull found this baby and tipped us off to it.
The packaging of the motor seems pretty tight under the hood and it is set back reasonbly far so the weight balance of the car is probably pretty decent. That IRS certainly helps in the handling department as well so this Pacer could be a real wolf in sheep’s clothing in the right scenarios. In stock form the V6 with the little Eaton blower makes 210hp. We’re sure that some computer tweaking, bigger injectors, a little camshaft change, and some messing with the heads would really wake that V6 up. Then again, with the 210hp this Pacer is probably stone reliable and quick enough to be fun around town.
The slightly larger than stock steel wheels look great and the wood grain paneling below the belt line of the Pacer looks to be in good nick. The asking price is kind of steep at $9,500 but we can imagine that there was LOTS of work involved in getting that motor in there and making it all look so factory fresh. Damn this thing is cool and we’re not sure exactly why. It’s a Pacer with a supercharged Ford V6. It certainly proves that cool cars are more than just a sum of their parts. This is a thinking man’s hot rod with a sense of humor. That’s right up our alley!
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Throw on some R1 tires, thick anti-roll bars, lower it to the ground and you’d have a great AutoX car. You could run in the X-WTH (what the hell) class.
I am not a Ford fan but this can only be called a waste of perfectly good parts. All AMC Pacers still in existence should be melted down into re-bar immediately. I would rather have a garage full of Edsels than a single Pacer. This makes me sick. I have to go hurl chunks now.
not everyone likes belly button Camaros. some people are actually creative
don’t be a h8’r
blow it out your ass instead Jim! and here’s hoping you soil your knickers!
Let me guess. You don’t like it….
The back story here is that a Pacer beat the snot out of Jim every morning at the bus stop and took his lunch money. And probably also made fun of his Grrrranimals and Toughskins. Poor, sad Jim.
Those are BIG engine packages, it’s a lot of work to make it look factory… interesting… baby maker back seat and all. 🙂
Finally someone built a pacer wagon sleeper!
Tommy Lee Byrd could do a sequel to his book with all the bad ass sleepers on BangShift lately
party on Wayne!
Party on Garth!
Growing up in a Rambler family I like it…A lot! Odd cars are cool.
Some people just don’t get the art of creating a sleeper. Hearing a v8 in one would make you slightly suspicious, you can’t hear that turbo till it starts boosting. Love the car. And I have a camaro and a trans am.