AMC: Funky, Interesting and Unique

A model poses with the four-passenger 1970 AMC Gremlin with rear lift-gate and roof-top luggage rack, a two-door subcompact car measuring only a fraction more than 161 inches in overall length and boasting an unusually short turning radius of 32 feet, 8 inches, Detroit, Michigan, February 12, 1970. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) /

2 of 6

1979 AMC Pacer. (Photo by National Motor Museum/Heritage Images/Getty Images) /

AMC Pacer (1975-1980)

One of the first econobox options for American car fans and yet the Pacer is as wide as your standard sedan.

“You only ride like a Pacer if you’re wide like a Pacer.” – AMC Pacer advertisement.

It was also a fishbowl, or greenhouse, that was approximately 37% glass but its fuel consumption wasn’t really that great at 18 mpg.

Consumers had a couple of body style options with a two-door hatchback or a two-door wagon and engine choices went from a 232ci inline-six and by 1978 you could get a 304ci V8. AMC produced 280,000 Pacers in its six-year run and the initial productions were solid (72,158 in 1975 & 117,244 in 1976) but tapered off to 1,746 in its final year, 1980.

Ultimately the Pacer is remembered as the “Mirth Mobile” from “Wayne’s World” and that’s a pretty dope legacy.

Home/Cars