Extras and Originality
The Pacer was available as plain and naked base model (hardly to be found in Europe), as luxury model with everything that was useful, fancy or just possible — and as almost anything in between. Front drum brakes, disc brakes, power discs. Normal paint, two-tone paint, metallic paint, vinyl roof. Leather, fabric, vinyl, velours. No radio, am radio, 8-track player. Three-speed transmission, same with overdrive, four-speed transmission, automatic transmission. Column shift, floor shift. And so on. Some numbers on the car tell how the car went out of the factory. The VIN (vehicle identification number) is on the left outer edge of the dashboard, right behind the windshield. It tells the build year, engine and transmission. Some more numbers are on a plate at the narrow side of the driver's door (hopefully it's the original door!): model, trim, paint, and work order number reveal further details about the car's origin.
The model choices were: Pacer (base model, mostly in beige...), Pacer X (sporty, features anti-sway bar, disc brakes, floor shift, sports seats and steering wheel, alloy wheels), Pacer D/L (better equipped base model), and Limited (has it all).
Recommended options: Air conditioning, or at least vent windows, unless you live near a pole. The huge glass surfaces can turn the Pacer into a sauna. With today's traffic, disc brakes should be preferred over drums, but if your Pacer has drums, you can upgrade easily. A center console makes driving even more comfortable. Very nice are the original AMC five-spoke alloy wheels. The roof rack looks good and is very practical.
A detailed listing of all the available extras and codes would be too much for this Buyer's Guide. If you need further information, send me a message or ask one of the AMC mailing lists.
In my opinion, functionality should go over originality. The Pacer is a driver and no Ferrari.
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