Editing AMC Pacer (section)

==Design==
American Motors' chief stylist [[Dick Teague]] began work on the Pacer in 1971, anticipating an increase in demand for smaller vehicles throughout the decade. The new car was designed to offer the interior room and feel of a big vehicle that drivers of traditional domestic automobiles were accustomed to, but in a much smaller, aerodynamic, and purposefully distinctive exterior package.<ref name="tribute">{{cite web |url= http://stevemobia.com/WriteSubPages/PacerTribute.htm |last=Mobia |first=Steve |title=Tribute to the AMC Pacer |access-date=26 June 2024}}</ref> American Motors called it "Project Amigo" as a fresh design "featuring a body style not seen before, using the latest technology and exceeding upcoming safety regulations".<ref name="mederle-history"/>

''[[Car and Driver]]'' magazine wrote, "It was the first car designed from the inside out. Four passengers were positioned with reasonable clearances, and then the rest of the car was built around them as compactly as possible."<ref name="don">{{cite magazine |last=Sherman |first=Don |title=AMC Pacer |magazine=Car and Driver |date=February 1975}}</ref> American Motors explored many unique solutions to what Teague called the "Urban Concept" car.<ref name="Vintage-R&T">{{cite web |last1=Niedermeyer |first1=Paul |title=Vintage R&T Technical Analysis: AMC's New Pacer – As Short As A Pinto; As Wide As A Chevelle |url= https://www.curbsideclassic.com/vintage-reviews/vintage-rt-technical-analysis-amcs-new-pacer/ |website=Curbside Classic |date=2 November 2022 |access-date=7 January 2023}}</ref> Not only different sized doors for the driver and passenger sides were considered, but also using a [[Wankel engine]] and front-wheel-drive.<ref name="Vintage-R&T"/> The first [[development mule]] was made by shortening both the front and the rear of an [[AMC Matador]] by {{convert|30|in|mm|0|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Vintage-R&T"/>

The shape was highly rounded with a huge glass area and was very unusual for its time. ''[[Road & Track]]'' magazine described it as "fresh, bold and functional-looking".<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/04/automobiles/04CARS.html |newspaper=The New York Times |title=Marlins and Hornets and Gremlins, Oh My: The Quirky Classics of A.M.C. |last=Matras |first=John |date=4 April 2005 |access-date=22 November 2013 }}</ref> The Pacer featured a rounded and aerodynamic "jellybean" styling <ref name="car_culture"/> The body surface was 37% glass, and its surface area of {{convert|5615|sqin|sqm|1|lk=in}} was 16% more than the average passenger car at the time.<ref name="ligo2013"/> The May 1976 issue of ''[[Car and Driver]]'' dubbed it "The Flying Fishbowl,"<ref name="Pacers in Print">{{cite web|url= http://www.amcpacer.com/multimedia/print.asp |title=Pacers in Print |work=AMC Pacer Page |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200216134734/http://www.amcpacer.com/multimedia/print.asp |archive-date=16 February 2020 |access-date=31 December 2022}}</ref> and it was also described as "the seventies answer to [[George Jetson]]'s mode of transportation"<ref name="Taylor & Francis">{{cite book |editor-last=Waldrep |editor-first=Shelton |title=The Seventies: the age of glitter in popular culture |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2005 |page=42 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=566opCd2i7gC&pg=PA42 |isbn=9780415925358 |access-date=31 December 2022 |via=Google Books}}</ref> at a time when "Detroit was still rolling out boat-sized gas guzzlers."<ref name="Gallant-Stokes 52"/>

Development was under Product Group Vice President [[Gerald C. Meyers]], whose goal was to develop a unique car: "Everything that we do must distinguish itself as being importantly different than what can be expected from the competition."<ref name="HemmingsMarch2005">{{cite magazine |url= https://www.hemmings.com/blog/article/american-motors-pacer |last=Foster |first=Patrick |title=American Motors' Pacer |magazine=Hemmings Classic Car |date=March 2005 |access-date=31 December 2022}}</ref> Even before its introduction, AMC's Board Chairman [[Roy D. Chapin Jr.]] described "It will be a visibly different car, maybe even controversial. It's an idea that represents a transition between what has been and what's coming. Today versus tomorrow."<ref>{{cite magazine |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cNQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA30 |page=30 |title=Detroit Listening Post |first=Robert |last=Lund |magazine=Popular Mechanics |date=July 1974 |volume=142 |issue=1 |access-date=31 December 2022 |via=Google Books}}</ref> According to ''[[Popular Mechanics]]'', "This is the first time in the history of the American automobile industry that a car manufacturer has said in advance of bringing out a new product that some people may not like."<ref>{{cite magazine |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=g-IDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA129 |title=Half-pints for higher mpg |first1=Bill |last1=Hartford |first2=Robert |last2=Lund |page=129 |magazine=Popular Mechanics |date=January 1975 |volume=143 |issue=1 |access-date=31 December 2022 |via=Google Books}}</ref> The Pacer was in sharp contast to the conventional boxy and recliniar automobile body styles of the 1970s. ''Road and Track'' described the car's styling "with all those rounded corners, the lack of distinct edges, and acre upon acre of curvilinear surfaces".<ref name="R&T-February-1977">{{cite magazine|title=AMC Pacer Wagon - Kenosha's wide small car grows up |pages=46–47 |magazine=Road and Track |date=February 1977 |volume=28 |issue=6}}</ref>

[[File:1975 AMC Pacer base model - instrument panel dashboard.jpg|thumb|right|Pacer's dashboard design for safety and ease of service instrument panel]]
[[File:Detail of - AMC Pacer - right front disc brake and suspension system.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Isolated wishbone front suspension]]
[[File:1976 AMC Pacer DL coupe blue-white 2014-AMO-NC-14.jpg|thumb|Engine bay with {{convert|258|CID|L|1|abbr=on}}]]
[[File:1975 AACA AMC Pacer X red-white winwip.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Hidden [[windshield wiper]]s]]

American Motors explored many futuristic ideas, but the automaker needed more resources to build components from scratch. Instead, they needed to use outside suppliers or adapt existing components and parts in their production facilities.<ref>{{cite book |last=Montgomery |first=Andrew |title=The Illustrated Directory of American Cars |year=2003 |publisher=MBI Publishing |isbn=9780760315545 |pages=308–310}}</ref> Unique for a comparatively small car, the Pacer was as wide as a [[full-size car|full-size American car]] of the era. American Motors did not describe it as "[[cab forward]]". Nevertheless, the Pacer's layout included wheels pushed to the corners (short overhangs), a relatively wide body, and [[Pillar (car)|A-pillars]] moved forward. The windshield was placed over part of the engine compartment, with the bottom edge of the glass forward of the firewall. Contrary to some reports, the Pacer was not widened {{convert|6|in|mm|0}} to accommodate the [[rear-wheel drive]] configuration. The editor of ''Road & Track'' asserted that front-wheel drive, as well as a transverse mid-engined configuration, were among "various mechanical layouts&nbsp;... tossed around by the idea people at AMC," adding that "it's unlikely they ever had much hope of being able to produce anything other than their traditional front engine and rear drive, using components already in production."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Wakefield |first=Ron |title=American Motors Pacer: Surprising new car from the smallest of the Big Four |pages=39–44 |magazine=Road & Track |date=February 1975 }}</ref>

The introductory 1975 AMC advertising and literature proclaimed it "the first wide small car".<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/amcs-wide-small-car-the-1975-80-pacer/ |title=AMC's Wide Small Car: The 1975-80 Pacer |first=Bill |last=McGuire |date=6 June 2019 |work=Mac's Motor City Garage |access-date=26 June 2024}}</ref> The width was dictated partly by marketing strategy—American drivers were accustomed to large vehicles, and the Pacer's occupants had the impression of being in a larger car—and partly because AMC's assembly lines were already set up for full-size vehicles.

Teague's low-drag design was highly innovative, predating the [[1973 oil crisis|fuel crisis]] and the flood of small imports into the American market. Pacer's [[Automobile drag coefficients|drag coefficient]] of 0.43 was relatively low for that time. Teague even eliminated rain gutters, smoothly blending the tops of the [[vehicle door|doors]] into the roof—an aerodynamic detail that, although criticized at the time for allowing rain onto the front seat, has become the norm in today's designs.

Also unique was that the [[vehicle door|passenger door]] was four inches (101&nbsp;mm) longer than the driver's on the left side. This made passenger egress easier, particularly from the rear seats, and they would also tend to use the safer curbside in countries that [[Driving on the left or right|drive on the right]].

Engineers also took an entirely fresh approach with the Pacer's front suspension and engine mounting.<ref>{{cite magazine |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=g-IDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA58 |title=Half-pints for higher mpg |first1=Bill |last1=Hartford |first2=Robert |last2=Lund |pages=58–61, 129 |magazine=Popular Mechanics |date=January 1975 |volume=143 |issue=1 |access-date=31 December 2022 |via=Google Books}}</ref> It was the first U.S. small car to isolate the engine and suspension system noises from the passenger compartment.<ref>{{cite magazine |page=5 |title=Look out Big 3 |magazine=Ward's Auto World |volume=11 |issue=1 |publisher=Ward's Communications |year=1975}}</ref> The entire front suspension was mounted on a crossmember isolated from the frame extensions by heavy rubber bushings. It is also different from all other AMC cars, with the coil spring between the two control arms seated on the lower wishbone arm at the bottom and in the suspension/engine mount crossmember at the top.<ref>{{cite book |title=Chilton's Auto Repair Manual 1977–84 |pages= C 30–40 |publisher=Chiltons Books |year=1983 |isbn= 9780801973253 }}</ref> The rear suspension was also isolated, requiring a unique tool to press the one-piece bushings in and out of the mounting brackets.<ref>{{cite book |title=Chilton's guide to brakes, steering, and suspension, 1980–87 |first=Richard J. |last=Rivele |publisher=Chilton Books |year=1988 |isbn=9780801978197 |url-access=registration |url= https://archive.org/details/chiltonsguidetob00rive |access-date=31 December 2022 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

Other aspects of the Pacer were designed for ease of service, including the dashboard and instrument panel—using a minimum number of easily accessible screws and featuring a removable cover/bezel without the need to disconnect the speedometer cable—and access to the light bulbs. The Pacer's design was ranked to be equal with the new [[Dodge Aspen|Aspen-Volare]] compacts as the most serviceable cars in the industry.<ref>{{cite magazine |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=hOIDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA79 |page= 79 |title= '76 service tips for the do-it-yourselfer |magazine=Popular Mechanics |date=October 1975 |volume=144 |issue=4 |access-date=31 December 2022 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

The Pacer was the second American production car, after the [[Ford Pinto]], to feature [[rack-and-pinion steering]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1976–1986 |first=James M. |last=Flammang |edition=2nd |publisher=Krause Publications |year=1990 |isbn=9780873411332 }}</ref> The system was mounted low at the front of the crossmember. The body was designed with the aim that structural lines protected it from hit damage, and AMC engineers claimed that they succeeded in more than 50% of the car's surface.

[[File:1975 AACA AMC Pacer X red-white roof.jpg|thumb|Roll bar roof bump, 1975 Pacer X]]
[[File:AMC Pacer highway.jpg|thumb|Controversial styling with a large glass area]]

In the mid-1970s, the U.S. government mandated significant vehicle safety improvements starting with the 1980 model year cars. These included {{convert|50|mph|0|adj=on}} front-end crash testing, {{convert|25|mph|0|adj=on}} side crash testing, and {{convert|30|mph|0|adj=on}} [[Vehicle rollover|rollover]] testing, as well as the installation of bumpers that would resist a {{convert|5|mph|0|adj=on}} impact at the front and {{convert|10|mph|0|adj=on}} at the rear. "Full-circle body protection was designed into the Pacer, starting with the energy-absorbing bumper mounts" through upper and lower box-section rails on each side extending back to the [[pillar (car)|front pillars]], as well as from the bases of the pillars behind the doors, the box-section members in the body floor curve up and continue past the rear wheel houses.<ref name="Motor36">{{cite magazine |page=36 |magazine=The Motor |publisher=Temple Press |date=11 January 1975 |title=American Motors' Pacer}}</ref> The Pacer was designed from the start to meet the expected stringent safety specifications.

The low beltline and window design afforded the driver outstanding visibility. The Pacer had [[Laminated glass|laminated safety glass]] in the windshield. The articulated front wipers were hidden when in their parked position, while a rear wiper and washer system was optional.

[[File:AMC pacer 082009 D42119.jpg|thumb|D/L [[coupe]], before front end restyle]]
[[File:1979 AMC Pacer DL coupe in two-tone brown ext-view.jpg|thumb|right|Restyled 1979 D/L coupe]]

[[General Motors]], [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]], and [[Chrysler]] persuaded U.S. government authorities that modifying existing production cars to comply with the new regulations was not financially viable. They would face enormous expenses to produce new, safety-compliant vehicles. As a result of the lobbying, the requirements were reduced, including the deletion of several safety features. For example, production Pacers did not feature an actual [[Roll cage|roll bar]] over the passenger compartment, but the bump in the roof remained. The design of the Pacer was strong for a small car, making it solid and heavy with protection features that included strong and massive bumpers. The wide [[Pillar (automobile)|B-pillar]]s were described by AMC as having "roll bar-like characteristics". Even with the Pacer's large glass area, passengers are not positioned near the windows because they all bow out from around seated occupants. The Pacer's wide stance also makes it stable and provides a unique feeling when inside the car, providing credence to the marketing phrase used by AMC: "You only ride like a Pacer if you're wide like a Pacer."<ref name="pacer-statistics"/>

The editors of ''The Motor'' opined the "more you study both the general layout and the detail features of the Pacer, the more convinced you become that the men who dreamed it up and decided to make it actually do drive around in crowded cities and consequently realize from their own experience that the traditional big barges are less and less easy to navigate through our streets."<ref name="Motor36"/> The unusual proportions of the Pacer provided buyers the "idea of feeling like they were sitting in the front of a roomy big American car, but without all the unnecessary length."<ref name="Vintage-R&T"/> ''Car and Driver'' road testers also noted the Pacer's "smooth and quiet ride can probably be attributed to a front subframe that isolates the passenger capsule from the engine, suspension and steering loads" making the car "eminently stable and controllable, with its rack-and-pinion steering and wide track".<ref>{{cite magazine |page=24 |magazine=Car and Driver |volume=22 |title=AMC Pacer Wagon |year=1977}}</ref>

The Pacer's remaining safety features were not strongly advertised and seldom influenced a potential customer's purchasing decision. The car's extra weight—due in part to the safety equipment and the abundance of heavy glass—hurt fuel economy: production models tested by the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency]] (EPA) gave {{convert|16|mpgus|L/100 km mpgimp|abbr=on}} in the city, but {{convert|26|mpgus|L/100 km mpgimp|abbr=on}} or better on the highway (depending on driving habits and transmission), thanks to aerodynamic efficiency.

Initially, the car was designed to have a [[Wankel engine|Wankel rotary engine]]. In 1973, AMC signed a licensing agreement with [[Curtiss-Wright]] to build Wankels for cars and [[Jeep]]-type vehicles. (The agreement also permitted Curtiss-Wright to sell rotaries elsewhere.)<ref>{{cite magazine |url= http://wardsautoworld.com/ar/auto_rearview_mirror_15/ |title=Rearview mirror |magazine=Ward's Auto World |date=1 February 2000 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111105205047/http://wardsautoworld.com/ar/auto_rearview_mirror_15/ |archive-date=5 November 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=31 December 2022}}</ref> Later, AMC decided instead to purchase the engines from [[General Motors]] (GM), who were [[Chevrolet Vega#RC2-206 Wankel|developing]] them for use in their cars. However, GM canceled development in 1974 for reasons that included durability issues, the fuel crisis, tooling costs (for the engines and a new product line designed to take advantage of the rotary's ultra-compact dimensions), and the upcoming (the late 1970s) U.S. emissions legislation. It was also thought that the high-revving Wankel would not suit Americans accustomed to low revs and high torque.

General Motors's change of plans left the Pacer without an engine. American Motors took a calculated risk and introduced the new model.<ref name="entrapment">{{cite journal|last=Proctor |first=Tony |title=Product Innovation: The Pitfalls of Entrapment |journal=Creativity and Innovation Management |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=260–265 |date=December 1993 |doi= 10.1111/j.1467-8691.1993.tb00105.x }}</ref> The company's over-commitment to the project resulted in entrapment with so much money and effort in the car's design.<ref name="entrapment"/> Engineers hastily reconfigured it to accept their existing [[AMC Straight-6 engine|straight-six engine]]. This involved a complete redesign of the drivetrain and firewall to keep the longer engine within the body dimensions designed for the Wankel, but allowed the Pacer to share many mechanical components with other AMC models. ''[[Newsweek]]'' noted the "Pacer's primary competitive drawback is gasoline mileage: AMC offers only six-cylinder engines and the car gets only 18 miles per gallon in the city and suburban driving vs. 23 mpg or more for some four-cylinder competitors."<ref>{{cite magazine | first1= Tom |last1= Nicholson |first2=James C. |last2=Jones |title=Autos: Setting the Pace |page= 53 |magazine=Newsweek |volume=86 |date=January 1974}}</ref>

The "[[Thinking outside the box|outside of the box]]" thinking incorporated by AMC in the Pacer as the first "wide, small car" attempted to capture a revolutionary change in the marketplace,<ref>{{cite magazine |url= https://www.hemmings.com/blog/article/1975-2 |last=McCourt |first=Mark J. |title=1975 |magazine=Hemmings Classic Car |date=September 2006 |access-date=31 December 2022}}</ref> but a radical departure from what was accepted by consumers as "good styling" was a risky strategy.<ref name="Wolpert">{{cite journal |last=Wolpert |first=Henry W. |title=Why Conventional Automobile Styling Research May Become Obsolete |journal=Advances in Consumer Research |volume=7 |pages=22–24 |publisher=Association for Consumer Research |year=1980 |url= http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/display.asp?id=9640 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120219025656/http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/display.asp?id=9640 |archive-date=19 February 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=31 December 2022}}</ref> Only the largest firms can stick with a radical element until it "grows", and the automaker's dominance in the [[marketplace]] may eventually establish it as a standard feature.<ref name="Wolpert"/> However, by the late 1970s the styling research [[axiom]] no longer applied that if a car with some controversial styling was liked by at least half of the potential [[market segment]]; then chances were good that this feature was a differential advantage for the manufacturer.<ref name="Wolpert"/> The AMC Pacer incorporated many controversial styling and design innovations that led to its market failure after five model years.<ref name="Wolpert"/>

American Motors developed the Pacer by identifying emerging trends and design technologies, but it faced a small window of opportunity since a product that comes out either too early or too late can fail even if the opportunity was there initially.<ref name="breakthrough">{{cite book |last1=Cagan |first1=Jonathan |last2=Vogel |first2=Craig M. |title=Creating Breakthrough Products: Innovation from Product Planning to Program Approval |publisher=Financial Times Prentice Hall Books |year=2002 |page=11 |isbn=9780139696947}}</ref> A further complication was the purchasing dynamics and the Pacer's design was focused on maximizing the internal sense of space, while the market focused on external dimensions. Many of the attributes the Pacer incorporated became the goal of all manufacturers in the two decades that followed.<ref name="breakthrough"/>

With an uncommonly wide and short body for a small car, the Pacer's design is still controversial, while its engines did not contribute to fuel economy. Nevertheless, "the foresight by Teague and AMC was correct" with approaches to meet the evolving U.S. government regulations covering automobiles (such as the Highway Safety Act of 1970 and the new [[National Highway Traffic Safety Administration]]).<ref>The "1975 AMC Pacer" display tag at the Antique Auto Museum at Hershey, PA. viewed in March 2009.</ref>