When the Pacer debuted in March 1975, it was unlike any other car on the road. And it still is. The Pacer was subcompact in length but as wide as a Cadillac, and it featured a huge expanse of glass, a longer door on the passenger side, and a sloping hood that was a decade ahead of its time. Some of the Pacer’s design ideas were brilliant, but the car was doomed from the start. AMC had planned to use a Wankel rotary engine (bought from GM) and front-wheel drive, but fuel economy concerns killed the rotary motor, forcing the use of an inefficient conventional drivetrain. Sales were fairly good at first but plummeted in later years, and the Pacer was killed after the 1980 model year. AMC’s large, unrecovered investment in the Pacer contributed significantly to the company’s decline, but in recent years the Pacer (along with the Gremlin) has become a 70’s icon in countless movies, TV shows, and commercials, ironically preserving AMC’s memory in popular culture.
A wagon version of the Pacer was introduced in 1977, and it significantly outsold the coupe model for the rest of the Pacer’s run. With a less unusual (and arguably better looking) rear-end treatment and vastly increased cargo capacity, the wagon broadened the Pacer’s appeal but couldn’t stop the sales slide. In 1978 and 1979 AMC offered the 304 V8 in the Pacer, which required a raised hood profile to fit the air cleaner. The new hood and grille treatment, which was used on all Pacers starting in 1978, badly compromised the Pacer’s styling and for little real gain, since the 304 offered little extra power and very few were sold: 3,528 in two years.
The Concord replaced the Hornet in 1978. The biggest difference between the Hornet and the Concord was the name, but the Concord was a somewhat more luxurious package with significant chassis refinements. It continued through the 1983 model year with few major changes.