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Auto trivia; the Pacer passenger door was 4-6” longer than the driver’s door; easier back seat entry...
.....a Gremlin on steroids.
I didn't know one door was longer than the other. As far as the Pacer being a Gremlin on steroids, they must've been a type of steroids that works in the opposite way that normal steroids work. These Pacer steroids made it weaker and uglier than the Gremlin! I used to see people using Gremlins as hot rods and weekend bracket drag racers. It makes sense, because it's a small & light car. Its like AMC's Vega or Maverick. But I honestly can't say that I've ever seen a Pacer in person that's been modified in either of those ways.
1950 Studebaker (cost $50), 1951 Chevy ($750, 1959 Rambler.My parents had divorced when i was about 15. So right before getting my license, my parents both made it clear that I'd NOT be given a car. Back in 1977 or 1978, at 9-10 years old, I had accompanied my dad on a 30min drive to a car dealership, in his old project car, an MG Midget. It was raining, and as usual, it's convertible rag top was leaking. We get to the AMC dealership, where my dad trades the MG in on a brand new, flashy Pacer, in sporty metallic copper! It had a 6cyl with a ridiculously long column shifter for its 3 speed manual trans.
Fast forward to 1984, and my father had just bought a new Mitsubishi Starion turbo, but unfortunately without trading in the Pacer! Lol. He decided to sell it to me on a payment plan, and just a day or 2 later, I secured a full time summer job at a machine shop to pay for it(plus insurance, gas etc). We produced high stall torque converters for drag racers and street cars.
But it wasn't more than a few days later, that the column shifter lost all interface with the transmission, and it was put in the shop. It took at least 2 weeks to get it back, but it failed again within a day or 2. Back to the shop for 1-2 more weeks, then I get it back. One day a friend, his older cousin and I go to a local creek, to a swimming hole with a high rope swing. We finish swimming, start to drive away, and it fails again, and it looks like we are stuck out in the middle of nowhere! Fortunately, the older guy with us has learned the basic mechanical knowledge that we, at 16, had not learned yet. He discovers a broken weld on the shifter linkage on the firewall. This meant the linkage would fail, and the 20" long column shifter would flap around, but not direct the transmission into any gears! But he was able to pop it back into the slot so that it was driveable until it popped out again, and He showed me how to quickly but temporarily get the car driving again. View attachment 67244710
I had spent most of my 1st summer with a driver's license, without a friggin car! I knew it meant the car was going back to the shop run by incompetent morons. So I saved up $400 over the next few weeks, and bought car #2, a 1974 Mustang II hatchback, with a 4cyl and auto. I returned the Pacer to my dad, ending the payment plan. Now I had a car that actually worked! It had aluminum slot mag wheels, fat tires and the back end was jacked up a bit, so it looked cool, although, it's 2 front fenders had rusted at the bottom brackets that connected them to the subframe. This meant that neither fender was connected at the bottom, so whenever I went over a bump, the fenders would flap up and down like wings! It looked like this car, but white instead of gray, and no hood scoop. View attachment 67244707
But then I turned it around. In early spring of 1985, I traded in the 1974 Mustang II on a used 1978 Mustang II Cobra II, with a 302 V8 and a 4-speed manual. It was all white with big blue stripes going over the hood and roof, and down the sides. It had low mileage and was in fantastic condition. I had a lot of fun with It. Even though cars from 1974-1994 had vastly reduced horsepower as compared with 1960-1973 cars, it was still a light car with a v8 and 4 speed! That's always a great combo...It looked exactly like this:
View attachment 67244703
My first three vehicles that I owned were:
1962 Chevy II
1973 vega station wagon
1974 Mustang 2
Only actually drove the vega and mustang. But not very much before I sold them (and the nova).
SO I consider my 1964 GMC stepside as my first real vehicle (since non of the above were ever actually legally on the road). Gave the GMC to my daughter when she turned 18.
Next two:
1974 El Camino
1980 Firebird
Couldn't keep tires on the El Camino very long, then figured out the frame was kneed back on the passenger side. The guy I bought from died then the family wanted to buy it back, thank you! Used the money to buy the firebird.
After that various vehicles some good some trash.
Now I drive a 1960 Chevy apache 1 ton stake bed. Wife drives a 1993 GMC Suburban 4x4. I still own some of those various other vehicles, I pretend that I will fix them up someday. Most likely I will part them out of just sale them. Though I might fix the firebird back up.
It’s actually highly ideal because it has a lot of room in the back seat.Lame first cars? Haha, I have you all beat. Feast your eyes on my 1997 Nissan Quest:
View attachment 67244716
Lesson to you newer parents out there: If you want to make sure your son doesn't get any girls teen pregnant, get them an old soccer mom minivan for their first ride. They'll stay a virgin, guaranteed or your money back. :mrgreen:
It’s actually highly ideal because it has a lot of room in the back seat.
My first car:
View attachment 67244720
My 2nd car:
View attachment 67244721
My 3rd car:
View attachment 67244722
The first one? A 62-63 Impala?
My first car was a 1937 Plymouth coupe. Second car a 1959 Simca. Third a 1954 Jaguar SK120 roadster afterthought 1949 Mercury fastback. Fourth 1952 Cadillac 2dr hdt. Fifth 1948 Studebaker Commander convertible. Sixth 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 4 dr hdt no post. Seventh 1956 Studebaker Silver Hawk. Eighth 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk. Ninth 1964 Buick Riviera. End of list @ 1968. Best car 1965 Dart GT convertible slant six 3spd that got 28 mpg. Best exhaust sound 1965 Barracuda 270s. Quickest 1968 Camaro built 327 four speed. Fast 1967 Dodge R/T. 1964 GTO. 69 GTX. 68 Chevelle SS396. 55 Chev 2 dr sedan. 64 Tempest 4 cyl 4 barrel. 60 Ford 2dr sedan. Road Runners, Corvairs, Javelins, Renaults, Toyotas, Hondas, Hyundais, Many Cadillacs, Lincolns, Mercurys, Vega, Fiat, Austin America, and the list could go on. Best overall by far-Japanese. Toyotas and Hondas.
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It’s actually highly ideal because it has a lot of room in the back seat.
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