This is a Pacer. An AMC Pacer. A good idea for a car, but poor execution. I fell victim to the press, and purchased this baby after the demise of the Purdy-Mobile. I was now working at the Mary and still single. It was designed as a wide-bodied car with a short car chassis. American motors was starting its death spiral and its attempt to create something meaningful for the marketplace resulted in this putrid hash. A big car feel on an economic sized drivetrain resulted in an underpowered driving experience. Another faulty feature was the oversized glass. All this did was to create a blazing hot interior in the summer months. The poor little air conditioner was never able to keep up with the prism heat the windows created.
The interior was cheap, formed plastic, and AMC even tried themed packages like Indian art work and denim blues. I remember that I had a major steering problem that had to get fixed. The bill was something like $700 or $800 and you can imagine what that was like to my poor little county paycheck. I don't recall anything other than that except that it was a cheap little thing and drove like it, too.
It's end came swiftly and mercifully one summer night, oddly enough, just a few miles outside Seaton. In those early days at the Mary, I would often, on my two days off, travel back to the area either to go to Keithsburg to Blackies, or home to Seaton to find food and a washing machine, or work at Uncle Ed's.
I had motored back to Seaton on this night and after chatting with the folks went down to Blackie's for a cold beer in Keithsburg. I planned to return to G-Burg afterwards - I never stayed with the folks once I had a place of my own. Having had my fill and perhaps more of my favorite adult beverage, I went through Seaton toward home. Once past McClellan's Seed corn business you come to a "T" and taking a right will get you to Alexis. At about 4 miles down that road and chugging along, I reckon, at a steady 60 almost-inebriated miles an hour but what did I spy through my large Pacer windshield? A cow. A goddamn cow. In the middle of the road. We were in for a showdown. Too late to stop, too fast to swerve. I had just hit a cow on 1st Avenue between routes 94 and 67.
In those days there were no cell phones so I walked to the nearest house and in my stirred, not shaken condition called the folks and they came to pick me up. The car was taken to the side of the road and the poor beast was dragged off the road as well. Two lumbering giants, graceless in life and death victims of an untimely and unexpected calamity.
My car was totaled as was the cow. Its never easy saying goodbye to one's wheels, but in this case I, it would prove to be OK. My next set of wheels was a beaut. And daily driving rarely gets as fun as this. Stay tuned to my next car.
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