Happy Halloween - the AMC Pacer

Since it is Halloween, I'd though I'd do something a little bit different, so I set out to find some pictures of ugly cars instead of beautiful ones. Voted one of the ugliest cars ever (and worst as well) by far, is the AMC Pacer. One automagazine even reported: "We drove the AMC Pacer - and wish we hadn't". On the front cover.

Produced by American Motors Corporation from 1975 until 1981, the Pacer was supposed to be a small and very frugal American car. The Gremlin (an earlier model), had already been quite successful, so hopes were quite high for the Pacer.

Designed by Richard Teague after watching an American Football game, the Pacer was rather special: one third of the car was made out of glass, the passenger door was 10 centimeters wider than the drivers door (which made getting in the back easier - except in the UK), and with rather weird dimensions. It was shorter than a Volkswagen Beetle (about 30cm), but it was nearly half a meter wider - in fact, the Pacer was wider than a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, so getting in and out of one in the parking lot proved to be a bit of an ordeal.

As I said, it was meant to be frugal, but it was far from that: because of the glass, the weight was substantial (about 1500 kg), and the last-minute engine change didn't do it any good either. AMC decided to swap the initially planned wankel-engine for a six-cylinder. They even went for a V8 a few years later!

The second oil crisis proved to be too much for the Pacer, and AMC went broke a few years later - and the Pacer took most of the blame for it.

Despite all this, it was a rather popular car back then, and due to its appearance in a few movies, the Pacer even got something of a cult status. Ugly duckling or misunderstood motor? You decide.