1975 Pacer X: American Motors’ date with oblivion was still 12 years away, but the debut of the execrable ’75 Pacer X heralded the inevitable. The latest in a line of bizarre and ungainly creations from America’s fourth automaker, the 1975-1980 Pacer boasted such features as “genuine Levi jeans” seat coverings — complete with brass rivets that left nice burn marks in your thighs if you sat down on them with shorts in the summer — and a passenger door four inches longer than the one on the driver’s side. The bubble canopy design suggested an upended bathtub or a latter-day Marlon Brando, side profile. Propelled by a 90-hp 3.8-liter straight six tied to a “three on the three” column shifted manual transmission, the Pacer’s performance was as depressing as it got in the 1970s. It was, however, the first American car to employ the space-saving “cab forward” design technique that’s become industry standard today.


That's awesome! 90hp from a 3.8L 6 cylinder. Makes me feel not so bad about my rice burner.