A few weeks ago, we put out a call on our Facebook page asking our readers about their cars, their restomod stories. The most popular submission we got was from Jay DeLancey, who has been working on a real rarity: a 1976 AMC Pacer X. The Pacer is one of those cars that’s not really talked about these days, but it should be. It was years ahead of its time in design terms when production began in 1975, bucking the trend of the square “three-box” design favored in that decade. With a rounded body and strongly curved rear windshield, reminiscent of that on the British Jensen Interceptor, it more closely resembles modern hatchbacks than a classic sedan. The body was nearly 40 percent glass, giving the driver a huge amount of visibility, and small but impressive design touches were manifold, such as the windshield wipers, which are hidden when not in use. It was rated highly, in contrast to its modern lack of popularity. The Pacer X, as owned by Jay, was produced as a coupe version from 1975-1978, and came with a whole host of extras. These included racing-style bucket seats, a sports steering wheel, and a floor-mounted gear shifter.

Jay’s love for the Pacer series is obvious upon talking to him. His first experience of the car was one owned by his mother during his childhood. When I asked him what he liked so much about this relatively little-known machine, he said “they ride like a Caddy, with much better gas mileage, and they have so much character! [They’re] amazing little cars,” he said. “I know they ride like a Caddy because I’ve owned a few Caddies.”

He bought the Pacer X a year and a half ago, saying that its “condition was not too bad” but that it had some floor rust, and the interior and mechanicals needed some work. Since then, he’s completely redone the interior, which he said was a “dingy white” at the time he bought it, with “cracked plastic panels.” The old, ragged vinyl and plastics have been removed, and new ones installed, to create a stunning-looking new interior. He’s not quite finished with it though, saying that he just needs to finish installing the custom purple carpet which matches the car’s exterior, and that he’s “thinking of covering all the plastic panels with white leather.”

The biggest problem so far has been the Pacer X’s ignition, which has proven to be troublesome ever since the car was bought. To combat this, Jay’s installed a new HEI ignition system, alongside a two barrel carb. A new turbo and fuel injection will soon be added too, he told me. The Pacer was originally going to come equipped with a Wankel rotary engine before GM canceled their rotary engine program, so the Pacers packed either a straight-six or a V8, which barely fit into the hood. Jay is considering replacing the Pacer’s original engine with a 4.0 HO engine with fuel injection, as featured in several models of Jeep, which should give the Pacer a fair lick of speed. That’s not to say that the Pacer’s performance is bad now. The car averages around 20mpg, excellent for a car of its era, and it “keeps up with highway traffic no problem.” It can be a little slow off the mark, but that’s a well-known situation for anyone involved in car restoration, and the turbo, plus the planned engine swap, should put paid to that.

The car’s main color is Chrysler Plum Crazy, first rolled out in 1969, and quickly became an iconic color on Mopar powered machines. The white stripe on the Pacer’s exterior is also a Mopar color, Jay told me.

The Pacer X is far from the first Pacer that Jay’s worked on. Of the 175 cars that he’s owned since his first, aged 13, 12 of them have been Pacers, still owned and kept on Jay’s property. As part of the interview, I wanted to find out more of his attitude to cars. He said, “I like the cars you don’t see every day,” made clear by the other cars he’s currently working on, amongst which is a 1981 Plymouth Reliant, and he’s also previously owned a Fiat 1200 TV.  As a rule, he tends to prefer vintage cars to modern ones. Not exclusively, but he cites the ease with which older cars can be worked on as a prime reason to own them.

Jay’s Pacer X is a prime example of why it’s worth looking at less obvious cars. Mustangs, Challengers, Chargers, etc, are worth the attention they get, but we need to look at other models too. That’s why we’re in this scene after all: we like to make cars that are out of the ordinary.

Our thanks to Jay for taking the time to talk to us! If you’ve got a car that you think should be featured on the site, keep your eyes on our Facebook page!