another pacer in town...
It's not everyday you see a Pacer. In fact, over the years, I've kept a mental tally of the Pacers spotted around town, which has become significantly more infrequent over the years.
My baby's been unmoved for three weeks given the poor weather. Today's sunshine was too beautiful an opportunity to pass up. I took her out for a late afternoon drive with mom, heading through downtown, Santana Row and Campbell. We were on our way home, waiting at a stop light in the left-turn lane on the San Tomas Expressway, while checking out the surrounding vehicles. On the opposite side of the street, I immediately recognized another Pacer, several cars back, also in the left-turn lane.
"Ma, ma! Look! Another Pacer!," I exclaimed. "Oh, how can you tell, it's too far away," she scoffed. We both crossed paths at the turn, and sure as shit, it was a Pacer wagon.
Okay, so I'm silly. I promptly u-turned to follow the fellow AMC -- lo and behold, he'd done the exact same thing! Mom and I were beside ourselves with amusement. We crossed the Expressway, honking and waving. Such dorkiness. Anyway, we turned back around to head home, and saw that the guy had pulled over to talk.
Pacers are such unusual cars that you can tell right away if someone's worked on it themselves. The quirks, recurring problems and parts searches -- anyway, this guy had replaced his stock 258, straight-6 engine (like mine), with a 4.0 Jeep fuel-injected engine. Very clean work, too...the hoses are nicely routed, everything looks like it was done with care. That's exactly what I need to do. We talked about restoration processes, and the guy, Shelby, works on cars professionally, so he's done all the work on his car. The only difference is that he's trying to keep the car mainly stock, whereas I've taken the opportunity to personalize mine. His is in good condition, only showing the wear of daily driving and old age.
Funny, I thought all the Pacers in San Jose were gone. The exchange was just a little thing that brightened my day.
My baby's been unmoved for three weeks given the poor weather. Today's sunshine was too beautiful an opportunity to pass up. I took her out for a late afternoon drive with mom, heading through downtown, Santana Row and Campbell. We were on our way home, waiting at a stop light in the left-turn lane on the San Tomas Expressway, while checking out the surrounding vehicles. On the opposite side of the street, I immediately recognized another Pacer, several cars back, also in the left-turn lane.
"Ma, ma! Look! Another Pacer!," I exclaimed. "Oh, how can you tell, it's too far away," she scoffed. We both crossed paths at the turn, and sure as shit, it was a Pacer wagon.
Okay, so I'm silly. I promptly u-turned to follow the fellow AMC -- lo and behold, he'd done the exact same thing! Mom and I were beside ourselves with amusement. We crossed the Expressway, honking and waving. Such dorkiness. Anyway, we turned back around to head home, and saw that the guy had pulled over to talk.
Pacers are such unusual cars that you can tell right away if someone's worked on it themselves. The quirks, recurring problems and parts searches -- anyway, this guy had replaced his stock 258, straight-6 engine (like mine), with a 4.0 Jeep fuel-injected engine. Very clean work, too...the hoses are nicely routed, everything looks like it was done with care. That's exactly what I need to do. We talked about restoration processes, and the guy, Shelby, works on cars professionally, so he's done all the work on his car. The only difference is that he's trying to keep the car mainly stock, whereas I've taken the opportunity to personalize mine. His is in good condition, only showing the wear of daily driving and old age.
Funny, I thought all the Pacers in San Jose were gone. The exchange was just a little thing that brightened my day.