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ckosacranoid
ckosacranoid Dork
4/28/11 8:29 p.m.

thqt pace car is very cool and thanks for sharing.....i was also thinking the tread was going to be about pintos....

Luke
Luke SuperDork
4/28/11 8:44 p.m.

What a fantastic bit of family history! X3 for more Pace car photos, please.

...do you have access to any old surplus speed parts for your own build?

Javelin
Javelin SuperDork
4/28/11 9:35 p.m.
Luke wrote: What a fantastic bit of family history! X3 for more Pace car photos, please. ...do you have access to any old surplus speed parts for your own build?

Thanks! I'll get right on the more photos.

And yes, my entire family has speed parts. I'll be getting boxes soon!

Javelin
Javelin SuperDork
4/29/11 8:44 a.m.
pilotbraden wrote: Very nice. Is it just me or does the Pace Car remind anyone of a Mitsubishi Starion at first glance?

Funnily enough, my Gramps thought the exact same thing the first time he saw a Starion, so he bought one! I even have a pic of it! Turbo and silver of course.

As for the car, it was sold in a partial trade deal that netted Gramps 3 AMX race cars (one with a Lenco) and a Black Prowler with no bumpers (looked GOOD!). The Pace Car then got a partial restoration (remember, it was a hand-built car that actually got used) and now it does shows and some museum time.

Javelin
Javelin SuperDork
5/2/11 9:36 a.m.
Javelin wrote:
pilotbraden wrote: Very nice. Is it just me or does the Pace Car remind anyone of a Mitsubishi Starion at first glance?
Funnily enough, my Gramps thought the exact same thing the first time he saw a Starion, so he bought one! I even have a pic of it! Turbo and silver of course.

And here it is!

Javelin
Javelin SuperDork
5/2/11 9:47 a.m.

Update 5/2/2011:

Nothing real special as I am still going through piles of photos on the Pace Car, and it is the most requested one. So this is another 100% Turbo AMX post.

A good shot of the nose straight-on showing the brake cooling ducts, the functional hood vents, and Teague's "T" badge.

I love the sunken headlights behind the plexiglass/lexan. The hood vents are reminiscent of the "shark fins" on the 68-69 AMX hood (4 gills versus 5 though) and yet works in the raised strip from the 71-74 hood as well. Teague's designs always had cool detailing like this.

Another shot of the engine bay. The chrome valve cover made it hard to photograph, and I never got a good shot of the turbo, which would have had to be shot from underneath.

The side scoops were functional as well. The fender ones evacuated air from the front tire wells, the rear ones let it in to be evacuated out the back vents and under the car (plus cool the rear brakes and differential).

Blurry interior shot of the dash. Again, the engine-turning makes it difficult to photograph. I'm trying to find a clearer shot. This shows that the original dash and gauge pod were used, albeit two gauges were replaced. The steering wheel is a Cal Custom unit (I think).

Another interior shot with the seats, rollbar, and fire extinguisher. There was no back seat (as a proper AMX should be) and I want to say the fronts were made by Recaro, but I could be wrong.

I still have more of the Pace Car if you are interested, or I can move on if you are getting burned out.

Javelin
Javelin MegaDork
6/3/13 10:14 a.m.

i really, really need to get back to work on the photos...

Woody
Woody MegaDork
6/3/13 10:21 a.m.

I never even liked AMC's, but that's some serious E36 M3 right there...

chandlerGTi
chandlerGTi Dork
6/3/13 10:47 a.m.
Javelin wrote: i really, really need to get back to work on the photos...

Yes you do!

turboswede
turboswede PowerDork
6/3/13 1:05 p.m.

It took Chrysler a couple of years to catch up to that AMC pace car:

http://www.allpar.com/squads/pace.html

Check out the 81/82 Chrysler PPG Pace Car. Woof!

They fixed in 1986:

http://www.allpar.com/cars/concepts/dodge/M4S-Ackerman.html

Then they did the 3000gt in 91? WTF? At least they put out the Viper as well...

Great selection of cars Mike! Keep 'em coming!

Javelin
Javelin MegaDork
6/4/13 9:24 a.m.

And two years later, I finally have more!

This is Gramp's 1968 AMX. He bought it brand new in 68 and then promptly started winning Stock class drag racing all over New England. It's Hunter Green over Tan, 390, 4-Speed, Go-Pack, and had just over 10K miles on it when he sold it. Yes, it's actually all original! It won a bunch of AACA stuff including "Senior Gold" IIRC, as well as ton of all-AMC show awards. It went to a museum and I really hated to see it go. If I ever get rich, this is probably the second car I'd like to hunt down and buy.

FSP_ZX2
FSP_ZX2 Dork
6/4/13 9:42 a.m.

Love to see the AMC fans on GRM!

Some information on my dad's former SS/AMX

Datsun310Guy
Datsun310Guy UberDork
6/4/13 9:49 a.m.

Great pictures - one of my customers in the Chicago bought this new and restored it. He also owns an award winning GTO.

And I believe he also owns this car?

Datsun310Guy
Datsun310Guy UberDork
6/4/13 9:57 a.m.

Another one of my customers owns this car. There is huge love in the northern Chicago area for these AMC's - I am not sure which ones were built in Kenosha, Wisconsin but I believe that might have fueled the love.

phaze1todd
phaze1todd HalfDork
6/4/13 10:42 a.m.
Javelin wrote:
pilotbraden wrote: Very nice. Is it just me or does the Pace Car remind anyone of a Mitsubishi Starion at first glance?
Funnily enough, my Gramps thought the exact same thing the first time he saw a Starion, so he bought one! I even have a pic of it! Turbo and silver of course. As for the car, it was sold in a partial trade deal that netted Gramps 3 AMX race cars (one with a Lenco) and a Black Prowler with no bumpers (looked GOOD!). The Pace Car then got a partial restoration (remember, it was a hand-built car that actually got used) and now it does shows and some museum time.

Any of those AMX's happen to say "Drag-On-Lady" or "Pete's Patriot" on the side?

beans
beans Reader
6/4/13 11:03 a.m.

Finland:

Sorry to take it OT. Those are actually some cool pictures/story!

jstein77
jstein77 SuperDork
6/4/13 11:42 a.m.

That Cocoa shop was about 15 minutes from where I live.

Javelin
Javelin MegaDork
6/4/13 11:58 a.m.

In reply to jstein77:

It's (sort-of) still there. Gramps sold the business and building sometime in the mid 90's IIRC. The new owners moved next door. Their kid runs the place now, it's really sad. He's still there and they have a ton of used parts and cars. The original building is still next door and looks good. I forgot what was in there.

Ta-da!

American Performance

shadetree30
shadetree30 Reader
6/4/13 3:21 p.m.

Was up at the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing (York Springs PA) and they have a B Production (SCCA) AMX ; late 60s vintage.

Javelin
Javelin MegaDork
6/5/13 9:14 a.m.

Alright, here's some good stuff! Sometime in the late 80's / early 90's Gramps bought an AMX funny car. Yeah, a real one on a Logghe chassis. We thought it was the original Boggs Bros car at first, but that car has been found. It's very obvious the body was molded off of a stock AMX and then crudely extended.

When he got it:

He had it media blasted and the thing was molded in colored fiberglass!

Yes, those are real magnesium wheels. Check out the "roll cage" too...

He had Mike Therber paint it Candy Red, White, and Blue over the original molding.

At Orlando Speed World. Notice the open face helmet!

He then had it all lettered up. Yeah, it would hustle.

Javelin
Javelin MegaDork
6/5/13 11:34 a.m.

BTW, the only time Gramps ever got pulled over was when he did a test pass down East Industrial in Cocoa in the funny car. It was the damn funniest thing I ever saw in my life!

Chris_V
Chris_V UltraDork
6/5/13 11:41 a.m.

Wow. Cool pictures! Thanks for taking the effort to share them!!!

AngryCorvair
AngryCorvair PowerDork
6/5/13 12:54 p.m.

i love old AFX cars, they had so much rake that the only time they looked "normal" was when pulling a wheelie off the line!

Javelin
Javelin MegaDork
6/6/13 9:18 a.m.

I said earlier that Gramps had traded the Pace Car AMX and the deal involved other AMX's. Here is one of them, it's a Big Bad Blue Super Gas AMX. This is how it looked when he got it, and it was set up for a Chevy IIRC.

He still has it and has really made it more of a street car. I'll have more on this one later.

One of the other ones was this read one, and it was really nice. It had a Lenco in it! He sold this one quick and I had hoped this one was going to be the keeper. This may even be the only photo I have of it.

Javelin
Javelin MegaDork
6/6/13 12:24 p.m.

(Paging JoeyM) - Can I get the title amended to say "AMC" somehow? Thanks!

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